Kawasaki Race Report
November 7, 2005 12:11pm
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Rider turnout was very good, but spectator turnout was disappointing, possibly due to a NASCAR race running nearby. There was no fee to sign up to race, which was popular with riders. The show opening featured a tribute to former arenacross champions Dennis Hawthorne, Jason Langford, Robbie Reynard, Jimmy Gaddis, Buddy Antunez, and Josh Demuth.
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Some new names turned up at Ft. Worth, most notably 17-year-old privateer Dennis Jonon. Dennis won two heat races, one ahead of Shane Bess and the other ahead of Josh Demuth. This was his first pro race in the U.S. (he raced a Canadian arenacross the weekend before).
The start featured a kicker going into the first turn, which was all sand. It looked a little sketchy but actually wasn’t, and the top riders seemed to like it.
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Friday’s 450 main was mayhem. Woods was leading on his Maestro RM-Z450 (with Fun Bike Center graphics), and Tiger Lacey was racing with Jeff Willoh for second. Lacey passed Willoh for second, and Willoh was trying to take it back by hitting a triple into a rhythm section. Willoh slipped on the face of the jump, came up short, cased the landing, and stalled in the middle of the track. Ripple ran into him, Riley Kurosky was knocked to the ground, and the pile claimed Demuth as well. The race was almost red-flagged, but officials kept it going. Woods won, Lacey was second, Bess third.
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The Saturday 450 main wasn’t as crazy as Friday’s. Bess led the early laps, with Woods right behind him. Woods was making up time in the whoops on his RM-Z450, which was set up for supercross and working really well. But Bess was leading and took his line, so Woods had to make a pass somewhere else. When the two jumped into a tight 180-degree turn, Woods went wide and dove in hard to cut Bess off. It was a pretty aggressive move, but hey, that’s arenacross.
Woods went on to win, Bess was second, and the hard-charging Lacey was third. All three are tied for points at 65 each.
The BooKoo series moves on to St.
Charles, Missouri, for round 2 next weekend.