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Photos courtesy of American Flat Track
Mees Scores Wins at Ohio and New York
Serving as the race promoter of his home race at the Allen County Fairgrounds, Grand National Champion Jared Mees took his No. 1 Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing SDI Scout FTR750 to victory at the American Flat Track Twins presented by Vance & Hines Lima, Ohio Half Mile( June 30) and backed it up the following weekend by taking the Harley-Davidson New York Short Track, at Weedsport, New York, on July 7 – his 8th and 9th wins of the season. At Lima( Round 10) Mees put his 2017 failure to qualify behind him( the only podium he missed in 2017), winning on the pea-gravel cushion Half Mile. Jeffrey Carver Jr.( No. 23 Roof-Systems of Dallas / Indian of Metro Milwaukee Scout FTR750) took second, Henry Wiles( No. 17 Bandit Industries / Wilco Racing / Willy Built Indian Scout FTR750) was third( his fourth podium and eighth top five so far this season), with 2017 Lima Half Mile winner Briar Bauman( No. 14 Zanotti Racing Indian Scout FTR750) fourth and
Brad Baker( No. 6 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) fifth. In the AFT Singles, fan favorite Shayna Texter( No. 52 Husqvarna Motorcycles / JCS Racing FC 450) made history by delivering Husqvarna’ s first American Flat Track victory. Texter, who holds the all-time win record for the AFT Singles class, had notched up four podiums aboard her rapidly developing Husqvarna FC 450 so far this season, including a pair of runner-up spots. She was the seventh different winner of the class in 10 races this season. The following weekend, at Weedsport, New York( Round 11), the Indian Scout FTR750 secured its 8th consecutive podium sweep of the 2018 season with Indian Motorcycle privateer Kenny Coolbeth Jr.( Nila Racing, Columbia Avionics, Bell, TCX Boots, Vanson), and Wrecking Crew rider Brad Baker finish second and third, respectively, behind Mees. It was Coolbeth’ s fifth and Baker’ s eighth top-five and finish of the season so far,
Mees wins at Minneapolis X Games
When it rains it pours, they say, and for Jared Mees the wins just keep pouring in. The latest in a now formidable collection of victories this season- nine of eleven so far in 2018 American Flat Track Twins presented by Vance & Hines- came in Harley- Davidson Flat Track Racing at the X Games Minneapolis. Mees( No. 9 Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing SDI Scout FTR750) was nearly perfect on the short track built inside US Bank Stadium, winning his Heat, Semi and Main event in dominating fashion. He got good starts, grabbed his leads early and rode fast and mistakefree to secure his second X Games gold medal – his first coming in 2016. For a while it looked as though Jeffrey Carver Jr.( No. 23 Roof- Systems of Dallas / Harley-Davidson XR750) might steal Mees’ thunder in the Main, which featured just
Ohio Half Mile
Credit: Scott Hunter / American Flat Track
six riders – Mees, Carver Jr., Sammy Halbert( No. 69 Harley- Davidson Factory Flat Track Team XR750), Jake Johnson( No. 5 Estenson Racing / McCandless Truck Center Harley-Davidson XR750), Briar Bauman( No. 14 Zanotti Racing Indian Scout FTR750) and Kenny Coolbeth Jr.( No. 2 Nila Racing, Columbia Avionics Indian Scout FTR750). Carver took the holeshot at the start and looked to have the speed to stay ahead of Mees on the egg-shaped, eighth-mile indoor track. But Carver ran wide when Mees pressured him up the inside on lap five, and as he looked over his shoulder and tried to regain the line, Mees, Bauman and Halbert passed him – and Carver Jr. found himself fourth, and floundering. From then on it was another stellar Jared Mees performance – leading the remainder of the 15-lap Main solidly while keeping an eye on Bauman
New York Short Track
behind him in second place. Bauman, who recovered quickly from a last-place start, put in a mid-race challenge, sticking right on Mees’ rear Dunlop and looking like he might pressure the reigning AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines champion – and close friend – into a mistake. But it wasn’ t to be. Mees rode without error and slowly pulled away to a comfortable margin at the end. Factory Harley-Davidson pilot Sammy Halbert ran strong behind Bauman on the Vance & Hines XR750, and made a dramatic, last-lap / last-corner attempt to steal the runner-up spot with a typically aggressive‘ Slammin’ Sammy’ move. But Bauman didn’ t give Halbert much room, and the Washington native lost the front in the loose dirt and went down, letting Johnson by for third, followed by Carver Jr. and Coolbeth Jr., Halbert came home sixth.
while Mees’ win gave him a second consecutive year of hitting a grand slam of Mile, Half Mile, Short Track and TT race wins on the Scout FTR750. Indian Motorcycle privateers Davis Fisher( Double D Performance, Bob Lanphere, Beaverton Motorcycles, RMR, Parkinson), Henry Wiles( Bandit Industries, Wilco Racing, Willy Built, Mad Dog), and Briar Bauman( Zanotti Racing, Roof Systems, Western Powersports, Hard) placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively aboard their Scout FTR750s. In the Singles, Tanner Dean( No. 38 Waters Autobody / D & D Powersports KTM 450 SX-F) took a wire-to-wire win at Weedsport, with AFT Singles title leader Dan Bromley( No. 62 KTM North America / Bromley Motorsports 450 SX-F) second, and Morgen Mischler( No. 69 Cycle Craft Yamaha / Rohde ' s Sales & Service Yamaha YZ450F) edging hometown hero Kolby Carlile( No. 1 Estenson Racing / McCandless Truck Center Yamaha YZ450F) for third.
Credit: Andrea Wilson
A revitalized and Indianmounted Bauman finished second, 1.3 seconds behind Mees, and seemed comfortable on both the bike and the slick, tricky circuit. Indian Motorcycle factory rider Brad Baker was involved in a crash during Sunday ' s practice session and was unable to participate in the event. Next up for the stars of American Flat Track is the Buffalo Chip TT presented by Indian Motorcycle on August 5th and Harley-Davidson Black Hills Half-Mile presented by Law Tigers Motorcycle Lawyers on August 7th.
16 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER- AUGUST 2018 www. AMDchampionship. com