Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Chad Pede rson scored a win in Friday's 125cc main event. (Right) Cliff Palmer moved into the series points lead. He nailed a win in Saturday night's 250cc main. fying time for the second night in a row, Bogard ga ted perfectly and held down the lead at the start of the 125cc final. Pederson, Buehl and Antunez chased the Texas speedster as the race finished the firs t lap. Stephenson and Georgia' s Robb ie Hor ton w ere involved in a big cra sh over the doubl e and were left pick ing up their bikes as the lead ers came around for the seco nd lap. Bogard pu lled so me d istance the first few la ps over Ped er son and Rand , as Antunez was d ropped seve ral positions after choosing not to jump the big double becau se of the cras h. An tu nez re gai ned tho se p ositions se ve ra l laps la te r as he a n d Buehl freight-trained toward the fro nt. Bogard was now long gone but was approachin g lapped traffi c. Pederson went down on his own and lost all his mom entum. Antunez and Buehl jumped into second and third. Buehl passed Antunez for second on lap nine of the 16-lap feature. Then the leader, Bogard, hit the dirt at the end of the rockers while dealing with lappers. Buehl inherited the lead as a result, and that lit a spa rk under Antunez. The two battled for seve ral laps until all hell broke loose. In w hat had to be one of the ugliest sigh ts in mo tocross , the frustrated Boga rd a nd Florid a 's Jason Thom a s broke ou t in a fistfight in the mechan ics turn after the two cras hed together. As th e two th re w pun ch e s, m e ch a n ics, trainers an d tra ck crew tried to break up the ordea l wh ile the race continued . With the wh ite flag waving, Antu nez was chasing Bue hl and was no t giv ing an inch. As they approached the quagmire of people in the fin al turn, Antunez ga ve it one more sh ot . Antunez blo ckpa ssed Buehl, but Buehl cu t back und er while exiting the turn . The two dragraced down the fro nt straight, and Buehl edged out Antunez by a wh eel for the win. Carrollto nKawaski .com /MSR/Pro Circuit-ba cked G reg Rand crossed the Brieflv... Team Honda's Ezra Lusk made an appearance at Jacksonville on Friday night to wi tness some arenacross action . "Just came down to check out some real racing o f guys that aren't afraid to do some bumping and grinding.- said Lusk of the tight racing. The factory supercross star made the three -hour trip from his home in Georgia and says he'II be heading out west soon. "I'm driving out to California next week to start getting ready for Supercross. so this is my last weekend out here for e while ." The SBS Da s h for Ca s h S e rie s that is held at every round of the Arenacross Series is shaping up to be just as close as the regular series. Buddy Antunez and Denny Stephenson each won a dash this weekend. and the overall series champion will pocket S5000. After 6 of 34 rounds. the points are as follows: 1. Denny Stephenson (14): 2. ITIE) Buddy Antunez/Greg Rand (1 3): 4. Chad Pederson (12): 5. Je romy Buehl (ll. Kawasaki Team Green's J e ff Gibson showed up on Saturday night after spending a night in the hospital on Friday following his nasty 125cc main-event crash. "I broke my scapula and two ribs." said the disappointed Gibson, who has been riding superbly as of late. ."1" 11 be out from four to s ix weeks, so I'll be at home healing and training for a while." The .Iacksonville event fell th~ ;"eekend before the Mini Oly';'piCS held in nearby Gai~esviile. A~ a result, seve ral rider s decided to give Arenacross a shot since they we re already in tow n. N ew Mexico's Keith Johnson , Georgia's Matt Walker, Florida's Paul Currie . Georgia's Rob .bie Horton , ldaho's Derek Mahoney and Florida's Jason Thomas, all qualified for at least Ourse of the weekend, and said.they may make the trip to the Perry, . one main event over the C . G eorgi ~ , Arenacross the followingw eekend. line for his best main-event fini sh vet , rounding out the podium in third . • "T h in g s were just going n u ts out there," Buehl said of the bizarre race. "I almost got sucked into that mess. I'll tell you what - tha t's Ar enacross. I got the white flag first and was like. 'No wa y, I'm winning' . The lap before, I went into the whoops all ginger and almost blew it. That had to be great for the fans ." "T h a t was th e on lv move 1 co u ld make - ta king him high in the turn ," Antunez said of the last-ditch e ffo rt. "H e was able to duck back u nderneath and we m ust have crossed (the finish line) inches apart." When asked about h is winless st reak, Antunez sa id: "I'Il take seconds and th irds, whatever. I should have won th at o ne, but they'll come ." "I moved up, then back, there was a fig ht go ing on , and m y thu mb hurt; it was we ird," sa id Ra nd of his first podium of the series. "My mechani c told me I was in th ird an d I jus t s tuck it out. Hopefully, there will be more." Boga rd an d Thomas were u na va ilable for comment afte r the race . Pederson , Buehl, Step he nso n and Kawasaki of Carrollton's Brad Woo lsey were at the front of the pack at the start of the 250cc final. Pederson and Buehl set the pace as the y s lowly d istan ced themselves from the pa ck. Willoh , who started mid pack, was up to fourth and pa st Wools ey by lap three. By lap five, Pederson and Buehl were battlin g up front , Stephe ns on rode in third, while Willoh and Antunez began to ba ttle for fourth . Behind them, Palmer and four-stroke-mounted Wallace were goi ng at it until Wallace blew thro ugh the mechanic's be r m , e nd ing a ny chances of a decent finish. Buehl mo tored by Pederson through the rockers for the lead near lap 10, and Willoh would attack next, as he moved by teammate Stephenso n fo r th ir d . Antu nez also saw the fading Stephenson and dived into four th shortly thereafter. Willoh executed a pe rfect block-pa ss o n Pe de rso n o n th e 14th ci rcu it a nd moved int o second . An tu nez also saw an oppo rtunity and the two team ma tes ro de side by sid e for a lap . Ped erson wa s not read y to lose another position , and he ro d e in tandem w it h An tu nez un til Ped erson made a tiny miscue upon la ndi ng a tric ky jump, resultin g in an enor mous crash for both rid ers. Antunez got to his feet quickly, whi le Peders on held hi s s hou lde r o n the g ro u nd. Al Lane Yamaha / Fox /Moto Planet's Robbie Horton, wh o was rid ing a s o li d r a ce in fif t h, aut om a ti call y moved into third . With on e lap to go, it was Buehl out front with his teamma te Willoh closing in. Willoh mad e one last trv but it wa s not to be. Buehl took his ~ond w"in of the night and the series. Horton held on for third, in front of Stephenson a nd a . distant Palmer. "vvhoooa yea," Bueh l yelled from the po dium. "I was leading an d thinking, 'Tw o in a row; I don't think a nvo ne' s done that : My goa l is top five, not neeessarilv win them all, so I d idn' t want to push ii." 1.\ J acks onville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida Results: November 21-22, 1998 (Rounds5-6of34) Frida y 125 PR O (15 riders, 16 la ps) : 1. Cha d Ped er son (Suz ): 2. Charl ey Bogard (SU7.); 3. kff Willoh C Hon); 4. Ty Walla ce (Yam ); 5. Grl'; Rand (K.wd; ft. Jim Chester (Suz) : 7. De-nny Stephenson (Hen): 8. Icro my Bueh l (H o n ): 9 . Bu dd y Ant unez (SUf.); 10. Tom Hofrna st cr (Suz ): I I. Barrv ·c.lrs t~ n (Su :t.>; 12. Cliff P.11l'}1l·r (K .1W) ; 13. De re k Mahoney (He n): H . Je ff G ibson ( Kd W); 15. PilUI Curri e (Suz). 250 P RO ns rid e rs, 20 lap!t ): 1. C1iH Palmer (Ka w ): 2. Budd y An tu nez (Suz); 3. Jetf w illo h (He n): 4. Jcro my Bue hl ( Hen) : 5. Den n y Step henson (H en ): 6. Robbie H o rto n (Yam); 7. C ha d Pederso n (Su L); 8. Tv Wa llace (Ya m); 9. G reg Rand (Kaw): 10. Iascn Thomas (Yam); 11. Brad w col sev (Kaw ); 12. Matt Walker (Yam); 13. Barry Ca rsten (Suz); 14. Tom Ho fmasrer (Suz); 15. kif Gibsoi't (Kaw). ; DF C: 1. Bu ddy Antu ne z (Su z }: 2. Den ny Stephenson (H on): 3. Jeff Gibson 1K. W); 4. Ierorny Buehl 1 (Honl . JUMP.QFF : 1. .Ieff WiUoh (Hon);!. Tom Hofrna..tor (Su1.); 3. Barry Carsten (Suz). Saturday 125 PRO (I5 .ri ders, 16 laps): 1. lcrorny Bueh l ( HU ll ); 2. Buddy Antunez (5u z); 3. Gn.,; R.lOd (K .1W); 4. Itd f Wi1Ioh (Hon ); 5. Jim Ches ter (Suz) : 6. Tom Hofrnastcr (5 uz); i . Cliff Palmer (K .1W); 8. Keit h Io hn son (Yam ): Q . Barry Ca rstc..l (Suz) : 10. Ma tt w alk er (Yam) ; 11. De nny · Step he nson (H e n): 12 Robbie Horto n (Yam); 13. jason Tho mas (Yam ); U . C had Pederson (SU7.); 15.. Cha rley Bogard (Suz). 250 l~R O (15 ri ders, 20 lap s): 1. je remy Buehl (Ho n): 2. Jeft Willoh (Ho n): 3. Robbie Hort o n (Y,l m ); 4. Denny S tephenson (Hen) : 5. Cliff Palm er ( Ka w ): 6. Brad Woo ls e y ( K a w ): i . Ja so n T ho mas (Ya m ); S. Budd y Antu nez (Suz ): 9. Jim Ches ter (Suz) : 10. Bary Ca rs te n (Suz ): 11. Keith Johnson (Ya m ); 12. G reg Ran d (Kaw): 13. Matt Walk er (Yam); 14. Ch.1J Pederson (Suz); 15. Ty Wallace (Yam ). DF C: 1. Denny Stephe nso n (!-Ion); 2. ler omy Bueh l (Ho nj: 3. Brad Woo lsey ( K.1W ); 4. Buddy Antunez (Suz). JUM P.Q FF: 1. Jeff willoh a -Ion); 2. Tum Hofma ster (Suz ): 3. Ba rry Carsten (Su z). . P JI N A TIO N A L AR ENA C ROS S SE R IES " O INT STAN D ING S IAft~r 6 of 34 rou nd s): 1. Cliff Palm er (3 w i ns / 169); 2. Je ff Wi llo h (2/165); 3. Bud d y An tunez (161); 4. jer em y Buehl (2/150); 5. (TIE) Cha d Ped e rso n / Denny Stephenson (45); 7. Greg Rand ( 29 ); 8. Hea th y Voss (2/124); 9. (TIE) Cha rle Boga rd / Jeff Gibson / Jim C hes ter (89); 12. To m Ho fma ste r

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