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PACE National Arenacross Series
Rounds 31-32: Tacoma Dome
pack at the unleashing of the 15-rider
field during the opening moments of
the 16-lap 125cc final, but Willoh's
lead would go as quickly as it came,
as Antunez stuffed a wheel underneath the Thor/Tuff Racing-sponsored WHloh coming out of turn one.
Stephenson, Lange, Hagseth, Buehl
and Ryan Huffman trailed the lead
duo on the rock-strewn course.
By the end of the first lap, Antunez
had amassed a comfortable lead over
Willoh and the Kawasaki-mounted
Lange, but Antunez' ride would come
to a painfully abrupt end, as he hit a
large rock on takeoff of the Wrenchead. com finish-line jump, and was
catapulted some 30 feet through the
air.
Despite a nasty getoff on Friday, defending champion Buddy Antunez extended his points lead at the series' penultimate stop.
ground to Stephenson after Friday's
125cc final, while leading the 125cc
main event. He took a nasty tumble,
and the up-and-coming Canadian,
Darcy Lange, posted a win over
Stephenson. Stephenson gained
points via Antunez' misfortune, finishing ahead of Jeromy Buehl, who finished on the rostrum for the second
time this season.
Motoriou s. com/Suzu k i/B i II's
Pipes/AXO-backed Antunez, though,
rebounded from his crash in the
125cc fina I to post a victory in the
250cc final - one which he led from
start to finish, ahead of Texan
Charley Bogard (it was Bogard's best
finish of the weekend), and the crowd
favorite, Yamaha-mounted Brad
Hagseth, from nearby Onalaska.
Antunez showcased both the
determination and true heart of a
champion on Saturday by shaking off
the effects of his previous night's
crash and winning both main events
in front of the 9000-strong crowd. He
also posted a win in the crowd-funded
Dash for Cash, besting Stephenson
and Bogard.
Antunez trailed Willoh for the first
five laps in Saturday's 125cc final,
then made a move to overtake the
Honda rider by going for a triple when
Willoh didn't; Antunez led Willoh and
the 17 -year-old Lange onto the podium.
Stephenson darted ahead of
another promising teenager, Oregon's
STORY AND PHOTOS
BY CLAY LIGHT
TACOMA, WA, MAR. 24-25
Three-time National Arenacross
Champion Buddy Antunez came one
step closer to clinching his fourthconsecutive National Arenacross
Championship with his three-class
decimation of the Pacific Northwest
rounds of the PACE-promoted series,
held inside of the series' largest
venue.
While most of the buzz around the
Puget Sound area this weekend centered on the implosion of the Kingdome some 20 minutes north of
Tacoma, Antunez brought down the
Tacoma Dome with his 250cc Pro
class win on Friday evening and a
sweep of Saturday night's program.
The road to the series finale in
Reno, Nevada, now looks a little less
rocky and a lot more rosy for the
rider from Temecula, California, who
came into the penultimate round of
the series with a 42-point lead.
Antunez furthered that mark at the
completion of the weekend's racing,
as the Suzuki rider left the Evergreen
State with a comfortable 57 -point
advantage over teammate Denny
Stephenson.
Antunez now leads Stephenson,
1100 to Stephenson's 1043, while
Honda rider Jeff Willoh trails the
Suzuki riders with 765 points.
Antunez, however, temporarily lost
44
APRIL 12, 2000'
cue
•
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vv
51:
Ty Lacey, to lead Antunez for much
of Saturday's 250cc final, but the
Nebraskan's lead would only last nine
laps, as Antunez was able to n