Defending Champ Mees Storms Daytona TT Photo Credit: Brian J. Nelson / American Flat Track
Grand National Champion Jared Mees took a convincing win at the American Flat Track Twins presented by Vance & Hines season opener, the Daytona TT, demonstrating that he has no intention of relinquishing his No. 1 plate without a battle. The Indian Wrecking Crew rider took the“ bigger, better and faster DAYTONA TT layout” win on his Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing Sidi Scout FTR750 in front of G & G Racing / Rickdiculous Racing / Team95 Yamaha FZ-07JD MotoAmerica superstar JD Beach second, with TT master Henry Wiles( No. 17 Willy Built / Bandit Industries Kawasaki Ninja 650) in third spot. Mees came into contact with fellow Indian Wrecking Crewman Brad Baker( No. 6 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) multiple times over the race’ s opening laps as he looked for a way into the lead, eventually making the decisive
Indian sponsors four AFT by Vance & Hines races
Indian has announced that it is again to sponsor some of the 18 rounds of the 2018 American Flat Track presented by Vance & Hines series. Indian Motorcycle will serve as the event entitlement sponsor for four AFT events on the 2018 slate.- the Indian Motorcycle Red Mile in Lexington, Ky., on June 2; the Indian Motorcycle Lima Half-Mile in Lima, Ohio, on June 30; the Buffalo Chip TT presented by Indian Motorcycle in Sturgis, S. D., on August 5; and the inaugural Indian Motorcycle Minnesota Mile, which will take place right in the manufacturer’ s backyard in Minneapolis, Minn., on September 29. As the presenting sponsor of several races last year, Indian Motorcycle hosted dedicated fan areas for bike owners and enthusiasts, offered dealer rides, and gave fans a chance to win a brand-new Indian Scout. This season’ s involvement will be further enhanced as Indian Motorcycle steps up to full event title sponsorship of multiple races. Additionally, Indian will again be an
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manoeuvre coming off the jump, jamming through as the two entered the following switchback.“ In the very beginning I had to get physical with Brad a couple times- I had to get by,” said Mees.“ Over the jump I had a real good line, which allowed me to get aggressive. To come out and win the DAYTONA TT two years in a row is just huge.” Briar Bauman( No. 14 Zanotti Racing Kawasaki Ninja 650) was fourth, with Bryan Smith( No. 4 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) fifth. Other Indian Scout FTR750 finishers included
integral partner of the NBCSN television and FansChoice. tv broadcasts for the entirety of the season. In addition to the“ Wrecking Crew” factory outfit, several leading privateers will be campaigning FTR750s this season, including the likes of former Grand National Champion Kenny Coolbeth and the fifth-ranked rider of 2017, Jeffrey
Kenny Coolbeth Jr. in 8th; Brian Smith, 9th; Robert Pearson, 10th; Jeffrey Carver Jr., 15th. The best placed Harley- Davidson XG750Rs were factory riders Sammy Halbert, 11th, and Brandon Robinson, 12th, with Jarod Vanderkooi 16th. Next up is the Harley-Davidson Atlanta Short Track presented by Hellbender Harley-Davidson on Saturday, April 7 in Woodstock, Ga., followed by Fort Worth, Texas, April 28; the Calistoga, California Half Mile, May 5, and the first of the season’ s Mile races, the Arizona Mile, Phoenix, May 12. www. americanflattrack. com
Carver, Jr. Others winning Indian’ s FTR750 include Chad Cose, Jay Maloney, Robby Pearson, Johnny Lewis, Henry Wiles and Jake Johnson. A generous $ 350,000 contingency plan by Indian Motorcycle includes a $ 25,000 bounty for the title, plus $ 5,000 for each race win, $ 4,000 for runner-ups, $ 3,000 for third-place finishes, and additional pay-outs to the remainder of the top ten.
RACE NEWS
Robbie“ Bugs” Pearson joined forces with former GNC Crew Chief and tuner Rick Canode of RJ Performance in Iowa and became one of the many privateer racers to turn to Indian’ s Championship-winning Scout FTR750. Pearson will pilot the RJ Performance Indian Scout FTR750 at most rounds this season, having started at the March 15 Daytona TT season opener. Pearson has been a professional flat track racer for more than 10 years. A powersports dealership in Ottumwa, IA, RJ Performance was established in 1982 by Canode, who has tuned for a number of professional racers, including his son, former National # 39 Matt Burton.
Indian Motorcycle Racing has committed more than $ 350,000 in contingency incentives this year, including $ 25,000 for a Championship, $ 5,000 for first-place wins, $ 4,000 for second-place, $ 3,000 for third-place finishes, and pay-outs for up to 10th-place finishers.
Cycle Gear has renewed its commitment to serve as a sponsor of the American Flat Track dirt track championship in 2018. Cycle Gear has over 130 stores in 35 states, and is a sister company to mail order giant Revzilla.
American Flat Track( AFT) has announced a multi-year agreement with E3 Spark Plug that will see the brand continue as the series’ Official Spark Plug for the 2018 and 2019 racing seasons. The new agreement comes on the heels of a successful inaugural season of support in 2017.“ E3 has developed a race-proven product courtesy of its patented DiamondFIRE Technology, which focuses on improving the ignition cycles of the air-fuel mixture inside the engine’ s combustion chamber. This approach results in a more complete, cleaner burn, reducing engine emissions while enhancing performance.”
At the beginning of March, Ducati’ s announcement of over $ 180,000 of AFT contingency took the total offered for the 2018 season to over $ 2 million. Contingent on using the 821cc twin-cylinder engine that served as the powerplant for Ducati’ s 2015-2018 Monster and 2013-2015 Hypermotard models, their commit includes $ 10,000 for a championship win and $ 5,000 for an event win.
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