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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128083
jam , which allowed fo r a lot of passes. By this time, Wey sho t in to th e lead and Stephenson we nt wi th him in to second, d roppin g Carsten to th ir d. Wey too k cha rge fro m there a nd cruised to the checkered flag, ta king Ste phenson wi th him . Willoh even tually regained his composure and he ld on for fou rth, followed bv the number-on e Suz u ki of Antu nez. Be h ind Antunez fin is hed Mike Katin, Ped ro Gonza lez, Ch arl ey Bogar d, Kev in Crin e and Ty Walla ce, in tha t order. "I kinda go t a fifth-place start," said Wey of his wi nning ride. "The ruts were playing a factor, but I worked my way up to th e front. M y Spli tFi re /Pro-Ci rcu it/ l-S00 -COL LECT/ Mazda Kawasaki wa s working great, an d I wa nt to thank m y Mom and Dad and a ll m y frie nds back ho me." " I feel grea t," said Step he nson, who took runner-up hon ors. " It feels great to be up on th e p odium, and my training this seaso n is pa ying off. That's what it's gonna tak e, consis ten cy fo r the w hole sea son. I just want to ge t th e Don Stephens on -tun ed Primal Impuls e Suzukis up on th e pod ium as much as possibl e and hopefull y win th e cham pionship ." " 1 was jus t s toked , m an," sa id an exci te d Ca rs te n , who fi n is hed t hi rd . "Every tim e I go t passed, it ju st ma de me mad, and I passed the m right back. I mad e a little bobble and tw o of them go t me. I wasn't sure if anyone was right be hin d me, so I jus t kept my pac e. They did n't pu ll away." Wey was back at it again in the 250cc m ain , taking the hol esh ot and ho pin g for win numbe r tw o. In his wake were Gon za le z , Ka t in a n d A n tu nez . T h e fro nt-runners quick ly b roke free from the ma in grou p, bu t Wey could n' t mak e h is earl y lead last. Wey threw hi s Kawasaki away, hand ing th e lead ov er to Ped erson. Fro m th is point o n, the rac e was all Ped er son ' s, however, there was p lenty of racing action go ing on behind him. Go nz alez, Katin a nd A ntu ne z were mixing it up, and not far beh ind th em was Stephenson. When it was all over , Gon za lez man aged to ha n g on to h is number-two position, followed by Katin, Antunez, Step henson and Bogard. In the Dash for Ca sh rac e, Stephe nson put himself in good position to tak e th e loot, but slid out on the firs t la p. Wey scooted in to the lead , th en he too bit the dust, handing the lead over to Kalin. The privateer d id what the other two riders ahead of him couldn't: keep his two wheels on the ground . Kalin rode on to victo ry a nd p ocketed the 5450 up for grabs. Canadi an Ben oit Milot won th e Jump-Off co n tes t. But the m an of the moment was Pederson . " It [the 250cc main I went good considering th e night I was having," sa id winner Ped erson, w ho fail ed to make th e ea rlier 125cc m ain. "I felt good o n the 250 all night lon g and just had some bad luck on the 125. That's the first 125 main I ever missed. My Tuf/Thor/Sunstar Honda was giving me ali i wan ted ." . "I was struggling all night long with the track," second-p lace Gon zalez said. "I am not u sed to riding all those ru ts, but in the final, I came out good and tried hard . The 125 [main ] w ent okay, but ~ow, the 250, it's pretty good . I had .fu n. Gonzalez says he pl ans o n finishing out the Nationa l Ar enacross Series. I Thi rd-place finish er Katin sa id , "I go t a pr et ty good start and jus t tried to rid e my own race and not fall down. It was p retty rough ou t the re, and I thought I (Above right) Chad Pederson (9) followed up Wey's win with a victory of his own In Friday's 250cc final. (Above left) Persistence finally paid off for Charley Bogard . Many times a leader but never a winne r In the Arenac ross Series , Bogard finally changed all that with a 125cc maln-event win Saturday night. (Above) Defe ding champ Buddy Antunez (1) cuts underneath Jeff Willoh en route to the 250cc Pro clas s win Sat urday. (Left) Mike Katin rode well all weeke nd, finis hing In the top s ix in three features. w as go in g pretty good and m ad e a n attempt for the lead , but 1 made a mistake and decided to just ride my race ." S ATURDAY Nobody seemed to want to win Saturday's 125cc main event. It all started with Jeff Willoh charging to the front of the pack, followed by a ver y inspired Barry Carsten and Jimmy Wilson. (The previous night' s wi nne r, Wey, sat out Saturday' s ra ces .) WiIloh w as setti ng the pace until th e third lap when he go t ou t of sha pe over a rocker secti on and went flying over the handlebars. Willoh still managed to g e t up qu ickl y and r e jo i n th e r a ce among the lead ers . W illoh' s crash put Carsten in th e lead, but he too wo uld sa m ple the Pep si Arena soil two laps later. About th e sa me tim e as Carsten's crash, Bogard slip p ed his Su zu ki past Wil son 's Yamah a and su d d enly found himself in command. Although Bogard has led the pack on many occasion s, he has been unabl e to mak e his leads las t to th e end , but not this time. Instead , Bogard ope ned upa big lead and mo tored on to his first ar enacross win. While Bogard w a s cruising o ut in fro nt, defending cha m p Antunez was busy working his w ay u p through th e pack after a poor start. Antunez's efforts paid off with a second-place finish , followed b y Willoh, who .h a d earli er cras hed . Fourth went to Gonzalez, follo w ed by Stephens on , Wil son and Jeromy Bue hl. Primal Impul se Su zuki rid er Stephenson, and Antunez , put their machines in to the 1-2 spots at the start of the 250cc main, followed by Willoh, Gon zal ez and Katin, tucking in behind t he m. Antunez chased d own Stephenson u nt il his teammate bobbled on th e se ven th lap . Th at's w he n Antunez sa w his cha nce and mo tored into th e le a d . Stephenson regrouped in second place, but si m p ly cou ld not keep Antunez in his gu n sig ht. Instead, Stephenson now had Willoh breathing down his neck . Willoh was pressuring Stephen son for seco nd , but the Honda pilot made a sma ll mis take that not on ly let Stephe nso n ge t away, but drop him back in the pack. G on zal e z , who h ad been running fo ur t h, was n ow third a n d b earin g d own on Stephenson. With two laps to go, Gonzalez made his way around the Suz u ki rider, as did Katin. At the finish, it wa s Antunez ta kin g an uncontested win, followed by Gonza lez, Katin, Stephenson and Carsten . Not onl y did Gon zal ez take o ver the series points lead, but he als o took th e $500 that wa s on the line in th e Dash For Cash race. Josh Sterrit jumped to victory in the [ump-Off contest. CIII Pepsi Arena Albany, New York Results: November 12·13, 1999 (Rounds 3-4) Frida y 125 PRO, 1. N ick W"'! (Kaw): 2. Den ny Stephenson (Suz ): 3. Barr y Carste n (5uz); 4. Jeff Willo h (He n ): 5. Budd y Antunez (5uz) ; 6. Mike Katin (Ka w) : 7. Ped ro Gonza lez (Ka w): 8. C ha rley Bogard (5uz); 9. Kevi n Crine (Hon): 10. Ty Wallace (Yam); 11. Jere my Buehl (Kaw l: 12. Jimmy Wilson (Yam); 13. Tom Welch (Suz); 14. Tommy Hofmaster (H on): 15. Greg Rand (Suz) . 250 PRO: 1. C had Pederso n (He n): 2. Ped ro Gonzalez (Ka w) ; 3. M ike Ka li n (Ka w) ; 4. Budd y An tunez (Suz); S. Denny Steph enson (Suz); 6. Charley Bogard (Su z); 7. Barry Ca rs te n (Suz); 8. N ick Wey (Ka w ): 9. Kevin Crine (Hon); 10. Jero my Buehl ()(aw); t 1. Jimm y Wil son (Ya m) ; 12. Jim C heste r (Suz) ; 13. Alexan dre Langevin (Yam ); 14. Ty Wallace (Yam); 15. Greg Rand ISuz) . Saturday 12 5 P RO : 1. C~ a r ley Boga rd (Su a): 2. Bu d dy Antu nez (Suz); 3. Jeff Willoh (Ho n); 4. Ped ro Gonzal ez ( Ka w ): 5. Den ny Ste p he nso n (Su z);"6. Jim my Wilson (Yam); 7. Jero my Buehl (Kaw); 8. Barry Ca rsten (5o z); 9. Tom my Ho fmast er IHo n): 10. Tom Welch (Suz) : 11. Greg Rand (Suz); 12. Chad Ped erson (He n): 13. Kevin Crine IHo n): 14. Mike Katt n IKaw) . 250 P RO: 1. Bud d y Ant u nez (S uz); 2. Pe d ro Gonz a lez (Ke w) : 3. Mi ke Ka ri n (Kaw); 4 . De n ny Step henso n (Suz); S. Barry Carsten (5uz); 6. Kevin Crine (H e n}; 7. Jim C hest er (Suz): 8. Jeff Wil loh (Hen): 9. jere my Buehl (Kaw ): 10. Ty Wallace (Yam); 11. Nic k Metcalf (Suz): 12. Tommy Hofmaster (He n), 13. David Kratz (Hus): 14. Greg Rand (5uz); 15. C had Pederso n (Ho n). N ATI O N A L ARENA CROSS SERI ES POINT STANDINGS (After 4 of 34 rounds): 1. Ped ro Gonza lez (24); 2. Denny Step he nson ( 16 ); 3. Budd y An tu nez (112): 4. Ni ck Wey (101): s . Jeromy Bue hl (90): 6. Mike Kari n (87); 7. Jeff Wi110h (81); 8. Ke vin Cri ne (76); 9. Chad Pedersen (69); 10. Cha rley Bogard (58) . Upcoming Rounds: Rounds 5·6 . Worcester, Massachusetts , November 19-20 Rounds 7-8 . Rockford, Illinois, December 3·5 en en en 23