Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" I' m g lad I ca me o ut here ," Voss said. "I've been p lanning this race for a while . I had a lot of fun her e las t year and I have lots of fans aro u nd this up per Midwest area, too." "I could have won for su re - I just ra n ou t o f s tea m," Jon es ex pla ined o f his agg ressive ride. "I've been doin g jumpoffs for th e pa st six weeks. I ha ve n' t bee n doin g an y motos or any bar banging" and I think I lost a little of my racing edge. I'll be back tomor row ." S ATURDAY Voss m ade a n o ther s ta tem en t o n Satu rd ay, this time by winning bo th of the heat races he entered. Buehl had a night h e would rather forget , a s h e had a specta cu lar crash in the trip letrip le sectio n, s u ffering a dis lo cat ed fin g er. Jone s a lso had a s p e ct a cu lar crash on the same jump w h ile leading th e Dash For Cash. He ejected bef ore la n d ing and ca r t- w heele d down th e track. ' Gibson grabb ed the start of the 125cc ma in, with Willoh , Jones and Planet Hond a /Pro Grip's Brian Swink filing in next . Team 2Xtreme' s Cha rley Bogard tumbled th ro u g h th e w ho o ps on th e first lap , but he surp rising ly remounted quickly. Jon es took the lead befor e the end of the first lap, followed by Gibs on , WiIloh , Sw ink and Hofmast er . Voss, Antunez, Palmer and Ped erso n w ere all running midpack . Jones on ce again look ed s tro ng ou t front, but Antu nez and Palm er were on the mo ve. Antunez first got by Swink, w ho was fading ; then he blo ck-passed Hofrnaster, movin g in to fou rth. Several laps later, Willoh was on a ch arge as he tripled ove r Gibson into second and ou tco rn er ed Jon es for th e lead one turn later, Jones battled with Will oh for another lap before An tunez and Palmer, who had passed the fallen Gibs on, we re on his tail. Pa lmer s t ruc k fi rst, ge tt ing by Antunez and then Jones into second. Willoh held his 'ground out front , with Pa lmer so me di s tance back in se co nd, The real race w as between Jones and Antune z, with only a few laps rem ainin g', The battle wasintense as the two wen t back and forth , Jones con tinu ed to do the big trip le and he block-passed Antunez in the next corn er as he had every one else all night. Antunez was caug ht off guard by the pass and began to fall into Jon es coming out of the corner. Antu nez and his bike fell di rectly into the rear wh eel of Jones' bike, and the two we re dragged for a bit down the track. The white flag came out on the nex t lap as the two were untangling the bikes and Antunez' legs. Willoh kept his pace with Pa lmer in second . Pederson, Voss and Hofma st er eac h gai ned tw o p ositions because of the cras h and ro unded out the top five. "I felt good and rod e a sma rt race," Willoh said of his first win in the series . "I've just got to keep it goi ng." Antunez and Jones had d ifferen t versions of what happened on the track. "I though t it was a chea p move. O nce I wa s in his bike, he jus t kept clutchin g it , tryin g to kill me," sa id th e up set Antunez, "This sport doesn't need tha t. We are all friends and you need to be a little safe. We were bot h d own, and he need s to realize he isn't go ing to win." "I closed the d oor but he ran into the si de of me," Jones ex p laine d , "Tha t's racing , I thou ght his bike was caught on min e, so I kept gas sing it. As soo n as I saw him in there, I stop pe d to ge t him ou t." Antunez was a littl e scra ped up, but b o th r id ers ca me o u t fo r the 250cc final. Jon es and Peders on 'were at the head of the pack at the start of the 250cc race. Voss and Antunez also gated well , Jones set a good pace for the first six laps as the rid ers we re d icing for p osition s beh ind him. An tunez passed so me rider s an d se ttled into second . Ped erson and Voss jockeyed in third and fou rth wh ile Stephe nso n hun g in fifth , On lap seven, Ped erson was ready to advance . He bloc k-passed hi s wa y by his team ma te An tunez into second and was out for Jones, Pede rso n slowly closed the gap. Just past the halw ay flags, h e was all over Jones , Pederson look ed ready to st rike whe n d isas ter struc k. Jones tri ed th e fa tefu l triple-triple section ag ai n, only th is tim e in a full nose-dow n, wid e-open p anic-rev, Hi s front w heel cau ght the face of the third jump and he ejected for the second time , on the n igh t. Jones' bik e lau nched into the pat h of Pederson and took him ou t as well, Voss took over the lead and Palme r w as now in second, as th ey had both pas sed An tunez, w ho had st a lle d his bik e. Bogard , wh o looked to be ha vin g hi s best ride on th e weekend, w as in th ird , but that only lasted a lap , as he sm ash ed in the whoops for the second time of thenigh t. . Palmer mot ored by Voss in the rock- (A bove) Cli ff Palmer (3) leads Heat h Voss (28) d ur in g Sat urd ay night's 250cc fi nal. Palmer t oo k t he w in and w as o ne of fo u r d ifferent r iders to score victories in Des Mo ines. (Ab ove left) Not all went well for Heath Vo ss ove r t he co urse of the w eek en d, but when all wa s sa id and d on e he 'd sc ored a win , a se c o nd , a t hird and a f ourth to take the lead in t he cha mpio nship. ers w it h two lap s rem amtn g a n d Antunez regained his compos u re, rid ing in third . Palm er took his first win of the series, mak ing for,four different win ners on the weekend . Palmer was naturally happy with the win . "I feel goo d," Palm er sai d . "I actua lly felt good last night, too - I just had so me mi shaps, I'm glad to sho w them wha t I have. I'm going to give it eve rythi ng I've got this year," . "I wasn't tired; I guess I hit a kicker, I don' t kn ow ," sa id Jon es o f h is h uge cr as h. " I wi sh they h ad $500 for the biggest get-off contest, becau se I wo u ld have mad e $1000, Unfortuna tely, it pays no thing ." l~ Memorial Center Des Moi nes , Iowa Resu lts : Novem ber 6-7 , 1998 Fri day 125 PRO O S riders, 16 laps ): 1. C had Ped er son (Su z): 2. Buddv Antunez (Suz): 3. Heath Voss (Honj: 4. Mike Jon e s ( Ka w ); 5. Je ff Willoh ( H en ): 6. To m Hofmaster (Suzl : 7. Ic rom y Bueh l (Han) ; 8 . To dd Brief/~~_----'----'--- ,- - -,.. the firs t time. On' Friday nighi , ~nd st~nned all 'in the house as he won the first three races he entered . including the Dash For Cash , " I just got the. bikes yes ter day, so I need .to adjust a httle." Rand said of his new ride. The mains didn't treat him well either night , but don 't count him out yet. ' , ' , Last year's series consisted of i 4 events. Thi; year that total has been upped to 17 ,- foi a total of 34 main events , since, there are two mains on each o f the tw o nights of racing. "This is going to be a long one," said , Keith Bowen also made his debu t in Des M~ines , though not as a rider, Bowen made his debut as the direct or of Arenacross . Under the superthe current Ar enacross Champion, Buddy Ant unez: " I'm nio re relaxed and more prepared this year. You have to be consistent and get as many ' visio n of fo under Mike , Kidd , B owen was seen' doing all the duties that Kidd has 'done in the past. ' There is so much more to th is than I ever poin ts as pos si~te e~ch race to wi n it. ~ imagined," Bowen said of his new job. "When I raced, I just sho~ed up One new team making its debut at Des Moin es was the Banzai Motor and had no idea of how much work goes into one of these events . It' s a s p o rts/ Xt r em e / Wis e c o / P r o ' A c t i o n -sponsored duo of .'Florida:s · ' big change for me and I was real nervous . Then my battery died 'in my Anthony P ocorobba and Illinois' Tom Hofmaster, For Pocorobba, headset and ~veryone w. s yelling for me; that didn't help ~ither. " a the event was a tougli o ne: Although he did qualify for both ' finals on Friday, rye went dow n hard in t he 125cc main and finished last. Preliminary , , Flagman of the day;' Motocross photog rapher K in ney '.Jo n es gets the', nod . After Pocorobba' s nasty crash on Friday , ,the regular flagman was report s indicated that he sustained a broken nose and torn ligaments in his' knee, For Hofrnaster. it was one of his best events ever.' He ,finished , helping Pocorobba from the track, so Jones grabbed the flag and started waving it wit h orie hand while 'still shooting pict ures wit h' the other. The sixth in Friday' s 125cc final afte r start ing in dead last and he took the next day, Jones was seen picking up a bike in the middle of the track duro holeshot in the ,250cc final 'and led fo r three laps before fading back. A 'career-high fifth in Saturday' s' 125cc main made for a good weekend fo r ,ing a heat race a.fte r ,~not her rider had crashed hard , the 19·year~0Id : who current ly sits eighth in'poinis , · " '. S trange o c currences ; After' Saturday' night 's final race, Chad Peder- . Brian Swink made his return to racing at Des'Moines aboard his' Planet . son 's rriechanlctookhls RM 250 ' direc tly to the box' van and leaned ,it Honda/ Pro Grip-backed CRs , Co mplete with a custom box .van and a ' -aqainst the bumper; As he arrang ed lires and equipment inside'" asomechanic, Swink didn 't. know what to expect going into the first race . . called fan decid ed to stea l the bike. A Pri mal Impulse employee who ''I' ve j ust kind of been hiding out, ". said the now 25'year-old two,time wasn't aware of the .incident was driving to his hotel when he saw a man , 125cc Eastern Supercro ss Seri es C hampion. " I've' never raced t his series . trying to start a motorcycle in a wei rd locatio n several blocks away, On before ,' so I 'just plan on using the first four or five events to learn; then 'second glance, he noticed it was Pedersons' bike and chased after the ' I'm going to come back after Christmas and smoke them ," suspec t. The thief fell on the snow-covered sidewalk and ran, leaving the bike where it fell. Th'e employee returned the bike andasked for a raise: ·.Jeff W illoh made his 'debut as 't he newe st membe r of theTeam TUF Honda/Th or/ Parts Unhmited-back ed squad. Along, with Denny Stephen. And anot her; Also after the final race, M X Racer's C a m e ro n Coatney 'son and Jeromy Buehl, Willoh expects to have a good year, "The Hondas was walking the track when rye' saw some thing' strange: Coatney saw a work great - Pro Circuit js doinqthe motors, and I like them," W illoh comdivot in the di,rt with the letters " M P " in it. After furthe r inspect ion, it was 'rnented of his new ride . "The money in this series is also good . and lplan : determined that it was where Mi ke Jones' knee had impact ed the ground onbeing con sistent and doing well." ' .' afte r hisnasty 250cc main-event crash. The divot. and what turned out to be an " SM P " logo , was dug out of the ground and presented to Jones, Ohio native ' Greg Ra-nd competed aboard hisCarrollto n Kawasaki for " Mad M ike was last seen taking it home in a plastic bag. ., > Del-loop (Yam) ; 9. Cliff Palmer (Ka w): 10. Nick M etcalf (Su z): 11, Jim C heste r (Suz) : 12. Denny Ste ph e ns on (Hun); 13. Tre nt Hansen (Ho n): 14. G reg Rand (Kaw) : 15. Ant hon y Pocorobba (Suz). 250 PRO US riders, 20 laps); 1. Heath Voss (Hon); 2. Chad Pederson (5uz ); 3. Mike jones (Kaw) : 4. jeromy Bueh l (Hon): 5. Jeff Gibso n (Ka w): 6. Brad Woo lse y (Ka w ): 7. To dd De Hoo p (Ya m ); 8. Buddy An tu nez (Suz) : 9. To m Hofrnas ter (Su z): 10. Denny Step he nson (Hu n); 11. Jim C hester (Su z): }2, Greg Rand (Kaw): 13, Bri a n Swi nk (I-ron); 14. Cli ff Palm er (J(.lW); 15. Antho ny Pocor ob ba (SU7:). DFC : 1. Greg Rand IKaw ). J U M P-O FF: 1. Mik e j on e s (Ka w ): 2, Je ff Willoh (Hon): 3. Tom Hofma ster (Suz). Sa tur day 125 PR O (15 riders, 16 laps); 1. Jeff Willu h (Ho n): 2, Cliff Pal mer (Ka w ): 3,Ch.\d Ped er son (Su:,;); 4. Hea th Voss (Hon): 5, To m Ho fm ast er (Su z): 6. G reg Ran d (Ka w): 7, Charley Bogard (5uz); 8, jim Chester (Suz); 9, Brad woolsey (Kaw); )0, Den ny Steph en son (He n): 11. Br ian Swi nk (H on ): 12, Mi ke Jon es (Kaw): 13, jeff G ib so n ( K a w ): 14, Bud d y A ntu ne z (5 u z) ; 15 . To dd Del-loop (Yam ), 250 PRO (I S ride rs, 20 la ps): 1. Cliff Pal mer (J(.1.w); 2, H eat h Voss (H o n); 3. Buddy An tunez (SU7:); 4. Denny S te p he n so n (H e n): 5, Bri an Sw in k (Ho nl : 6 , Brad Woo lsey (Ka w ); 7, jeff Willo h (Hen): 8. C had Ped erson (Suz); 9, Tod d DeHoo p (Yam); 10, Greg Rand (Kaw): 11. Cha rley Bogard (5u;£); 12, Jim Ches te r ISuz): 13, Trent Ha nsen (He n): 14. Mike [on es (Kaw) : 15, Jeff Gibso n (K aw}. DFC: I.Denny Step henson (Hen). JUMP·OFF: l. Mike jo nes (Kaw): 2. (Hon): 3. To m Ho fmaster (Suz). j~ff W illoh PJl NA TlONA L AR ENACROSS S ER IES POINT ST AN D ING S (Af te r 2 of 34 rounds ); L He ath Voss (69/ 1 win ); 2. Ch.,d Ped er son (65/1 ); 3, Cl iff Pal me r . (53 /0; 4. Buddy Antunez (50); 5, Ieff Willu h (46/1); 6. Mike [ones (43); 7, De nny Stephenso n (40); 8. Tom . Ho fmaster (37); 9. Brad Woolsey (36); ,10, (TI E) G reg Ra nd / Jim C hester (34); 12, To d d De Hoop (33 ); 13 . Brian Swi nk (28); 14, [er orn y Buehl (27); 15. Jeff Gibso n (24); 16. Charley Bogard (20) ; 17, Trent Han sen (12); 18, Nick Met calf (9); tv . Ant ho ny Pocorobba (4). Upco ming Rounds: Ro und s 3-4 - Worcester, Massach usett s, Nove mber 13-14 Rounds 5-6 - Jack sonville, Florida, November 20-2 1 '

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