Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Suzuki-mounted Charlie Bogard won Sunday's 125cc and 250cc Pro classes at the first round of the AMA Checkered Flag Produc1ions Arenacross Series, held at the HardyMurphy Coliseum. AMA Checkered Flag Productions AX Series Texas invades Oklahoma arenacross By Craig Cole ARDMORE, OK, DEC. 5-6 exans Charlie Bogard, Josh Demuth and Brad Woolsey were the big winners at round one of the AMA Checkered Flag Productions Arenacross Series, heJd at the Hardy-Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Woolsey and Demuth were main-event winners on Saturday, with Demuth also taking first in the jump-off contest. Bogard took both mains on Sunday, while Demuth repeated as the crowd favorite in the jump-off. Kawasaki-mounted Doug Stone took the holeshot in Saturday's 125cc main event, with Woolsey and Demuth in close pursuit. Bogard moved up to fourth in the rhythm section of the track. As the first lap came to a close, Bogard had IUs Suzuki at Demuth's rear wheeJ. Demuth, meanwhile, was pressuring Woolsey for second, but he chose the inside line before the triple, lost some momentum, and had to settle for doubling it. Woolsey's Kawasaki cleared the triple and the front ·three entered the whoops in the same order as they had in lap one. Dennis Owens moved his Suzuki around Bogard's to take over the fourth position, leaving the running order Stone, Woolsey, Demuth and Owens. Woolsey again bobbled in the rockers, and Demuth moved into second. T 32 Jake Martin worked his way to fourth; Bogard was fifth. On the fifth lap, Martin went down hard in the whoops, bringing out the red flag - but you would never have known it by watching the front-runners go at it. Finally, track officials were able to get them under control so they could attend to Martin. He was able to walk away, but his weekend was over. The follow-the-leader restart saw Stone get a great jump, with Demuth second, Woolsey third, Bogard fourth and Owens fifth. At the end of the rockers, Demuth took the lead, with Woolsey following him. Bogard got around Stone and was soon knocking on Woolsey's back door. On the penultimate lap, Bogard passed Woolsey, who ended !lP crashing hard in the next straightaway. Doug Stone and Brian Stone squirted by before Woolsey remounted. The two brothers finished third and fourth, respectively. Demuth's lead vanished on the last lap and Bogard passed him two turns from the end of the race, bringing the roaring crowd to its feet. Demuth, however, had the momentum going into the last turn and he retook the lead and the win. Woolsey recovered and finished fifth. At the start of the 250cc main, Bogard was driven into the hay bales in the first turn and was sent flying across the track. The race was red-flagged so that track workers could reset some banners and bales. Woolsey was first out of the gate on the second attempt, followed by Doug Stone, defending series champ Kenney Bertram in third and Bogard in fourth. Bogard crashed after the double, losing positions to Brian Stone and Demuth. Brian Stone went down after the finish line, advancing Demuth to fourth. Bertram and Doug Stone started battling over second, allowing Woolsey to stretch out a substantial lead. Bertram was able to dispatch Stone, and it was not long before Demuth had IUs YZF400 in third. After the halfway mark, Demuth moved to second and Stone moved back up to third as Wool ey continued to stretch his already huge lead. The rider from Burleson, Texas, would have no challenges for the rest of the race. Meanwhile, the race for third between Doug Stone and Bertram inten- . sified, with the Yamaha of Brandon Lacey lurking in fifth. Bertram finally passed Doug Stone at the start of the whoop section early in the second-tolast lap. Woolsey took the checkers in a different time zone, with Demuth second, Bertram third, Doug Stone fourth and Lacey filth. Sunday's 125cc race saw Woolsey getting his second holeshot of the weekend, ahead of Bogard, Doug Stone, Owens and the Honda of Trent Hansen. As the fron t four ran in single file, Bertram and Demuth waged a side-by~ side, nose-to-tail batUe for the fifth spot for the better part of the first two laps. Demuth was finally able to get by Bertram during lap three, putting him back to sixth. 11,e running order up front remained the same as the race approached the halfway point, with Bogard reeling Woolsey in through the whoops each lap, but he was unable to get close enougl} to make the pass. Stone was alone in third as Owens and Hansen fought for fourth. Demuth crashed in the whoops and finished the race in seventh. Woolsey started to catch heavy lap traffic after the halfway signal, which allowed Bogard to catch him in the whoops. The two raced bar to bar over the double and through the rockers before catching more lappers in the second-to-last turn. Bogard tangled with a slower rider, letting Woolsey get away. It appeared Woolsey had the race in the bag, but Bogard recovered and started reeling him in. Woolsey came up short on the double and Bogard flew by into the lead. Woolsey mounted a charge, but he got hung up behind a backmarker for ~everal laps, which ruined any chance of his performing some last-lap heroics. Bogard won the battle, with Woolsey second. Kenney Bertram came from out of nowhere to finish third, with Owens and Hansen taking their raceJong duel to fourth and fifth. In the final race of the weekend, Bogard emerged from the first-turn rumble in the lead, with Woolsey, Demuth and the Stones in tow. Woolsey worked his way around Bogard early in lap two while the rest of the top five continued in the same order they had been running since the start. Doug and Brian Stone waged a great battle for fourth until they both tangled with a slower bike in lap five. Brian regained his composure before Doug, and picked up fourth position in the process. Bertram's hopes of another podium finish faded when he crashed after the double just short of halfway. Woolsey and Bogard came upon the downed rider as their race for the lead began to heat up. Bogard entered the rhythm section with a better drive than Woolsey and was able to clear the first two jumps wlUle Woolsey had to single each one. The move put Bogard in the lead to tay.. Demuth gradually worked his way up to Woolsey's rear fender and the two completed several laps engaged in a fierce battle for second. Woolsey's bike washed out from under him coming out of a turn and he went down right in front of Demuth. With no time to react, Demuth ended up running over the back of the downed bike, picking up second place. J:he front three had put enough track between themselves and the rest of the field that Woolsey was able to remount in third, where he ended up finishing. The second half of the race had the front five running in the same order but so spread out that they were never in the same section of the track at the same time. Bogard enjoyed a comfortable lead to the checkers for his second win of the day, with Demuth second and Woolsey third. Brian and Doug Stone finished their weekend in fourth and fifth. eN Hardy-Murphy Coliseum Ardmore, Oklahoma Results: December 5-6, 1998 ·(Round 1) Saturday 125 PRO: 1. Josh Demuth (Yam); 2. Charlie Bogard (Suz); 3. Doug Stone (Kaw); 4. Brian Stone (Kaw); 5. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 6. Kurt Jennison (Yam); 7. Earl Kephart (Su~); 8. Walter Carter (Han); 9. Trent Hansen (Hon); 10. Kenney Bertram (KTM). 250 PRe?: 1. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 2. Josh Demuth (Yam); 3. Kenney Bertram (KTM); 4.. Doug Stone (Kaw); 5. Brandon Lacey (Y"m); 6. Trent Hansen (Han); 7. Charlie Bognrd (S02); 8. Brian Stone (K"w); 9. Adam Cnrroll (Kaw); 10. Earl Kephart (Suz). Sunday us PRO: 1. Charlie Bogard (Suz); 2. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 3. Kenney Bertram (KTM); 4. Dennis Owens (Suz); 5. Trent Hansen (Han); 6. Brian Stone (}(.1.w); 7. Josh Demuth (Yam); 8. Doug Stone (Kaw); 9. Earl Kephart (So2); 10. Kurt Jennison (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Charlie Bogard (Suz); 2. Josh Demuth (Yam); 3. Brad Woolsey (Kaw); 4. Brian Stone (Kaw); 5. Doug Stone (Kaw); 6. Earl Kephart (Suz); 7. Dennis Owens (Suz); 8, Trent Hansen (Han); 9. Adam Carroll (Kaw); 10, Brandon L.., cey (Yam). AMA Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scrambles Series Bersano wins by seconds' By Debbie Allen FORDSVlLLE,KY,DEC.6 &S/Sini alo/Fass Gas/Suzukibacked Blair Bersano battled the competition for three laps before running away on the fourth and final lap to win round five of the AMA MidSouth Winter Hare Scramble Series, held in Fordsville, Kentucky. "It was an excellent track, and I had a great day," declared AA-class rider Bersano, who led three of the four laps raced. "I was third off the start, and 1 stayed there pretty much the entire first lap." Grea t Da ve' s I MSR I Silkolene I Maxxis Tire/Pro- Taper ITM-backed Sampson was the first off the start, followed by Great Dave's/MSR/TM teammate John Maschino. Bersano fell in behind Maschino and waited for the TM racer to fade or bobble somewhere on the first lap. Sampson completed the first lap il1 29 minutes. Before Maschino and Bersano completed the first lap, Bersano made his move into second place. Fourthplaced Shad Ricketts was also gaining time on Maschino and would ultimately trade third place several time throughout the race. Now in second, Bersano picked up the pace and caught up to Sampson halfway through lap two. Before the lap was over, Sampson gave way to Bersano, handing the lead over to the F

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