Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

N a t io n a l Ar"'enacr"'os s S e r"'i e s R ound 2 : Pepsi A r"'ena Ron "Slicer" Heb en, was on hand to see h is bo y d o t h e d e ed. Demu th , with hi s new sup port, will be a factor By MICHA EL J AM ES PH OTO S BY K A RL O CK ERT ALBANY, N.Y., NOV. 10-11 he A lbany round of th e Nation al Ar enacross Ser ies was a showca se of new tal ent and cro sso ver racers . Ni ck M et calf , on th e US Suzu k i/Pro Cy cl e/P la yg rou nd Ma ga zin e RM250, liv ed the thrill of victor y and th e agony of d efeat when he won a hard -fought vic tory over defend ing cha mpion Bud dy Antunez on Fr iday . The ago ny of defeat came for Metcalf when he succumbed to self-imposed pressure and c rashed his way out of the qualifiers and failed to make the main event on Saturday . An tunez's former teammate Denny Stephenson , on the St . Louis Powersports K awasak i , ran h ot and co ld throughout th e weekend and look s to be a factor as the season wears on . His team m ate, Pedro "Spee dy " Gon zalez . wa s al so hot and cold and showed great speed, but fell victim to other riders' crashes . Lance Sm ail, on the BBR/Lyn wo o d / M ax x is Yam ah a, ran well on Friday bu t was gi ven no qu art er on Saturday . T e a m Gr e en K a w a sa k i ' s J o sh Demuth rod e hi s t ail o ff an d ca me away with the 250cc wi n on Saturday ni gh t . It was a race that looked m ore like a cras hfest tha n anythi ng else , especia lly off the start. Dem uth was the most consistent rider of the week end , having made the podium in all but one race. His T eam Gr een bo ss. all series long. T 10 N OV EMBER 29 , 2000' c u e Buddy Antunez {11 became the first double w inner of the season after winning both 125cc mains at the Albany Arenacross. FRIDAY J eff Gibson, on th e Pro Acti on/FMF/ C ompet i t i on A c cess o ri es H ond a , nail ed th e ho leshot in th e 12 5cc m ain an d was shadow ed b y Steph ens on. I e no""s Demuth and Antunez. Gibson actually sta rted to pull a gap on th e pa ck but , as th e race wo re on , the Arenacros s regula rs started to push through th e pack an d ap p ly pres sure. On lap fiv e, Antun ez pr essed and got by Steph en - son and D e m u t h . On l ap s sev en t hr o u g h 10 , A ntu n ez app li e d his patented p res su re on le ader Gibs on and finally got around him on lap 12. T he race ended with Antunez in first. Dem uth in second and Stephenson in th ird , which was his best finish of the week end . Gibs on , Ty Wallace, Sm ail , D ar c y Lang e , K e v in Crine , Barry Carsten and Rusty Holland rounded the top 10. In t h e 250c c main, Tuf Rac ing 's Jeff Wi ll oh n abbed the holeshot in front of An tunez. Metcalf and Can adian Marco Dube, on the KTM Cana d a /D i a b l o Paintball /Pro -Tech /No Fear 250 SX . Two laps into the race, Will oh fell while being he avi ly pres sured . Antu n ez, Metcalf and Du be were in a big hu rr y and ganged up on Will oh before he knew what hit him . Holl and eventually crash ed tr y ing to m at ch the blistering laps th e leaders were hammering out. At th e midw ay po int, Metcalf realized he was ke e pin g pace w ith Antunez and pull ed off a pass and was looking to check out, bu t An tunez had stea m in reser v e. He set off after th e flyi ng Metcalf bu t overcook ed a turn . Th is allowed Dube t o close in and p ass A nt unez, b ut Antunez got h im right back , and th en passed Willoh . The ch eck ered flag eventually fell fo r M e tc a l f , who was fo llowe d b y Demuth and A nt unez. "I got a good start, beh ind Buddy ," Metcalf said , " and I j ust th ought th at he is experien ced on this stuff, so if I co u ld just follo w him I and st ay his pace, he will pull away and so will I. Unfort unately for h im and good fo r me, he fell down after th e big double. I was as nervous as I could get, so I am glad to get th is one ove r with , I've wanted to win one for a lon g time." Demuth said , "I t' s great to be on

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