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(Left) Jeff Wllloh did not
even ride the Friday
program, but that did not
slow him do wn any . On
Saturday, Willoh won
both his heats and went
on to win the 125cc final.
Wllloh finished fourth In
the 250cc final.
(Right) Leading the .
series by a mere nine
points over Antunez
after round eight, Cliff
Palmer won the 250cc
final on Saturday and
finis hed second on his
250 Sunday. On the 125,
Palmer struggled,
ea rning 5-6 finishes.
With a few laps to go , the tw o frontunn ers, Pal mer and Pederson, had se pra ted themselv es fro m th e p ack, a nd
n tunez had pa ssed a n arm-pum ped
tephenson for third .
Palmer ended up with a comfo rtable
vin, a head of Ped erson and Antunez,
vho finis hed second a nd third fo r the
eco nd tim e o n th e ni ght. Step hen son
ield on for fourth in fron t of Buehl.
" I go t through the pack pretty good,
nd o nce I got ou t fro n t, I felt good, "
almer said of his w in. "I'm really feelng good o n the 250 right now. "
SATURDAY
A fter mi s sing Frid ay ' s even t in it s
entire ty, Willoh re tu rned o n Saturday to
vin bo th heat races he entered. Kawasa'i of Ca rrollto n' s Greg Rand w on th e
90 0-p lus Da sh For Cash, w hile H ofaster o nce aga in took the ju m p -o ff
in . Going int o the finals, Antunez w as
till winless, and Friday night's rocker
ection had been changed to a s m a ll
hythm section.
Willoh grabbed the 125cc mai n-event
tart on his Pro Circu it-backed H onda,
ollowed clos ely b y Ban z ai Suzuki I
treme /Wiseco-sponsored Hofmaster
nd Rand.
Willoh and Hofma st er pulled away
from th e pa ck in th e ea rly goings as
Antunez , Palm er a n d Step henson
dueled for po siti ons after poor starts.
Pederson slip ped by Rand into thi rd
on lap th ree w hi le W illoh towed Hofm a s t er a ro u n d t he track up f ro n t.
Bu ehl ca sed the s te p-u p tr iple w h il e
Briefl
•••
runn in g in fi fth a nd los t m any p ositions .
Willoh began to put so me d ist ance
on th e cro wd favorite, Hofrnaster , midw a y throu gh t h e ra ce , a s Ped e rs on
began to close in o n the teen ager. On lap
ni ne, H o frn aster m is jud g ed th e n ew
rh ythm sec tion and too k a tri p over the
bars .
Ped erso n, w ho had also bobbled in
th e sa me sec tion bu t ke p t it uprigh t,
moved int o se co nd, as Hofrna st er w as
n o w ou t wi th a b ro ke n cl utch le ver.
Ra nd was now in third, and A ntu nez
w as making up th e most g ro u nd fro m
th e med iocre sta rt and was up to fifth,
behind Chester.
With the w hite flag waving. it was all
Willoh, sho w ing tha t he will be in th e
title hunt for th e long ha u l. 'Ped erso n
wa s lonely in seco nd, a nd Rand he ld
third . Wh ile hold in g fourth fo r a good
porti on of the race , C hes ter w as looking
for his best finish of the yea r, but it was
not to be , as he w ent down on the las t
la p.
Willoh cr u ised across for the win,
with P ederson , Rand a nd Antun e z
crossing next.
"1was a little tense ou t there after not
riding last night, but it all worked out,"
Willoh sa id aft er the win.
"H ofrnaster w as running good o u t
th ere: ' Ped erson sai d of the earl y ba ttle.
"After he we nt dow n, I tried to make a
charge at Willo h, bu t he wa s gone."
Buehl w as the firs t rid er to exit turn
on e in th e 250cc main. Antunez , Willo h
a n d St ephenson trailed. Steph ens on
(Left)
Cons istency
was the name
of the game
for Chad
Pederson in
Rockford . The
Suzuk i pilot
finished
second In
every main
except for
Sunday's
25OCc, where
he placed
s ixth.
Peders on s its
in third place
on the points
scale with
282.
w ent down on la p one w ith a spectacula r cr a s h , and Palm e r and Atomic
22 / GP Motorsports/H ickman -supported Kevin Crine took advantage.
An tu nez stalled his bike on lap two
while running in seco nd a nd sli p ped
back to sixth. Buehl threw his lea d away
o n lap three when he came up short on
th e triple in a bi zarre, s lo w - m o tio n
crash .
Willoh inhe ri ted the lead as a result
and was looking for win number tw o on
the nig ht. Pa lmer and Crine were now
in seco nd an d third in w ha t was already
an odd race by lap number five .
Pal mer m ot ored bv Willoh se ve ra l
la ps later through the roc kers: then, one
turn la ter, he cross-ru tted an d a lmost
w en t dow n . An tune z , who had jus t
pa ssed Crine for third, used th e o ppo rtunity to di ve into seco nd .
An tu nez blo ck -passed h is way by
Willoh into the lead at the halfw ay point
of the 2Q-lap race; th en Palmer followed.
Crin e a ls o s a w a n o pe n ing and d ispl aced Willoh to fourth.
Aft e r a n ac tio n - pac ked 10 laps ,
things bega n to w ind d own . Antunez
.w as ridi ng his best race up fro nt w hile
Palmer slowly closed in. Crine had to be
the mo st cons istent throughout the rac e,
and he was hold ing d own third.
With a few laps to go, Palmer made
o ne la st -ditch tr y, but it d id not w ork.
An tunez cruised acro ss for his firs t w in
of th e year, fo llowed by Palmer and a
happy Cri ne,
"I' m happy to w in my firs t for all the
gu ys w ho a re help in g m e o u t, " sa id
Antunez, who then w ent on to explain
his ea rly-race mishaps. "I had to kick it
over aga in , a n d te chni call y, I w ent
d own, too. I w on it the hard w ay. I'm
happy."
0
Met ro Center
Rockford , illinois
Resu lts: December 4-5, 1998
(Rounds 9 and 10 of 34)
Friday
125 PRO (IS ri ders, 16 la ps): 1. De nny Stephenso n
(Hon); 2. Cha d Ped erson (Suz): 3. Bud d y Antu ne z (Suz);
4. Je romy Bue hl (H e n): 5. C liff Pa lm er (Kaw): 6. Ty
Wa lla ce (Yam) ; 7. Jim C he s te r (Suz ); 8. Greg Ra nd
(Ka w ): 9. Tom H ofma ster (Su z ); 10. Eron Ezerins (SuO!);
11. Bran do n Bart z (Yam); 12. Austin Rau bs (Ya m); 13.
Victo r Lopez (Kaw): 14. Tod d DeH oo p (Ya m); 15. Kevin
Crine (Yam).
250 PRO (15 riders, 20 l.i p S): 1. Cliff Palmer (Kaw):
2. Cha d Ped e rs o n (Suz); 3. Buddy A ntu nez (5 u7o); 4.
Denny Ste phe nso n (Hon): 5. Jeremy Bue hl (Ha n); 6. Ty
Wallace (Ya m); 7. Tom Hofme ster (5u7o); 8. Jim Chester
(Suz); 9. Ke...i n Cn ne (Yam ); 10. Aus tin Raubs (Ya m); 11.
Bran d on Bartz (Ya m); 12. G reg Ran d (Ka w); 13. Ma tt
Smit h (Kaw); 14. Ercn Ezeri ns (Suz) ; 15. Todd Del-loop
(Yam).
O F<=' I . Chad Pederson (Suz ); 2. Greg Rand (Kaw) :
3. Kevin Crine (Yam); 4. OJ(( Pa lmer (Ka w).
J UM P · OF F: 1. Tom Ho fma ste r (Suz); 2. Brandon
Bartz (Ya m); 3. G reg Ran d ( Ka w ).
Sa tu rday
125 PRO (15 riders, 16 laps) : 1. Jeff Willoh (Ha n); Z.
C ha d Ped erson (5uz); 3. Greg Ran d (Ka w); 4. Buddy
An tune z (Suz); 5. Ty w all a ce (Ya m) ; 6. Cl iff Palmer
( Ka w ): 7. Denn y Stephen son (H a n); 8. Kevi n C ri ne
(Yam); 9. Jpm Chester (Suz); 10. Jero my Bueh l (Hon) . I I .
Ero n Ezerins (Suz); 12. Matt Smi th (Ka w ): 13. Au stin
Raubs