American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 6 | Page 38

Once again it was Henry Wiles on the top
step of the podium at the Peoria Motorcycle
Club. The No. 17 USC Racing Kawasaki
KX450F rider extended his streak to 12
straight wins at this year's 68th running of
the Peoria TT on Sunday, Aug. 14. Wiles was
on point to score a dominant win, crossing
the line 9.471 seconds ahead of defending
AMA Pro Flat Track champion Jared Mees.
Joining the pair on the podium was Jake
Johnson.
Although Wiles is out of contention for the
Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance
& Hines championship, the Michigan rider
headed into Peoria with a target on his
back. Everyone wanted to dethrone the
King of Peoria, so there had to be a bit of
pressure on Wiles to keep that streak alive.
"Honestly, I didn't really think about it,"
Wiles said. "I was just trying to get my motorcycle together. We were still working on
it yesterday."
All that work paid off - his 12th straight win
at the Peoria TT and his 17th-career TT win
- further cemented his legacy in GNC1 record books as a TT specialist. And the importance of those record books and his legacy
in the sport is not lost on Wiles. Especially
when his name is attached with seven-time
Grand National Champion Chris Carr who
has one more win - a total of 13 - at Peoria.

"It feels awesome. It's such a big accomplishment to just keep going straight here,"
Wiles said. "Chris Carr, he technically didn't
do it 'straight' but he did it straight. Let's not
forget about that. Chris was the man here
for so long. Technically, records are records
and whatever but nobody's fooling me. I
know what's going on and Chris is still the
man here.
"But it does feel great for my team and for
all of the fans here who are so welcoming. I
really feel like I'm coming home to a great
big family when I come here with how cool
everybody is to me. I really appreciate that,
because it could be totally the opposite and
this would be not even close to as fun as
what it is for me. So, what does it mean to
me? There you go - It means a lot!"
Mees, running the No. 1 Montgomeryville
Cycle Center Honda CRF450R, has that number one plate for a reason. He's a fierce
competitor and Mees was focused on dethroning Wiles for that coveted win at Peoria. Although he came up a bit short in
second, the result was like a win after his
rival Bryan Smith on the No. 42
Crosley/Howerton
Kawasaki
KX450F
crashed out of the race. Smith's finish
moved Mees back into the GNC1 championship lead by 12 points.