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ActionS
ports Arenacross Series, Rounds 9-11
Greg Rand (5), shown here
racing with his F&S HarleyDavidson teammate Davey
Yezek (63), was one of two
riders to score a pair of
wins at the Actions Sports
Arenacross in Kentucky.
SUNDAY
By David L. Patton Jr.
LOUISVILLE, KY, JAN. 23-25
&S Team Racing / ]T-backed Greg
Rand pi cked up tw o w ins a n d
increased his series points lead in
th e 1997-98 Action Sp o rt s Ar enacross
Series, sponsored by Budweiser, when it
mad e a s to p in Louisville' s Freedom
Hall .
Rand 's closes t competitor, Jim Neese,
rebou nded from a horrible weekend in
Hun tington, West Virgi nia , to pick up
tw o wins of h is own on his Kings po rt
KTM /Minter ' s Mar ketin g / Team Mota '
Plan et -ba ck ed KTM s . Mark Burkh art
also picked up a win, an d Mik e Katin
took his first-ever Action Sports Ind oor
wi n to rou nd out the winner's circle.
FRIDAY
Todd Mo user grabbed the holeshot
in th e weekend 's fir st Pro m a in , th e
125cc feat u re on Fr id a y . Rand a n d
Davey Yezek chased Mous er, and Neese
held off Kali n and Burkhart for. fourth .
Burkhart pu t in a n u nb elieva b le ri de ,
blastin g his way to the fro nt early in the
m ain. Burkhart' s tim e ou t front ended
just as quickly as he looped out on the
big whoop in the lon g grandstand sectio n. He woul d come ba ck an d ea rn a
top- five finish. Rand took advantage of
Burkh art' s miscue to take the lead and
the win. Neese and Katin go t by Yezek
on lap three, and Mouser clipped a hay
b al e . Ch arli e Dun a w a y a n d Yezek
hooked up for two laps before Dunawa y
se cu red fourth . Yezek held off Collie r
until th e la s t co u p le of la ps, w h e n
Burkhart bl ew b y' b oth of them.
Burk ha rt also caugh t Du naw ay on the
last lap but could n' t ge t by. Rand took
the win, w ith Neese second , Kalin third,
and then Dunaw ay and Burkh ar t.
Mik e Morga n pu t th e p ower to th e
g ro u n d a n d le d th e 250 cc Pr o clas s
through the first turn. Nees e and Yezek
were all over Morgan as they completed
the first lap. N eese d ived under Yezek
in the turn after the triple and was abl e
to ou tru n him to the hairpin turn before
the Dunlop whoops.
Rand got a midpack s ta r t b ut was
pulling out all the stops on his way to
th e front, a long with Dunaway and
Ka tin . N eese was unstopp ab le, and he
ou tju m ped Morga n a t th e e nd o f th e
Dunlop whoops to take the lead . Yezek
ma d e his mo ve in the st ep-up d ouble
and passed Morgan, wh o wasn' t a t full
stren gth d ue to a case of the flu . Rand
reeled in Yez ek a nd tri ed to ou tju m p
Yezek over the triple. Rand and Yezek
had a great battle going, bu t Neese ran
away w ith the win.
SATURDAY
In Saturday' s 125cc Pro ma in even t,
Mark Burkhart took contro l from. the
start and blast ed away to his third wi n
of the series. Burkhar t ope ned up a lead
on th erfirst lap over Yez ek and Ka tin .
N eese w a s m ir ed in th e p ack , bu t he
was in a better position than Rand. wh o
had the holeshot bu t got hit fro m behind
and had to restart from last place. Rand
w ou ld work his w ay u p to seven th by
the finish.
Katin ta pp ed Yezeks rear w heel in
th e step-u p section and took over second place on lap three. Morga n held off
Du naway for fou rth , but Du nawa y pu t
a move on him goi ng into the Du nlop
whoops. N eese passed Collier on the
fou rth lap, a nd Mor gan clip p ed a hay
ba le, falli ng hard and ha nd ing fifth to
Neese.
Burk hart continued to pull away,
w it h Kat in secu re in second . Neese
reel ed in Yezek as they took the white
flag a nd m ad e a pa ss over th e tri p le
be fo re fo llowing Bu rk ha rt an d Katin
home.
Ka tin led th e charg e in the 250cc
m a in, w hil e Nees e a n d Ye zek gave
chase and Kalin and Du naway tried to
hold off Rand . The top five were all bat tling at the start of the main, bu t Kalin
and Neese took ad vantage of the clear
track to pull awa y. Dun aw ay opened u p
a cou p le of bike lengths on Ran d , and
Dunaway ca u g h t Yeze k at th e tr iple.
Dunaway flew past Yezek on the third
lap to take third .
Katin' s lead di sappear ed w hen he
ca sed the la st jump in th e Dunl op
w hoops and N eese grabbed the hot line
through the gra nds tand wh oops to take
over th e lea d . Neese motored awa y
from Katin and took the victory ahead
of Karin, Rand, Yezek and Dunaw ay.
Saturday night's 125cc
Pro winner Bu rkhar t' s
inju red knee sw elled up
so bad ly that he had to
miss Su nday's r a ci n g .
Rand, Mouser and Collier
put three Su zukis up
fro n t a t th e s ta rt of the
12Sccactio n.
Ra n d establis h ed a
secure lead early in the
main and ran aw ay w ith
th e win . N eese was ab le
to ge t awa y fr om Katin
a n d Dun awa y by t h e
halfw a y point an d ca tch
Yezek w it h fo u r laps to
go . Neese t rip led p ast
Yeze k an d th e n cau gh t
Colli er . Wit h tw o laps to
go, eese took awa y th e
insi de lin e ove r th e las t jump in the
Dunlop w hoo p sec tio n to ed ge Collier
for second .
Kat in ju mped out to the lead in the
weeke nd 's fin al ra ce, Sunday ' s 250cc
Pro feature. Rand pressured Kalin right
from the start, but Katin go t through the
firs t turn in th e lead. F&S teammat es
Yezek a n d Colli er h eld off M org a n
behi nd the lea ders, but Dunaway an d
Neese were on the move.
Ka tin was nearly flaw less after an
ea rly-mo ta bo bb le . He kep t h is h ea d
down and the throttle cranked open on
his way to his first Action Sports Indoor
win .
.
While the top two spots were settled
by the halfway point, the last fou r positions were u p for grabs. Collier was having his best weekend of the series, and
he consistently cleared the triple to reel
in Yezek . For near ly th ree lap s, Collier
cha lle nged Yezek , fina lly lea p ing p ast
him in the Du nlop w hoops and hold ing
Yezek off th ro ugh the gra nds tand secl~
lion for thir d place.
Freedom Hall
Louisville, Kentucky
Results: January 23-25, 199B(Rounds 9-11)
Fri day
50 rtw JR: 1. Jacob Ro.....land (Yam); 2. Ryan Wolfe
(Yam); 3. Zach Cu nningha m (Yam); 4. Ca me ron Reas
(Ya m ); 5. Nick whitaker (Yam).
SO (4-6): 1. Ryan (vets (Cob); 2. Na tha n Hesk e tt
(Cob); 3. Daniel Rock e (Co b); 4. Cody Red S (KTM); 5.
David Hollobaugh (KTh1).
50 (7-8),1 . Wesley [ett (Co b); 2. Chris Gibso n (Cob);
3. Steven Squire (Cob); -I. Donnie Gray Jr. (Act); 5. Kyle
Simo ne (KTM).
65: 1. Kvle Pres ion (Ka w): 2. Christopher Robert son
(Kawj: 3. Shan e O'Banion IKa w ): 4.. Nick Benza {Kaw);
5. Alex Rassiga (}(a w).
MINI J R: 1. Ky le- Pre ston Il-lon): 2. Christ o ph er
Robe r ts on (Suz ): 3. Nick Benza (Ka w) ; 4. Sh an e
O' Banion (Suz); 5. Corey Simon e IKaw ).
MIN I SR: 1. Corey Arnold (Yam); 2. Ju stin Sess ink
(H en ): 3. Terry Blake (Kaw): 4. Bran don Nich ols (Suz) :
5. Jami e Reynolds (Yam).
SC H BY: 1. Jason Wade (Kaw): 2. N icholas Wolfe
(KTM); 3. A.J. Meade (5uz); 4. Ian Riddle IKaw): 5. Terry
Blake (Kaw ).
•
125 B: 1. Ben Rid dle (Kaw): 2. Jaso n Wade (K.loW) 3.
;
Michael Mercer (5uz ); 4. Ju stin Terrell (Kaw) : 5. Scott
Craven (Yam).
125 C: 1. N icho las Wo lfe (KTM) ; 2. Ia n Rid d le
(Kaw); 3. Mickey Bea hl ( KTM~ : 4. Na tha n Scheid (Suz);
5. Nick Fraz ier (5uz).
250 B: 1. Ben Riddle (Kaw ): 2. Michael Merce r (Suz);
3. Rob Che rry (Ha n); 4. Paxton Mendelsso hn (Yam); 5.
"I" Reas ISuz) .
250 C: 1. Na tha n Sc heid (Ka w) ; 2. Mike Ar me s
(Hen): 3. Chip Pr inz (Kaw): 4. Bla ke Jar ret t (Yam); 5.
William Brazelton (Yam).
25+: 1. Mark Mus sel man (H us) : 2. Mike Mo rgan
(}(aw); 3. Ch ris Knox (Hus); 4. Rod ney Ca rrie r (KTM);
Mike Blair (Suz) .
5:
30+: 1. Jon Schmitz (Suz); 2. Rod ney Carner (J