ARENACROSS
Round 5
Decembe r 3 -4, 2004
National Arena cross Series
R Y'
,chmo nd Racing /Pro C ircuit/ Kawasaki's D a rc y
La nge is on a comp lete
tear right no w in the
N atio nal Are nac ross
Series . The Canadian swept all four
main events at the fifth stop on the
tour, Rockfo rd , Illinois, which ma rks
the halfway point of this year's shortened
series . Lange now has a total of 16 wins out
of 20 main events th is year, an 80-percent
win ratio. And making it even better is the fact
that he continues to add to his healthy po ints
lead, while his all-time Arenacross win tally, now
at 76, continues to climb.
"I just came in all prepared this weekend,"
Lange commented from the podium Saturday. "I
got a lot of good starts, and that always helps
inside these tight arenas."
Lange's teammate Jeff Northrop also had a
R
96
JANUARY 5, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS
solid weekend, finishing 6-3-3-6 throughout the
four main events held ove r tw o nights of racing.
" Nor- Cal," as many peo ple call him, has been
quite consistent during the last few weeks and
holds a solid secon d in the points, with 284,
behind Lange, who has 386.
''I'm not o n to p of the box, but I'm right the re
fighting for it behind Darcy," No rth rop said. "I
felt too conservative this weekend and sho uld
have had two podiums."
Fun Bike Centerrrroy Lee Des igns/Ho ndasponsored Shane Bess had an excellent weekend , with the exception of one race. Bess scored
2-4- 14-2 in the four finals, with the two pod iums
coming during Friday's 125cc main and
Saturday 's 250cc final. And since it was only a
few weeks back that he managed to get his first
podium of the year, and in his career in
Arenacross for that matter, he couldn't have
been happ ier. The Californian is getting very
comfortable in the tight quarters and is seventh
in the po ints, looking for his first win.
Team Faith's Kevin Johnso n had an off week
since the series started back in Des Moines. The
New Mexico native fi nished 9- 14-4-5 and was
not pleased with his res ults. Befo re Rockford
Johnson had been a fixtu re up toward the front
of the pack
"Friday sucked," Johnso n said. "My bike
blew up in the 250c c race and I sho uld have
gott e n th ird ."
Johnso n still holds third in the po ints, 27
behind No rthro p.
After Rockford, the Arenacross Series w ill be
taking a three-week break for the holidays,
before returning to action in Dallas, Texas, on
January 7.
METROCENTRE
ROCKFORD, IWNOtS
RESUlTS: DECEMBER 3-4,
(ROUND 5 OF 10):
2004
Friday
12S MAIN , I. Day (Suz): 14.)"" N eese
(Suz): 1S. a..d Ripple (Hon).
250 HAlN , I. Da
