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/127976
Rounds 11 &12: Will Rogers Coliseum AMAlPJl NA TlONAL ARENACROSS SERIES By Kat Spann Photos by Jeff Cox and Karl Ockert FORT WORTH, TX,]AN. 1-2 ver New Year's weekend, Jeff Willoh continued to close the gap on series points leader Cliff Palmer as Willoh collected both 125cc wins and two third-place 250cc finishes , throughout Friday and Saturday night at Will Rogers Coliseum. Rounds 11 and 12 of the 34-race 1999 AMA PJ1 National Arenacross Series took place at the very spot the series was born 15 years ago. The event, presented by Thor and Parts Unlimited, recorded two sellout nights of racing that ran in conjunction with the seventh annual Dallas/Fort Worth Motorcycle Expo. Willoh was in the driver's seat on I . '" '" '" o N ~ .''" " .., '" <:: 14 both nights, grabbmg holeshots in both of his heat races and in the main events. Willoh raced wire to wire for the wins and is now within eight points of second-place points holder Buddy Antunez. Kawasaki of Carrollton-sponsored Cliff Palmer came into the Fort Worth round nine points in front of two-time title defender Buddy Antunez. Palmer also took his first win of the season in the SBS Dash For Cash event on Saturday night, collecting a cool $1868 in the winner-take-all event. "This was one of the funnest races I've had," commented Palmer. "I usually choke on something like this. It was great winning the money. It's the most I've ever won in the cash dash." The Primal Impulse Team had a less- than-stellar showing over the weekend, with Chad Pederson crashing hard during practice on Friday. Pederson was unable to race the rest of the weekend because of the crash. To make matters worse for the team, Buddy Antunez crashed in both the 125cc and 250cc events on Friday. In spite of Antunez's third-place 125cc finish on Saturday, Palmer increased his points lead over Antunez by 30 points. The crowd favorite for the weekend was, beyond a doubt, Mike Jones, who earned the majority of the cash on Friday night. Jones collected the SBS Dash For Cash winnings and the Jump-Off contest, as well as the 250cc main-event win. "I missed the first five races in the series, so I know I'm way back on points," (Above) Jeff Willoh (48) and Cliff Palmer (3) race side by side during 250cc action at rounds 11 and 12 of the AMAJPJ1 National Arenacross, Palmer came away with the 250cc maln-event win on -Saturday, and Willoh won both 125cc mains. (Below) Mike Jones (7), Greg Rand (27) and Buddy Antunez (1) lead the rest of the field into the first tum during the 250cc main event on· Frjday. Jones went on to win the race as well as the Dash For Cash and the Jump-Off on the same night. On Saturday, crashes kept Jones from repeating his 250cc win, but to no one's surprise, he still won the JumpOff.