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night but did go out a winner, taking the checkered flag first in the final moto of the series-. eN Campetltioa Put S. .!Kim, Calif1lmia IIesuIts: M8n:1I., 2001 (Round II PfW (7-8): I. Chad Morales (Cob): 2. Andrew Mulgrew (Cob): 3. Skyler Hawkins (Hon). PfW (4-6): 1. Paul Nelson (Cob): 2. Brandon Scharer (Cob): 3. Austin Aguilar (KTM). 60 (0-8): 1. Mason McBride (Kaw). • 60 BEG: 1. Mitchell Alcorn (Kaw); 2. Justin Hommel (Kaw); 3. Tommy Madden (Kaw). 80 (12-13): 1. Bruce Marada (Yam). 80 BEG: 1. Chad Nye (Hon): 2. Matt Vande""ater (Yam); 3. Ryan Legg (Hon). 1251NT: 1. Matt Han (Hon). 125 JR: I. Jeff Loop (Yam): 2. Jered Wilson (Yam): 3. Mark Han (Hon). 125 BEG: 1. Blake Wade (Yam); 2. Travis Hawkins (Suz); 3. Justin Sixbery (Yam). 250 INT: 1. Tim Birkumshaw (Yam); 2. Mike Camp (Hon). 250 BEG: r. David Hild (Kaw); 2. Beni Tolbert (Yam); 3. David Sexson (Yam). 25+ AM: 1. Jason Cleveland (Yam). VET BEG: 1. Craig Koback (Hon): 2. Syd Woods (Yam); 3. Tom Thomsen (Hon). M5TR: 1. Jamie Bennett (Hon) . orr AM: 1. Terry Mills (Hon); 2. Fred Willis (Yam). orr Kawasaki 65cc KX InvitationallSFX Motor Sports Amateur Arenacross Final Round: Tacoma Dome Lope'z Levels the Field By CLAY liGHT TACOMA, WA, MAR. 23-24 regon's Joel Lopez was the cream of the crop at the final two events of the SFX/Kawasaki to< 65cc Invitational series, held at the Tacoma Dome. Lopez leveled the competition, taking two 65cc-c1ass victories. Riding for Longview Motorsports and DeMarini, Lopez decimated the competition in his Friday and Saturday night wins in the support class to the Professional-class portion of the SFX National Arenacross Series. Lopez's Friday night victory came in front of a sparse crowd of 4500, while the rider from Clatskanie, Oregon's win on Saturday was witnessed by an estimated gallery of 10,000. Qualifying kicked off the Kawasaki Invitational portion on Friday night, with Nevada's Matt Memeo and Lopez going head to head in a battle for supremacy. The rest of the field, though, was haVing trouble navigating the deep whoop section, and they O were left nearly half a lap down. When Memeo crashed, Lopez rode'on to an easy victory. Memeo had enough time to remount and finish well ahead of Washington's Bobby Dean. Idaho's Houston Keane, Kyle Tanner and Damien Walton ran in the top three in the second of two qualifiers_ Keane led from start to fmish to pick up a win, barely edging Tanner at the line. Oregon's Andy Deppa most of the last-chance qualifier, but he became engaged in a battle with Cameron Phillips for the win, and the two riders tangled with the checkered flag in sight. This allowed Cody Mecham, who ran a solid third throughout, to net the win. Memeo shot to the head of the field at the unleashing of the five-lap, 17 -rider final, trailed by Lopez. This set the stage for the two to resume their battle from the first qualifier, although Lopez grabbed the lead from the Nevadan on the opening lap and remained there to the finish. Memeo ran a close second, and both Tacoma Dome: Landon Currier (36) and Joel Lopez (1 B) battle for position in Saturday's 65cc final in Tacoma, Washington. Lopez won both evenings, while Currier finished second on Saturday night. 52 ApRIL 11, 2001 • cue I e n e _ s of them ran well ahead of the thirdplaced rider, Deppa, who controlled the tempo in a five-way squabble for that position in the late stages. Dean, Phillips, Cody North, Tyler Bereiter, Damien Walton, Blake Sommers and Kyle Sheffels rounded out the top 10. Aaron Brown, Keane and Mecham duked it out in the first of two qualifiers on Saturday to nail down the top three places, while Landon Currier, Memeo and Lopez had a shootout in the second heat race. This battle was a preview of the later main event, although both Memeo and Lopez crashed and Currier posted a win. Tanner held the point position in the LCQ but stalled his KX and spent a great deal of time trying to refire his machine. Deppa snapped up Tanner's lead and held it to the finish for a win. The fast-starting Memeo jumped out in front of Pro Caliber/Troy Leebacked Currier at the start of the 17rider final, but Lopez took the lead out of turn two. Both Memeo and Lopez took turns experiencing nearly race-ending crashes, but both stayed upright and in close quarters for the remainder of the race. Currier ran third, although he had Dean to contend with. The top four put substantial ground on the rest of the field, but all eyes were on the close Lopez/ Memeo confrontation. However, just when Memeo seemed to be making a challenge for the point position, the rider from Spring Creek, Nevada, crashed; this allowed both Currier and Dean to move up on the final lap and net the final podium positions behind Lopez. Memeo remounted in time to salvage fourth, followed by Keane, Tyler Holweger, Deppa, Brown, Phillips and Sheffels. Lopez, who was blazingly fast on the track, was speechless on the podium, although when asked if he wanted the trophy or a kiss from Miss Arenacross, Michelle Stephenson, the soft-spoken Lopez replied, much to the crowd's approval, "The kiss." eN Tacoma Dame Tacoma, Washington Results: March 23-24, 2001 (Final Roundl Friday 65: 1. Joel Lopez; 2. Mllitt Memeo; 3. Andy Deppa; 4. Bobby Dean; 5. Cameron Phillips: 6. Cody North; 7. Tyler Bereiter. 8. Demien Walton; 9. Blake Sommers; 10. Kyle Sheffels. Saturday 65: L Joel Lopez; 2. Landon Currier; 3. Bobby Dean; 4. Matt Memeo; 5. Houston Keene; 6. Tyler Holweger: 7. Andy Deppe; B. Aeron Brown; 9. Cameron Phillips; 10. Kyle Sheffels. AMA Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scrambles Series Round 10: Moonshine Hare Scrambles Sampson Like Lightnin' at the Moonshine By DEBBIE ALLEN UNTON, KY, MAR. 11 obby and Steve Thomas promoted the 10th round of the AMA/Pirelli Tires/Parts Unlimited/ Moose/White Brothers-sponsored Mid-South Championship Winter Hare Scrambles Series on 10 1/2 miles of trail in Linton, Kentucky. It was a beautiful day as 350 riders lined up for three races, and Mike Sampson grabbed a smooth and sober finish at the Moonshine Hare Scrambles dirt bike race. "It was a fast race and a fast track, and I got my usual terrible start," said Sampson. "I didn't kick hard enough, so I was the last person into the woods. After I caught up to P.A. [Allen], we took off." Sampson made five laps and won with a 17 -second lead on second place overall. "I thought we were only making four laps, so I really cranked it up on the fourth lap," Sampson said. During the last lap, Sampson lost quite a bit of time adjusting his bike when he tweaked his front end during a tangle with Senior B rider Paul Allen. B "I hit the ground pretty hard," Sampson recounted. "We were coming down a big hill, and I thought he left me an opening to pass. He didn't know I was there, so when he swung back over, I clipped his tire and went down. I would have never known who he was, except he carne back around to check on me." Allen lost three places while checking on the AA rider. When the green flag waved, the AA class shot out and completed a 180, with P.A. Allen in the lead. The Sarge's Cycles/Oakley/Moose/FMFsponsored P.A. raced out front for the first two laps. Then Sampson grabbed the lead for the remaining three. "( was in the lead for the first two laps," P.A. said, "but Sampson was right on me. He was flying! After he passed me, we swapped a couple of times, but he finished first. It was a good race, and I had a lot of fun. It was kind of neat, because I had my own little cheering section during the race." P.A. was 17 seconds down when he claimed second place overall. Both riders pulled a huge lead on the remaining AA riders. During the first