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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127974
ARENACRO S Rounds 9ยท1 etroCenter S 0:M AMAJPJ1 N ATIONAL ARENAC ROSS SER S IE (Left) Defending AMAlPJ1 National Arenacross Champ ion Buddy Antunez moved up the points ladder in Rockford by winning Sunday's 250cc final. Antunez finished third in both of Friday's main events and settled for a fou rth in the 125cc final on Sunday. (Above) Denny Step henson started out strong, winning the first 125c c main. Bad starts and arm pump kept him oil the podium for the rest of the weekend. By Dave Deringer Photos by Kinney Jones 50 ROCKFORD, IL, DEC. 4-5 r) ound s n ine a n d 10 of th e PJI I -, N atio na l Ar enacross Series, pr e_ _ sented bv Thor and Parts Unlimited , traveled to'the usually chilly upper Midwest, only to find a heat wave ou tside. Insid e was just as hot , as four different rid ers won a main event over the co urs e of t h e weekend durin g tw o nigh ts of intense racing . P rima l Impulse Su zuki /Bill ' s Pipes/Silkolene-backed Buddy Antunez mad e h is appearan ce in Rockford the m os t worthw h ile, as it was h is best event t o da te in th e y o u n g se r ies. Antu nez amaz ingly scored his first win of the year, after tip ping over and having to restart his bike at one point during Sa tu rday' s 250cc final. A pai r of thirds on Friday, coupled wi th a fourth a nd th e b ig w in o n Saturd a y, ha s Antunez secu rely in the runner-up spo t in th e tight poin ts race to become the PAC E 1999 PJl A re nacross Se r ies Nati on al Cha m pion. "My team manager, Billy Whitley, has been telling me to focus on pod ium fini sh e s; th e p oints will co m e wit h them ," Antunez expl ained . "I' m glad I won one for all our spo nso rs and team staff that are behi nd me. They needed it also ." An tunez' tea m mate Chad Ped er son also had a decent weekend aboard his Suz u kis at Rockford. Pederson scored th ree second - p la ce fini shes in a row, then finished s ixth in Saturday's 250cc featu re. For Carrollton Kawasak i.corn' s Cliff Pal mer, the eve nt mar ked another semico ns iste n t w e e ke nd . T he Okla homa native wo n Friday's 250cc final and finished second in Saturdav' s 250cc main. A fifth and a sixth in the two 125cc finals has Palmer at the top spo t on the po int roster for the third week in a row . "My 250 is working great , and I'm in good shape right now. If I get ou t to a good start on the 250, there is no good reaso n why I can' t win," Palmer said of his riding. "We are still working on the 125 and don' t have it to ta lly w orked ou t, but we'll get it." The other tw o winners on the weekend w er e the Tea m Thor/H ond a /Tuf Racing teamma tes, Denny Stephenso n and Jeff Willoh . Stephenso n took a comma nd in g wi n in Fr id a y' s 125cc fi nal, while Willoh came back to do the same on Satu rday night after missin g Friday' s even t. T he ri d e rs w ill no w take a threeweek b r ea k bef ore h e a d in g 'to Fo r t Wo rth, Te xas, o n New Ye ar ' s Da y . Going int o Texas, Palmer has a nin epoi nt lead over Antu nez, 299-290. Ped erson sits in third wi th 282, while Willoh an d Step he nso n ro un d ou t the top five with 257 an d 252, respectively. FRIDAY After missing several of the last few u round s, Powers Motors /Pro Circ , it / Du nlop- backe d Tod d DeH oo p ca me back to set the fastest qu alifying times in both of his 125cc and 250cc heat races, an d h e was lo oking s t ro ng . P rima l Impu lse Suz uki's Ped erson wo n the SBS Dash For Cash, wh ile hom etown hero Tom Hofmaster dazzled the cro wd and w on the fan-fa vo rite jump-off con tes t. The tra ck was dam p throughou t the night, and it rutted up quickly. Mon tgome ry v ill e Cycle / Acerbis / RRP's Ty Wallace nailed the start of the 125cc mai n , w ith Pe derson, T ho r / H o nd a 's Je ro my Bu eh l a n d Denn y Ste p he nso n fo llo wi ng in h is ro os t. Stephe nso n qu ickly moved into second o n th e first lap , b e h ind Wallace, as Buehl dropped two spots. Stephenson mo tor ed by Wa llace on la p fo u r fo r th e lead as series p oin ts le a d er Pal mer was working h is wa y th rough the pack after a med iocre start. Ped er son quic kly followed Stephe nson as he block-passed his way by Wallace on lap five. Lappers, wh o were an issue all weekend lon g, appeared early on in the race one lap later. Step he nso n and Ped erson battled for several laps until Ped erson bo bb led in th e ro cker s, th us a llow ing S te p he nso n to break a way . Buehl a dva n ce d to Ped ers on ' s tai l, and An tu nez a nd Palmer were u p to fifth and sixth by lap 10, as Wallace was losing ground following his good start. DeHoop , who was running mid pack, wa s involved in a terrible cras h w it h anot her rider and was sent directly into the cement gra ndstand wall, knoc kin himself ou t of the race. With sev era l laps remaining, Ped er so n had caught back up to Step henson and the two began to race for sev era mo re la ps w hile ye llow cau tio n flag were waving for DeHoo p and se vera other d owned riders. Antunez mad e the las t pass of th race on th e fin a l lap as he took awa} Buehl' s line coming out of a corner an mov ed into third . Step henson took his first wi n of th yea r, followed by Ped erson, An tu nez Buehl and Palmer. "I kn ow I'm able to do it - I've jus been having weird lu ck ," Stephenso explained of his win . "There was a lot 0 chaos out there, but that's Ar ena cro ss It' s good to wi n in fro nt of all my spo n so rs, too." "It's pr ett y one-lined ou t ther e," said runner -up Pederson . "Some o ne ha s to make a big mistake if you wa n t to mak up any time." "I knew I had to ge t on the podium; it was the final lap, and that's racing," An tu ne z sa id of his clean block-pass. "Sorry, [er omy, bu t I'm on the podium and you' re not: ' Step henson g ra bbed a n ins pi ri ng 250cc main-event holeshot , followed bv Pederson, Suzuki of Gastonia / Barr's i Sinisalo-bac ked Jim Ches ter, Carroll ton Kawasaki.com / MSR/Pro Circui t's Greg Rand and Banza i Mot or sports /Torque Cen tee's Eron Ezerins, Rand we nt d own to the we t soil early on while Palmer moved up after ano ther mid pack start. Chester and Ezerins then colli ded in th e roc kers and both went down on lap thr ee. Ou t fro nt, Stephenson was ahead 'of Ped ers on and Palmer, who moved into th ird as a result of all of the cras hes . Antunez was up to fourth, while Buehl was in fifth . Th e order re ma ine d the sa me until lap 10, when Palmer d ecided to strike. As Pederson was battling with the tiring Stephenson, Palm er su rp rised the two and snea ked in between them in a tum . Pa lmer made the pa ss on Pederson for second, and th en for th e lead se vera l turns later . Ped ers on moved by Ste p he nso n s ho r tly th erea ft er fo r se co nd , whil e Stephenson was try ing to hold th ird pl a ce i n f ro n t of a h a rd -ch argin g Antunez. j