Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127971
ARENACROSS AMAlPJ1 National Arenacross Series, Rounds 3ยท4: Centrum Centre FRIDAY ON T By Dave Deringer Photos by Ka rl Oc ke rt WORCESTER, MA, NO\'. 13-14 o r Team Gree n Kawasaki / Fox/Pro Circuit-backed Jeff Gibson , the second s to p of the 17-event PJI ational Arc nacross Series meant success - lots of success. The 16-year-old from Tho rnville, O hio, d om inated both of the weekend's 125cc ma in events in s tyle, ra ili ng be rm s and ju mping the tricky trip le ju m p fas ter and smoo the r than anv other rid er. Gibson also came b a ck to sco re a fourth in Sa tu rday's 250cc ma in eve nt, movin g him up to sevent h in the championship points race. "These have to be the two biggest wi ns of my career by far," said the laid e back te nager, "I jus t did wh at I had to d o ou t there." Maki ng a surpris e tr ip to th e fa r Nort h ea st wa s Fa cto ry Conn ec tion / Bill' s Pipes /Sin isa lo-s po ns or ed Heat h Voss. The Minnesota rid er made the trip a fter he recei ved a call on Wednesd ay from Manchester H ond a and Factorv Connecti on offer in g him bikes for the weeke nd . "I d idn' t plan on coming ou t, but my d ad re all y w ant ed m e to, " Vo s s exp lai ned . "A fter the good results last week and the great offer, I figured , Why not?" Voss ma d e the tr ip payoff by winnin g Friday night's 250cc main and fin- F OC! 0'\ 0'\ ...... N~ l-< ClJ .c E ClJ u ClJ a 16 e (Above) Jeff Gibson left the Centrum Centre in style, winning the 125cc finals on both nights of racing. It was the 16year-Old's first victories in the series, (Right) Denny Stephens on (4) tries to hold off Cliff Palmer (3) in Saturday's 250Cc main. Palmer ended up taking the win, with Stephenso n slipping to third. ishing seco nd in Saturd ay's 250cc fina l. A 12th a nd a ninth in the two 125cc ma in s ha s Voss s till a to p th e lea d erboard going into the Jackson ville, Florid a,round. C a r ro ll to n Ka w a s a k Lco m / MS R/ FMF-su p ported Cliff Palmer also d id we ll in l ew England . Palmer finis hed second to Voss on his KX250 on Friday an d the n cam e ba ck to win Satu rday's 250cc featu re. Sixth - and seven th-place fi n is he s in th e tw o 125cc fi na ls h ad Pa lm er g u n n ing fo r th e p o in ts le ad . Palm er knows tha t Voss will p rob ab ly switch to the Su perc ross se ries once it starts. When that happens, Pal mer wi ll be in the d river' s sea t. "This is on ly th e second even t, so you have to stay up her e eve ry time," Palm er said of the tight poi nts race. Voss lead s Palmer, 124-116. Pr imal Impu lse Suzuki/Bill's Pipes teamma tes Budd y Antu n ez a n d Chad Ped erson cu rre n tly h a ve a lo ck o n thi rd and fourth wi th 104 and 103 points, respectively . Tea m Tuf Honda /Thor rid er [eromy Buehl grabbed the holeshot on his Chris Hunter -tuned CRl 25 in the 125cc final, follow e d by Carrollt o n Kawa saki / MSR/Su nsta r-ba cked G reg Rand and Gib s o n. Su zuki o f Ga stonia ' s Ji m Ch e ster a n d Tu f H on d a ' s Denny Stephenson were left to pick them selves up afte r a first-tu m alte rcation. Gibso n ch arged to t he fro nt as h e motor ed by Rand and Buehl and into th e lead befor e the en d of th e second lap . Re g ul a r se r ies f ro n t -r u n ne r s Budd y Antun e z a n d Palme r w er e scr apping for position s in the middle of the pa ck. Gibso n turned on the gas during the n ext few laps a n d h e s lo w ly p u ll ed away from the field. Bue hl se ttled int o seco nd as Rand slow ly slipped back. An tunez had had a d ism al nig ht so fa r, trans ferring to the mains via the last-cha nce qu alifiers. The current nu mbe r-o ne pl a te hold er wa s up to fourth a n d cl o s in g in o n Rand w h en th e halfway flags came out. With Gibson s tretchi ng his lead to three seco nds over Buehl, Antunez saw his chance to s trike. An tun ez mad e his move by Rand over the big double, d iving to the inside in the next corner while Rand w as se t up for the ou tsid e . A downed rider in the outsi de of tha t turn slowed Rand 's progress a nd Ant u nez slipped into third . Gib son took a b ig win ov er Bu eh l while A n tu nez cr uised h om e third . Team 2Xtrem e / Answer-bac ked Charley Bogard had his bes t finish of the series as he crossed the line in fourth. "I just put in 16 perfect laps - it was a blast ," said Gibson, the fifth d iffer en t winner in five races . "I was a little worried a t firs t. I just pull ed away a little and rod e my own race ." "I p ull ed th e h oleshot and s hou ld have won the da m n thing," Buehl said of his rid e. "I' m ju st happy to be here, since I hurt my finge r last week." Wh en as ked if he th ou gh t he cou ld cat ch Gibson out front, Bueh l said : "I've ra ced Je ff a ll s u m mer a t ho me and I