FLAT TRACK
AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES
ROUND 11 / JULY 7, 2018
WEEDSPORT SPEEDWAY / WEEDSPORT, NEW YORK
P76
BY DAVE HOENIG
PHOTOGRAPHY BY FLAT TRAK FOTOS
A
merican Flat Track re-
turned to upstate New
York for race number 11 of
the 18-race season, and for the
first time Grand National racing
came to the renovated Weed-
sport Speedway short track.
The speedway hosted regional
motorcycle races in the 1980s
and '90s, but this was the first
national for the beautiful facility.
The odd shape of the track (a
sharp turn-one that opened to a
sweeping arc of a back straight
that leads into a sharp turn-four)
confounded the riders early on,
but as the day progressed the
racing got better and better.
An overflowing crowd filled the
grandstands, forcing the pro-
moters to open the "Pit" grand-
stands to paying customers.
For the first time all year, de-
fending Grand National Cham-
pion and current points leader
Jared Mees (Indian Motorcycle/
Rogers Racing, Indian Scout
FTR750) was off his game early
on and, after a poor heat race,
he looked vulnerable to his
hungry pursuers. In their semi,
Jeffrey Carver (Roof-Systems of
Dallas, TX/Indian of Metro Mil-
waukee, Indian Scout FTR750)
edged Mees by just three
hundredths of a second after a
race-long battle.
"We struggled a little during
qualifying, and we struggled
huge in the heat race," Mees
said. "We made some big ad-
justments because we had noth-
ing to lose. We went the right
direction, Jimmy Wood changed
shocks and we did some engine
management stuff with Kenny
Tolbert and S&S Cycle for the
semi."
When the 18-rider, 25-lap
main event roared into turn one
it was Jarod Vanderkooi (Harley-
JARED
SPEEDWAY
MEES ADDS
A SHORT TRACK