Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128405
Toyota AMA National Arenacross Series Chad Johnson gets off to a fast start in the National Arenacross circuit with his fourth straight win in Des Moines By PAT SCHUTTE he second round of the Toyota AMA National Arenacross Series visited the new Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and Yamaha's Chad johnson managed to keep his undefeated streak alive after winning both nights of the newly named AMA Arenacross class (formerly the 250cc class). johnson is now 4-0 in the young series. In front of 6047 fans, johnson finished in first place on Friday night, and then he capped off the weekend with another win in front of apprOXimately 8000 fans. Team Thor/Honda/Tuf Racing's jeff Northrop, who finished second, and Suzuki-backed jim Neese, who finished third, joined johnson on the Arenacrossclass podium on Friday night. On Saturday night, Rockstar/Suzuki's Greg Schnell and Northrop shared the spotlight with johnson, going two-three, respectively. Winning the Arenacross Lites class on Friday was Unbound Energy/Kawasakibacked Shawn Clark. Clark's victory was his third consecutive win in the support class, but his winning streak was stopped on Saturday by local rider Cody Gilmore, whose victory was highly approved of by the partisan crowd. Another Iowan, Brady Peck, finished in fifth place in the Arenacross Lites class on Friday night. Northrop, of the Thor/HondalTuf Racing team, put up some better numbers this weekend. After going 2-2 in Des Moines, he moved into second place in the series points standings and is now 28 T points behind johnson. Northrop's teammate Brock Sellards is currently holding down third. The newly named Toyota Hairpin provided for the evenings' most exciting passes, with riders really getting after it in barto-bar action in the tight section just before the catapult jump. There was another section right after the catapult landing, where riders had a choice of two lines, either going up high or down low. But it would be the Toyota Hairpin that collected the most riders throughout the weekend. One of those moments came Saturday night when, in the Arenacross class, Zach Ames and Matt Barnes got together, which resulted in a big crash. Barnes hit the ground hard and the race had to be red-nagged. Fortunately, Barnes was able to walk off the track. On the single-file restart, johnson was able to work his way up from seventh to take the win in what was one of the more eN exciting races of the weekend. WELLS FARGO ARENA DES MOINES, IOWA RESULTS: NOVEMBER (ROUND 4 Of 4-5, 2005 201 Friday ARENACROSS LITES: I. Shawn Clark (Kaw); 2. Matt Bames (Yam); 3. Jim Neese (Suz); ... Jim Chester (Suz); Brody Peck (Han). ARENACROSS: I. Chad Johnson (Yam); 2. Jeff Northrop (Hon); 3. Jim Neese (Suz); .... Shawn Clark (Kawl; 5. Matt Barnes (Hon). Saturday ARENACROSS LITES, I. Cody G;lmo,e (Kaw); 2. Shawn Clark (Kaw); 3. Travis Hodges (Hon); 1. Kevin Markwardt: 5. Jim Chester (Suz). ARENACROS$: I. Chad Johnson (Yam); 2. Jeff Northrop (Hon); 3. Greg Schnell (Suz); 1. Kevin Johnson (Yam); S. Jim Ne..e (5uz).