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Action Sports Arenacross S
n
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Greg Rand finis hed the Action Sports Arenacross Se ries in a
dominating fash ion. Rand scored three of four main-event
wins at the Hara Arena se ries finale In Dayton, Ohio, and
walked away with both the 125 and 250cc s eries
championsh ips.
By David L. Patton Jr.
DAYrON, OHIO, FEB 7-8
.
&S Team Raci n g / JT / Fass G a ss- backed Greg Rand p owered to three
_ - w ins and a secon d -p lace fini sh to
1 w r ap up th e 125 and 250cc Pro-class
ch am p ionsh ip s in th e 1997-98 Action
Spo rts Arenacross Series.
Rand ' s swee p of Saturday's main
eve nts locked up the points lead, and h e
I picked up his 11 th win of the series in
Su n d ay 's 125cc main . H onda of JackI so n / Th or/ Pro Circuit-backed Charlie
Dunaway picked up his first career Pro class indoor win, outrunning Rand from
s tart to finish .
If
SATURDAY
Greg Ran d and Honda of Troy / Sinisalo /Pro Circuit's Mark Burkhart headed the field as the 125cc Pro class blasted
through the first tum. Mike Karin, Doug
Stone and 15-year -old Jeff Gibson were
right behind the leaders. A pileup on the
fir st la p left the rest of th e field well
behind th e front fiv e. Vin ce Karnow,
Chuck Ree d and Kenn y Bertram got
, th rou gh the crash in the best sh ape, but
the leaders were way ahea d . Rand and
Burkhart's battle up front pulled them
I clear of Katin 's Kame's Sports / Sinisalobacked Yamaha, even though Katin was
the first rider to clear the lon g triple on a
125.
e
Dou g Stone and Kawa saki Te am
•,Green / F&S Kawasaki /Pro-Action / Foxbacked Je ff Gibson had a great race
,,goin g, as the two KX riders b attled in
every turn. Rand ed ged away fr om
. Burkhart and w ent on to a convincing
win. Burkhart and Katin followed Rand
home and National motocro ss competitor Doug Stone held oii .up-and-coming
star Jeff Gibson to snag fourth.
- . In the 250cc main, Rand timed the
s ta rt p erfectl y and ro a re d aw ay to a
dominating win. The Cernic's Suzuki /
, Thor / FMF-backed Kamow had h is best
- start of the weekend, ahead of F&S Raeing/JTs Davey Yezek , Brad Strunk and
"Ch arlie Dunaw ay . Stone cra she d h ard
' on th e fir st lap, en d in g h is w eekend ,
L'a nd Burkhart stalled his bik e back in the
pack, putting him ou t of contention for
the win. Rand sim ply ran away from the
rest of the front-runners.
"When yo u' re ou t fron t, you can take
any line y ou w ant," Rand sai d afterward. "You d on 't have to w orry about
any one getting inside of yo u."
Karnow h eld seco n d , but Yez ek ' s
lead over Strunk wa s sh rinking. Strunk
fell b efore he cou ld reel in Yezek, and
Dunaway moved up to fourth, ahead of
Josh Steel and Mike Morgan. Yezek put
together a charge near the end, and he
was on Karnow's rear wheel when the
white flag came out.
Josh Steel also tried a move on th e
white-flag lap. He tried to triple his way
past Dunaway but ca sed it, crashing
hard. Larry's Cycle of Parkersburg/ProAction's Morgan took advantage of
Steel' s miscu e to take fifth . Kamow held
o ff Yezek, and Dunaway led Morgan
acro ss the finish line. Kam ow's ride was
even more impressive, as he had broken
his clavicle three week s before the race,
and it is only ha lfwa y healed .
SUNDAY
Rand picked up his third holeshot of
th e w e ekend as th e 125cc Pro cl a s s
banged th ro u gh the first turn. Mor gan
battled Burkhart and F&S Team Racing
riders Davey Yezek and Tommy Collier.
Burkhart and Yezek quickly pounced on
Morgan, m oving th e Yamaha back to
fourth by th e end of the first lap . On ce
a gai n, Rand to ok a dva n ta ge of op en
track to run away from the rest of th e
field. Collier found a w ay past Morgan
and moved up t o chall en g e Ye z ek
before the h alfway point.
Morgan was doing everything he
could to hang on to fifth, but Katin tried
to jam under him in the tum before the
grandstand do ubles section, only to stall
it.
"I hit m y clutch lever on the barrel
and it messed me up," Katin said.
Katin lo st on e p osition t o Th om as
Barron, who clo sed on Mor gan as the
white flag waved. Barron tried to ou tjump Morgan o ver th e tripl e b ut
couldn't cle ar th e last ju m p, crashi ng
hard . Rand picked up his third strai gh t
w in, ahead of Burkhart, Yezek, Colli er
and Morgan. Katin w as sixth .
Rand continued to start well, and he
h ad th e edge goi ng into the first turn,
but Dunaway, on h is Honda of Jackson/ Tho r/ Pro Circuit /OMS-backed CR,
ou tg unne d Rand throu gh the whoops.
Katin, Yezek, Karnow and Brad Strunk
were try ing to close on the leaders. Dunaway and Rand ran wheel to wheel and
quickly op ene d up a gap ov er Katin.
Kamow fell in the 180-degree turn after
the triple, m ovin g Strunk u p to fifth,
ahead of Collier and Burkhart. Dunaway re ally had it together and h e
pulled out a sm all lead on Rand as the
final wound down.
"I knew I could ride fa st enough ,
becaus e in the 125 main I fell an d Greg
lapped me, and I could stay wi th him
p retty easily," Dunaway said. "It gave
me confidence when I got in the lead. I
kn ew I cou ld do it."
Dunaway scored his first caree r win,
Rand beat Kalin for second, and Yezek
and Strunk rounded out the top five. 0
Hara Arena
Dayton, Ohio
Results: February 7-8, 1998
. (Rounds 12 & 13)
Satu rda y
P/W J R: 1. Bri ttany Z iepfe l (Ya m ); 2. Jo rd an
Strickland (Ya m ); 3. Co lby McCutcheon (Ya m) ; 4.
Shawn Lu ns ford (Yam); 5. R.J. Bryan t (Yam).
50 (4 ·6): 1. Ryan Ivers (Co b); 2 . N a than H eske tt
(Cob) ; 3. Kyle Burlisle (Co b); 4. A.J. Ali eshouse (Cob ); 5.
Dan iel Rocke (Cob) .
SO 17-6): 1. Ty ler Maxel (Lern); 2. Wesley Jell (Cob);
3. Domini c lzzi (Cob); 4. Kyle McConne ll (Cob); 5. Ryan
Brumfield (Cob).
.
65: 1. Christop he r Robertson (Kaw ); 2. Kyle Preston
(Kaw) , 3. Patrick Ma ssie (Kaw); 4. Zach Ames (Kaw ); 5.
Allen Rossi (}(aw).
MINI JR: 1. Kyle Preston (Yam); 2. Dillion Rhoa des
(Suz); 3. Chris top h er Robe r ts o n (Suz); 4. Ti m
Hollenbeck (Hon) ; 5. Alex Rossi (H a n).
M IN I S R: 1. Willy Brow n in g (Ya m) ; 2. Dus tin
Cottrill (Suz); 3. Nicholas Mow ry (Hon); 4. Matt Barnes
(Suz); 5. Corey Arnold (Yam) .
.
SCHBY: 1. Jason Wade (Ka w) : 2. Ian H ammond
(Suz ); 3. A.J. Mea de (Suz); 4. Nicholas Wo lfe (KTM) ; 5.
Bran den Perry (Suz). .
125 PRO: 1. Greg Rand (Su z); 2. Mark Burkhart
(Hon); 3. Dav ey Yezek (Suz); 4. Tomm y Collier (Suz); 5.
Mike Morgan (Yam).
125 B: 1. Ian Ha mm ond (Suz ); 2. Matt Ketcheson
(Suz ); 3. J.C. Cra vens (Yam) ; 4. Michael Mercer (Suz ); 5.
Marcus Biggs (Yam).
125 C 1: 1. Mickey Beahl (Suz) ; 2. Erik Han lin (Suz);
3 . Co r y Sk inner (Kaw ); 4, Be n C oo p er (Su z ); ·5 .
Raymond Medina (Yam ).
125 C 2: 1. Mich ael Arnold (Ka w ); 2. Mo n te Pitts
(Yam ); 3. Nicholas Wolfe (KTM ); 4. Steve Lavender
(Suz); 5. ].R. MtClure (Yam ).
250 PRO: 1. Ch arlie Dunawa y (Hon ); 2. Greg Rand
(Suz) ; 3. Mik e Katin (Ya m); 4. Dav ey Yeze k (Su z); 5.
Brad Strunk (Hon ).
250 B: 1. Michael Mercer (Su z) ; 2. Ricky Alton
(J