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National Arenacross Series Rounds 14-15: Baltimore Arena (Clockwise from left) Jeff Willoh (4) mixed top-five finishes with a win in Saturday night's big-money Dash for Cash. Denny Stephenson (3) won Saturday night's 125cc main, keeping his title hopes alive. An almost-e:onsistent Pedro Gonzalez (49) went 3-3-13-3 In four main-event appearances_ shape as me.' I needed second place, so I banzaied around Jeromy and put the Suzukis one-two again." Buehl's third-place finish appeared to bring some satisfaction after the Ohioan got off to a less-than-stellar start this season. "I was hoping to get up here a little sooner in the season, but I guess I started a little slow this year," Buehi said. "I can't tell how good it feels to be up here and see that all the hard work is starting to come together a little bit." tions, Antunez caught Rand napping in a turn and blasted away to a lead that he would never relinquish. Rand never recomposed himself, and finally dropped it in a turn after the doubles. He finished out of the top 10. As this was taking place, Gonzalez hit a lip after tripling a set of jumps. He suffered a horrendous crash that had him dazed and confused. Good track working kept him from getting landed on, as he wadded up at the base of the second triple. At the checkers it was Antunez first, followed by Stephenson and an inspired Willoh. Buehl, Katin, Hodges, Jim Chester, Tom Welch, Neese and Brian Pirricelli rounded out the top 10. Antunez was two for two on the night. "I got into second behind Rand for a couple of laps, but I knew I had to make a move soon," Antunez said. "I had to pass him quick and try to make some time on those guys 'cause I knew they'd be coming. My Suzuki/RG3 suspension was working really well, and my Dunlop tires were hooking up on this loose dirt. It was great to get another win and hopefully start a little roll going." Stephenson was also two for two, with two runner-up finishes, and appeared to be a little troubled with his recurring arm problems. "I got a little arm pump," Stephenson said. "I've been tight all night. I got around Pedro after he crashed and then Buehl got around me for second on this last lap and I was like, 'Well, I know he's not in as good a 26 FEBRUARY 9.2000' cue SATURDAY Heat winners Gonzalez, Stephenson and Willoh lined up in front of a packed, boisterous Saturday night crowd, but it was Lenoir, North Carolina's Jim "One Man Gang" Chester who snagged the holeshot. Hot on his tail was Stephenson, who seemed to sense that his teammate Antunez had suffered a bad start (Antunez tangled with Chester going into the whoops and fell) and took the lead immediately, then checked out for good aboard his Don Stephenson-tuned Bill's Pipes/Motorious.com RM 125. He rode a flawless 16 laps for the win and showed factory-rider speed in doing it. Chester worked his way backward through the pack after a bobble in the whoops threw his rhythm off. He ended in ninth, ahead of Hodges. Willoh survived a barrage of attacks from Gonzalez, who trailed him home in third. Gonzalez was as fast, if not faster than the leader, but he had suffered a poor start. Demuth, I e n e _ s who had held third until the last lap, was fourth, followed by "Bad" Brad Woolsey, Jim Neese and a charging Buddy Antunez, who beat Rand for the seventh spot. The man of the hour, however, was Stephenson. "Once again, Suzuki got me out front," Stephenson said. "The Bill's Pipes/RG2/Dunlop tires [team] really did a good job tonight. The whole bike is running great, My Dad (Don) is my mechanic, and he did a great job. I got out front and like last night it was a bit cold, and I got tight. I dec!ded to just stay real smooth and stay loose. We got one more left to go." Runner-up Willoh thanked all of his sponsors while on the podium, "I also want to thank everybody for coming out," Willoh said. "I had a great time." "Speedy" Gonzales was left to lament what might have been. "Ahh, I got a terrible start, man, terrible start," Gonzalez said, "I got pushed out in the first turn, and I guess it turned out good. I'm pretty happy to be on the podium - two podiums so far. I worked the whole time and made the pass in the rhythm section on the last lap. That felt good. Now I'm just looking forward to the 250." In the 250cc main, heat winners, Stephenson, Willoh and Antunez shot out of the gate like missiles, with Stephenson having his way and leading the pack into the whoop section, followed by Hodges, Antunez, Willoh and Katin. Hodges crashed big in the double-double section and gave second to Willoh who would bail off in later laps. Gonzalez again had to play catch-up after another mediocre start, . but he did work his way up to an eventual third place, capitalizing on another rider's error. As in moto one, Demuth hooked up with Gonzalez, and their bitter battle brought them upward through the ranks. Demuth finished fourth again, behind Gonzalez. At the halfway point, Antunez decided there was no easy way out, and he stuffed the daylights out of his teammate, Stephenson, for the lead. Antunez was never challenged for the lead again. Then, in a freak occurrence, Willoh, who was running third at the time, threw it away in the exact same spot Gonzalez had the night before. The recipient of his misfortune? Gonzalez, who led Buehl, Chester, Neese, Rand, Woolsey and Welch across the line at the finish. Antunez now appears to be well on the way to a fourth consecutive championship title and was quite pleased with the way the Baltimore rounds had gone for him. BRIEFLY••• Buddy Antunez's Ed Longacre-tuned RM250 ran like a Longines·Wittenauer timepiece all weekend. and the longtime association between the champ and his tuner has no doubt played a part in Antunez's success on the National Arenacross circuit. After Antunez's Friday night perfor. mances. however. Longacre was quick to give his rider most of the credit for a job well done. "I don't know what to say. - Longacre said. "Tonight shows why Buddy Antunez is a three·time champ. This is arenacross. that's what the people want and we put on the show that people want to see and get excited about. A very generous. if not vocal. crowd donated a record $1260 for Saturday night's Dash for Cash event. Jeff Willoh took home the lion's share of the dough on Saturday night. In the 65cc Kawasaki Invitational, a young Pennsylvanian named Sean Hackley was the domi· nant rider in the mighty·mite class. Hackley appeared to be tentative over the jumps. but that didn't stop him from flying to two main·event wins over the weekend. Three·time AMA Supercross Champion Rick Johnson was on hand to commentate for the TV network. When asked if he misses racing, Johnson replied: •Ah, definitely! Especially when you see these guys banging bars. They are really racing hard with each other. It's kind of like what supercross was a long time ago. Supercross has gotten a little more cordial in the '90s and now in 2000, but these Arenacross guys race hard. It's in real tight quarters. short races. so there is gonna be contact. They understand what is dirty and what's not. I definitely miss racing, but I'm just having a good time watching these guys.•