Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Arenacross Rounds 3 &4: Pepsi Arena By Mic hael James Photos by Kar l Ockert - .8 E B ... c 22 ALBAI NY, NOV. 12-13 W, ur.races. four different winners. at's what happened at the third and fourth rounds of the Na tional Piren a cross Se r ies, he ld a t th e Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York . Nick Wey, Cha d Ped erso n, Charley Bogard and d efend ing champ Buddy An tu nez a ll came away with main-event win s on the weekend . Wh ile th e temperature ou tsi de th e Pepsi Are na in the capital city of Alba ny was way cold, the temperature inside was Wey hot . The Spli tFi re / Pro-Circuit /Kawasaki rid er worked ha rd for his win , as he clawed and scratched his way to the front of the 12Scc main event. He then led the way around the last six laps to ta ke t he win over Den n y Step henso n, Ba rry Ca rsten a n d Jeff Willo h. The A lba ny Are nacross also p rodu ced a new se ri es p oints lea d er: Kawasaki rid er Pedro Gon za lez, w ho post ed consistent resu lts in New York a nd a t th e pre v iou s rou nd in Des Moines. Wey was also in a position to win the 250cc main eve n t, but a bobble in th e wh oop s canceled all thaI. Ped erson rod e past the ou t-of-eontrol Wey and held on for the win over Gon zale z, Mike Katin and Antunez. Bogard, who has been following the National Arenacross Series for many years, fina lly nabbed his first win, topping Saturday evening's 125cc ma in event over Antunez, Willoh and Gonzalez. Antunez simp ly got better and better as the weekend progressed. The defending champ finish ed fifth in Fr iday's 125cc main , th en fourth in the 250cc (Above) Greg Rand (5), Charley Bo gard (17), Barry Carsten (47) and Chad Pederso n (9) laun ch off the starting gate in Saturd ay's 125cc final. (Right) Nick Wey burned up the field In Friday 's 125cc main event. main. On Saturday, he climbed a cou ple of more notches, finis hing second in Saturda y's 125cc m a in, then he fin ally pull ed off a win in the final race of the weekend - the 250cc main. He took that w in ove r Gon zalez, Kalin, Stephen son and Carsten. FRIDAY Wey got the weekend started with a win in the 125cc main, but is sticking wi th hi s plans to switch gears later on to focu s on the AMA Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross Series, which g e ts under way in February. "Yeah, 1 am only doing the first cou- ple of rounds ," said Wey of his participat ion in the 1999-2000 a tio na l Arenacross Series . "I figured it is better to keep racin g rather than to take the break before I go to the 125cc East." On the differen ce between arenacross and sup ercross: "It is tighter and more hectic," Wey says. The PACE Motor Sports crew did an a d m ira b le job of keeping the shifty sa n d- ty pe dirt in as g ood a s ha p e a s could be. The loo se soil p layed havoc with several name riders who had to find their way to the mains via the semis and last cha nce qualifiers. Barry Carsten put his Suzuki into the lead at the start of the 125cc main event, ahea d of Willoh , Yama ha rid er Jimmy Wilson and Antunez. Wey quickly bullied hi s wa y in to third o nly to ha ve [erorny Buehl an d Denny Stephenson rally and pass him almost simultaneously. Stephenson then cau ght and passed Carsten com ing ou t of the Whoops and had a good line , but Cars ten pinned it toward t h e fin ish -lin e double and passed him right back. Wey repassed Willoh fo r th e third spot and set after the Suzuki front-runners. On the third lap, Wilson wadded up his Yamaha in the middle of the whoop section, causing a major traffic