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/127973
ARENACROSS AM A/PJ1 NATIONAL ARENACROSS SERIES By Dave Deringer Photo s by Karl Oc kert PERRY, GA. NOV. 27-28 n a mix of Georgia clay and Florida sand, Cliff Palmer, on his Carrollton Kawasaki/MSR/Sunstarbacked KXs, o nce again, relied on consistency to stay atop of the AMA /PJl National Arenacross Series lead erboa rd . In Georgia, Palmer mad e it to the podium three times, one those times following a win in Saturd ay' s 250cc final, his fo urth wi n so far. His worst finish in Geo rgia was a cras h-induced sixth. "I' m just keeping my cool and rid ing smart; it's a real long series and I need to be on the podium eve ry tim e," Palmer sa id. Chad Pederson took his Suzukis to (Above) Cliff Palmer extended his series points lead with four solid ri des at th e AMAlP J 1 Nat io nal Arenacross in Georgia, Palmer wo n Saturday's 250cc final. (Below) Chad Pederson scored tw o wins over the weekend , 00 0\ 0\ ,...... -.D ,...... l-o C,) ..0 E C,) u C,) c 16 two wins over the course of the weekend, one being in Frid ay' s 2S0cc final a nd th e next during Sa tu rda y's 12Scc final. Peders on s it s fo u rth in p oints ~ter, s o far, an up-and-down seaso n. Budd y Antu nez also had a d ecent weeke nd aboar d his Pri mal Im p u lse / Bill's Pipes-Suzuki. After an eighth and a fourth along wit h so me bike p roblem s o n Friday. Antu nez got it ba ck together w it h a pair of secon d -p lace finis hes on Saturday. With his finish es, Ant un e z m o v e s int o secon d i n th e points tall y. The o th er w in ne r w as Greg Rand, who opened the weekend 's racin g with a win in Fridav's 125cc main . Afte r eig'ht events, Palmer holds an l l -point lead over Antunez, 234-223. Jeff Willoh slip ped back third wit h 222. and Pederso n and [e ro rnv Bueh l round out the top five with 215 and 200 poin ts, res pectively. FRIDAY Bue hl grabbed the start of the 12Scc final on his Tu f Racin g /Thor /Pro Ci rcu i t-s p o nso re d Ho nd a . Rand and RRP / Acerbis-ba cked Ty Wa lla ce were next. As th e rid e r s ma de th e ir way throu gh th e ro ckers for the first time, Rand blitzed his way by Buehl into the lead. Buehl's teammat e Willoh quic kly moved int o third , while Dunlop / Silkolene-s ponsored Antunez held fourt h. Rand a nd Buehl battled for several laps until Rand got into his rhyt hm and pu lled away. Willoh moved in on Buehl a few laps later and set tled into seco n d as th e b a tt l , raged beh ind him among Palm er, Antunez and Wallace, By lap nine of the 16lap race, Rand h ad checked out. Willoh held se co n d as Pa lmer wa s solidl y in third after Buehl had go n e down solo in the rockers . Antunez wa s the next to have problems, as he was fading quickly and looking down at his bike. "A piece of di rt somehow go t into the carburetor ," Antunez's mecha nic, Ed Longacre, said . An tu nez' teammat e, Ped ers on , ' too k ad va ntage of the problem and moved into four th, wh ile Planet Honda / Pro Gri p / Mi ch elin -ba ck ed Brian Swi nk w as on a charge, m o vi n g p a st Denn y Step henso n and Wallace into fifth. Ra n d to ok h is firs t