Rounds 31 & San Jose Arena
32:
AMMPJ1NAnONALARENACROSSSER~S
SAN JOSE, CA, MAR. 19-20
e champagne flowed in San Jose
as Buddy Antunez clinched his
third consecutive Arenacross title
before 10,000 fans who were on hand for
the penultimate rounds of the AMA PIJ
National Arenacross Series. The event
marked the series' first visit to the San
Jose Arena, a.k.a. "the Sharkplt." And
Antunez made it a memorable one by
winning three out of four main events to
clinch his third arenacross title.
After winning the 12Scc main on Friday evening, Antunez, on his Ed Longacre-tuned Primal Impulse/Bill's Pipes
Suzuki RMs, had to settle for second in
the 2S0cc main behind Jeromy Buehl,
bringing an end to a streak of nine
main-event wins. But the consistent
podium visits that have been the hallmark of Antunez's entire season gave
him enough points to make the title a
certainty if he could simply qualify for
either of Saturday's main events. Needless to say, Antunez did this with ease,
taking a win in the 125cc heat and locking the title up tight. But Antunez didn't
show any sign of complacency, as he
rode every heat and main as if going for
the win.
''I'm a racer, and [ come out here to
race every weekend, so I want to finish
up at the front," Antunez said. "But in
the back of my mind, I want to play it
smart and win the championship."
Also consistently making the podium
over the weekend was Thqr/Tuf Racing
Honda star Denny Stephenson, who
matched his teammate Buehl, with three
podium visits each.
Mike Jones also made it to the podium with a third place in Saturday's
250cc main. Jones had a lucrative weekend despite riding with an injured hand,
soldiering on to win the Jump-Off contest on )x>th nights and Saturday's Dash
For Cash. Stephenson was the previous
night's DFC winner.
Making the podium for the first time
was Tom Hofmaster, who has always
been one to be in the thick of things
throughout the series. Hofmaster has
had an especially strong showing in the
final rounds of the season, capped by a
third place in Saturday's 12Scc main. In
addition, HQfmaster finished in the top
10 in every main and padded his points
lead over Jim Chester, his season long
rival, for seventh in the standings.
With the title in hand heading into
the Arenacross series finals in Salt Lake
City next week, Antunez was already
preparing for his next major challenge.
"I practice and train with Nathan
Ramsey, and I believe that will help me
quite a bit for the last three supercrosses," Antunez said. "I'm really looking
forward to it."
Another near certainty following the
San Jose event was the likelihood that
the Thor/Honda/Tuf Racing team
would take home second and third for
the season, thanks to the efforts of Buehl
and Stephenson. Although Stephenson
could still overtake Buehl for second in
~
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,..:
'is..
uld have to come 'at the
expense of his teammate, in the form of
some sort of ca tastrophe for Buehl.
"Through the process of elimination,
we seem to be the top guys," laughed
Stephenson. "We were alwa'ys second or
third, at least. Our Hondas have been
working reaUy well all year, and it's nice
that we can put in a good team showing
for the sponsors."
"As long as I make the mains next
week," said Buehl, "second in the series
is mine - but my goal is to win as many
as possible. We've got a good team and
some great sponsors. They want us on
the podium every week, and we try to
do that."
FRIDAY
KTM's Lance Smail showed he was a
force to be reckoned with by starting
things off with a 125cc heat-race win.
The versatile racer from Washington has
adapted well to the unique rigors of arenacross.
"At first, they (KTM) weren't sure
(abo'ut Smail racing arenacross), but
then it was like, 'Okay, let's see w ha t
you can do.' Now they're behind me 100
percent."
.
Antunez and Jones also came into the
12Scc main with heat-race wins under
their belts. Riding on the crest of an
eight-event sweep, and with the championship within his grasp, Antunez
expressed his confidence going into his
first 12Scc main.
"Eight in a row - it's been going pretty well for me," Antunez said. "This
weekend I'm not putting any emphasis
on the streak.Tm happy with eight. My
Bill's Pipes/Primal Impulse Suzukis
have been working great for me. Ed
Longacre, my mechanic, has done a
great job, and everything has just fallen
into place."
When the 125cc main got under way,
Antunez grabbed the holeshot, with
Stephenson, Jones, Smail, Buehl,
DeHaan, Scott Davis, Jeff Pestana and
the rest of the pack in tow. Davis and
Pestana immediately tangled in the
whoops, losing time on the leaders especially Antunez, who was quickly
roosting away.
Smail was at the tail end. of the lead
group and made some aggressive
moves, most noticeably in the whoops.
He soon passed DeHaan.
"I got off the line pretty good but I
• started riding tight in the whoop-dedoos and Smail got by me," DeHaan
said. "Then 1 went off the track. I'll get
loosened up."
Smail next went after Jones, and they
battled for a while. Then Chad Pederson
swapped in the whoops and crashed out
of the race, taking Daniel Blair out wi th
him.
About midrace, Antunez mistimed
the whoops, and Stephenson and Buehl
closed right in. They went after Antunez
and a seesaw battle ensued. Antunez
would squirt away over the jumps, only
to have the two Honda riders close in
again.
Despite a few minor bobbles in the
whoops, Antunez held his advantage as
he threaded through lapped traffic. As
the race wound down, Buehl got by
Stephenson and pulled away from his
teammate.
On the last lap, Mike Jones bailed
and was slightly shaken up. He still
managed to finish the race.
At the checkered £Jag, Antunez won
by a bike length over Buehl, followed by
Stephenson, Rand, Hofmaster, Smail,
Chester, DeHaan, Pestana and Hageman.
Antunez was going for his ninth
straight win when they lined up for the
250cc main, and, as the pack entered the
whoops on the first lap, Buehl hooked
up and rocketed into the lead.
.
"Buehl got a great start, and I got out
around fourth," Antunez said of the
start. "I just wasn't able to make any
time on him, because the track was real
fast."
Once out in front, Buehl turned it on
in an all-out effort to distance himself
and his bike from the pack.
"My Tuf /Thor Honda gave me a
grea t start, and after tha t, it was just
having a lot of fun," Buehl said. "I really
wasn't getting any pressure, so I was
just out there, riding my own race. The
first 10 lap I was pushing really hard,
trying to get some distance. After that, 1
ju t tried to ride my own race, have fun,
and get to the finish as fast as I could."
Antunez, meanwhile, had quickly
climbed into third but was just as .quickIy demoted back to fourth by a charging
Jones. Jones then £Jew past Stephenson
Buddy Antunez clinched his third
Arenacross title at the San Jose
Arenacross.
and into second behind Buehl, making
the front order Buehl, Jones, Stephenson, Antunez, Rand, Hofmaster, Smail,
Pederson, DeHaan and Chester.
As the race progressed, Buehl throttled away while the others battled
among themselves. Rand had an especially heated exchange with Antunez,
many times racing side by side.
In the closing laps, the strain of holding on against the onslaught caught up
to Jones, who lost his grip on the bars
coming off the triple jump section and
landed hard and out of shape. Jones
pulled over to the edge of the track,
handing third to Antunez. Once again,
the injured Jones circulated the track
slowly and headed for the pits.
The racing tightened up behind the
leaders, as the close racing continued all
through the top 10. Hofmaster and
DeHaan were paired up and working
on DeHaan, Smail and Pestana in a wild
contest for fifth through ninth, with
Chester racing just a short distance
behind. Smail finally got the measure of
them all in the final seconds by virtue of
his superior speed in the whoops, moving into the top five, with Pestana, Hofmaster and DeHaan close behind.
Chester and Pederson rounded out the
top 10.
Up front, Antunez finally caught
