Mees Outlasts Bauman to Stay Perfect at The Red Mile
Note: Obviously,
the biggest point of interest for most road racing fans in this weekend’s Red
Mile was Roger Hayden’s out-of-retirement ride aboard JD Beach’s Estenson
Yamaha while Beach carried on his MotoAmerica Superbike duties at Road America.
Hayden showcased competitive speed throughout the day but fell one position
short of advancing into the Main Event in his semi. James Rispoli finished 13th
in the AFT Singles Main and was running inside the top five in the AFT Twins
Production Main before being shown a black flag for a mechanical issue.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 2, 2019) – It
required two event postponements and an additional day’s delay on top of that,
but American Flat
Track finally got in its first Mile of the 2019 season
with Sunday’s Indian
Motorcycle of Lexington Red Mile in Lexington, Ky.
It was worth the wait.
Defending double AFT
Twins presented by Vance & Hines Champion Jared Mees (No. 1
Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) remained the only rider to ever
win an AFT Twins Main Event at the Red Mile after narrowly overcoming the
relentless challenge of title leader Briar Bauman (No. 14 Indian
Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750).
Mees threatened to turn this year’s edition into a walkaway early
in the Main, but Bauman dug deep and tracked the reigning champ down. He closed
onto Mees’ rear wheel with ten laps remaining in the once-stopped 25-lap Main,
at which point the two promptly went to work.
Bauman leveraged his incredible confidence with the high line to
drive around the outside of Mees on multiple occasions, but Mees was always
quick to respond with an inside dive or superior drive of his own.
Bauman attempted to draft by at the checkered flag, but couldn’t
quite match Mees’ launch, allowing the reigning series king to grab the
checkered flag by a 0.056-second margin.
Mees has now won eight of the last 12 Miles dating back to 2017’s
Red Mile.
He said, “I started to get a little worried about tires. When we
had that red flag, it looked like we were buzzing the tires down pretty good,
so I wanted to slow the pace down a little bit and try to ease it off in the
corners and keep it inline. I knew if I did that (Briar) was going to catch me.
But the Indian Motorcycle has worked so good all day… it’s been so good here
the last three years.”
While he couldn’t defeat his rival on this day, Bauman did extend
his perfect run of podium results in 2019. He said, “I can’t even put this into
words. We’re leading the championship, but at the same time, I’m probably more
excited than Jared is right now. This is actually my first Mile podium, and I
was able to reel him in and make a race of it for the fans who stuck out the
weather. I’m really excited.”
AFT Twins’ resident ‘Mile Master,’ Bryan Smith (No. 4
Crosley Brands/Howerton Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja 650), almost turned it into
a three-way scrap on the final lap. Smith proved the time away spent working on
his ‘19 package was time well invested as he finished third, just over a second
off the victory.
Another 0.186 seconds back was the most impressive Stephen Vanderkuur (No.
21 AMSOIL/Hodder Racing Indian FTR750). Vanderkuur, who only had two prior
premier class Main Event starts to his name and a best finish of 15th, tagged
along with Smith and put himself in podium contention at the end. He ultimately
finished fourth and proved himself capable of running with the best of the
best.
Henry Wiles (No. 17 Bandit Industries/DPC
Racing/Wilco Racing Indian FTR750) completed the top five.
Bauman continues to dominate the AFT Twins points standings at
122, but Mees now trails by only 19 points, while Brandon Robinson (No.
44 Kennedy Racing/Armbruster Racing Indian FTR750) retains the third position
with a total of 95.
Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle
Attorneys
Mikey Rush (No. 15 RMR Honda/Red Riders
Rewards Honda CRF450R) scored his first victory since joining the Roof Systems
AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys class following an
epic showdown with the category’s established Mile expert, Shayna Texter (No.
52 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing SX-F 450), at the Red Mile.
Rush and Texter immediately established themselves as the riders
to beat along with Roof Systems AFT Singles title hopeful Dalton Gauthier (No.
122 D&D Cycles/Gobert Smash Husqvarna FC450).
The three traded the positions between them over the race’s
opening ten laps, but with four to go, Gauthier made a minor miscue that dropped
him into the clutches of the deep pack that was in hot pursuit just behind.
With just Texter to worry about, Rush drafted past his opponent
with two to go. He continued to hold down the lead to open the final lap, but
at that point, it appeared as if Texter was merely biding her time to line up a
last-gasp strike at the flag.
Rush foiled her plans with a string of perfect corner exits,
preventing Texter from adding to her long list of career AFT Singles victories.
“I feel great,” Rush said. “I was really, really hungry for this
win; I was getting tired of second. My team worked their tails off for me. It’s
a great group of people and we’re having a great time doing this. And when
you’re having a great time, you’re going to win races.”
Runner-up Texter said, “I’m bummed. Honestly, I felt I had Mikey
set up really good on that last lap, but I got a little spun up and Mikey got a
killer drive. Congrats to him and his team.”
Kevin Stollings (No. 99 Roof Systems/Motion
Pro Honda CRF450R) maintained his perfect AFT Singles podium record at the Red
Mile, finishing third ahead of a tight pack that also included fourth-placed
Gauthier, fifth-placed Ryan
Wells (No. 94 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F), and
sixth-placed Tristen
Avery (No. 16 Waters Autobody Racing/Staci Howell KTM 450
SX-F).
Title leader Jesse
Janisch (No. 132 Roof Systems Dallas TX/Öhlins Yamaha
YZ450F) finished 11th, tightening up the points race considerably. Janisch
still leads at 119, but Rush is now right there at 116, while Gautier is just
an additional five points back at 111.
AFT Production Twins
Cory Texter (No. 65 G&G
Racing/Holeshot Powersports Yamaha MT-07) continued his unbeaten start to the
2019 AFT Production Twins championship with his third victory in as many tries
this season.
Texter was certainly forced to work harder this time out, however,
as he found himself in a back-and-forth duel with 2017 AFT Singles champ and
the winner of last year’s AFT Singles race at the Red Mile, Kolby Carlile (No.
136 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07).
Texter threatened to check out from the race’s opening corner, but
Carlile built his momentum to the point that he actually reeled Texter back in
and overtook him around the outside at mid-distance of the 15-lap Main.
From that point on, Texter and Carlile contested the lead while
working out their last-lap strategies. Ultimately, Texter’s proved superior as
he railed together four ideal corners to stretch open up just enough of an
advantage to claim the checkered flag relatively unchallenged.
“It feels great,” Texter said. “I’m glad the fans stuck it out and
came back out today. We really appreciate their support. It turned out to be a
good race. Earlier on today I was struggling so bad, and we went back to a
setup I was familiar with. I just tried to trust my instincts more and not
overthink things.”
For Carlile, the runner-up result was hugely encouraging
considering it was his return to competition following surgery after injuring
his knee at the Arizona Super TT.
Ben Lowe (No. 20 Roof Systems/Bruce Lowe
Excavating Kawasaki Ninja 650) was the only other rider even in the picture on
the final lap. Lowe came home in third and positioned himself close enough to
pounce had Texter and Carlile slowed each other down even the slightest bit in
the end.
Meanwhile, Ryan
Varnes (No. 68 Varnes Racing/RoyBuilt/Don’s Kawasaki Ninja
650) finished fourth with Kevin
Stollings (No. 999 Roof Systems/Motion Pro Kawasaki Ninja
650) rounding out the top five.
Be sure to catch the feature broadcast of the Indian Motorcycle of
Lexington Red Mile on NBCSNwith
flag-to-flag coverage of the Main Events, enhanced by exclusive features and
cutting-edge aerial drone and onboard footage. The broadcast will debut
on Saturday, June 8,
at 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30
a.m. PT and will re-air on Tuesday, June 18, at 4:00 p.m.
ET/1:00 p.m. PT.
Next Up:
American Flat Track will shift gears following the completion of
its first Mile of the season with its second Short Track, the Laconia Short Track presented by Russ Brown
Motorcycle Attorneys at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, N.H., on Saturday,
June 15. Live coverage will be available at FansChoice.tv starting at
12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT. Tickets for the Laconia Short Track are on sale
at tickets.americanflattrack.com.
Fans can
keep up-to-date with American Flat Track on Facebook (@American Flat Track),
Twitter (@AmericanFlatTrk) and Instagram (@AmericanFlatTrack). AFT mobile apps
are available for iPhone on the App Store and for Android at Google Play. For
more information, please visit http://www.americanflattrack.com.
How to Watch:
NBCSN andFansChoice.tv are the official
homes for coverage of American Flat Track. For the 2019 season, NBCSN’s
coverage of AFT maintains its highly-coveted, weekend afternoon programming
slots within two weeks of each event. The complete schedule for AFT on NBCSN
can be viewed athttp://www.americanflattrack.com/events-nbcsn/.
FansChoice.tv remains a cornerstone of AFT’s digital strategy, providing live
streaming coverage of every event onAFT’s live page while previous
events and exclusive features are available onAFT’s VOD page.
About American Flat Track:
American
Flat Track is the world’s premier dirt track motorcycle
racing series and one of the longest-running championships in the history of
motorsports. Sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing in Daytona Beach, Fla., the series is
highly regarded as the most competitive form of dirt track motorcycle racing on
the globe. For more information on American Flat Track, please visit http://www.americanflattrack.com,
like us on Facebook,
follow us on Twitter,
check us out on Instagram, live
stream the events at FansChoice.tv
and catch all the American Flat Track racing action on NBCSN.