American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 227 June 2018 | Page 12

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Photos courtesy of American Flat Track
Reigning Grand National Champion Jared
Mees Dominates After 8 Rounds of 2018 AFT
Twins Presented by Vance & Hines
There have been six more rounds of the 2018 American Flat Track presented by Vance & Hines race series since
the last edition of AMD Magazine went to press … here is our results round-up to and including Round 8, the
Indian Motorcycle Red Mile at Lexington, Kentucky …
ared Mees won the season
opener, the Daytona TT in
March, and following his
disqualification after the
second round at Woodstock,
Georgia (the Atlanta Short Track),
for failing a post-event tire
sampling that showed him to be
racing on “a chemically altered
tire”, “normal service” was
resumed in Round 3 at Fort
Worth, Texas, on April 28 – with
the Indian Motorcycle ‘Wrecking
Crew’ 2017 defending Champion
and National Cycle sponsored
rider taking the win at the Russ
Brown Attorneys Texas Half Mile
presented by Dallas Honda.
The race saw Indian Motorcycle of
Oklahoma City privateer Chad Cose
secure his first career AFT Twins
podium with a strong third-place finish
after setting the top qualifying time;
meanwhile, fellow Scout FTR750
privateers Henry Wiles and Johnny
Lewis placed inside the top ten with a
fifth and eighth place finish,
respectively.
“We’re entering an important stretch
of the season right now,” Mees said at
the time. “Texas kicks off six straight
weeks of racing. To start this run off
with a victory is huge. I want to thank
Indian Motorcycle, my team and all the
fans for their continued support.”
Cose’s third-place finish marked the
third time a privateer has podiumed
with the championship-winning Scout
FTR750. Indeed, the 2017 Texas Half
Mile saw Johnny Lewis score a third
place on his first race aboard the Scout
FTR750.
he weekend saw Bryan Smith (No.
4 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed
by Allstate Scout FTR750) sustain a
broken left fibula that would keep him
out of action until Sacramento, three
J
T
12
weekends later.
The following weekend Mees
extended his championship lead,
winning Round 4 – the Calistoga,
California Half Mile presented by
Indian Motorcycle – with Jeffrey
Carver Jr. (No. 23 Roof-Systems/Indian
of Metro Milwaukee Scout FTR750)
second and Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. (No. 2
Nila Racing, Columbia Avionics Indian
Scout FTR750) completing an Indian
podium sweep in third.
In fact, with Brad Baker (No. 6 Indian
Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate
Scout FTR750) and Davis Fisher (No.
67 Bob Lanphere Beaverton
Motorcycles Indian Scout FTR750)
fourth and fifth, the FTR750 locked
down the entire top five for Indian
Motorcycle, while sixth-placed Briar
Bauman (No. 14 Zanotti Racing
Kawasaki Ninja 650) was the only
runner inside the top eight not aboar