Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1014374
FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 13 / AUGUST 7, 2018 BLACK HILLS SPEEDWAY / RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA P104 iii My Own Race: 1 JARED MEES 1ST PLACE AFT TWINS "It is a lot of fun winning by a straightaway, but it's a lot of fun battling all the way," said Jared Mees. "It felt like Calistoga all over again with him [Carver]. It felt good. Hats off to my team. All day long I felt just a tick off. I was just as fast as everybody else, but, of course, I wanted to be faster. I got a decent start and ran a strong race. This track is easier to go fast. It's a cool track and a racier track. It is easy to go into the corner and kind of stop somebody. It's easier to mess somebody up when you are riding up the race track." 23 JEFFREY CARVER 2ND PLACE AFT TWINS "Momentum is key, especially on a race track like this, it is like the Springfield Mile. It's crazy how fast we are going," said Jeffrey Carver, describing his battle with Mees. "I made a drive across and took the lead. I thought that I should not mess up and I messed up one time and he came up under- neath me. I figured we were too close on pace right now so I sat there and when we got the five-to-go I started counting them down. If he was going to make a mistake I was going to go for it. Otherwise I was going to wait. I knew I was going to do it on the last lap, last corner. I knew it was a gamble to wait that long, but things can get dicey there. I thought that was the best move." 4 BRYAN SMITH 3RD PLACE AFT TWINS "I was working my ass off. I was just getting in a rhythm around lap eight or nine and lost the brakes," said Smith. "I'm glad that I wasn't any closer to them because it would have been a pile up. This is the third race this year that I've lost my brakes. I'm not really riding any different to use the brakes more. They went away, and I thought I was going to end up on Interstate 90. I got used to riding with no brakes and they would come back for a minute and I would get used to using the brakes and then they would go away. I was just happy to salvage third… but I was bummed that I didn't get to mix it up with Jeffrey or Jared." 2 KENNY COOLBETH 5TH PLACE AFT TWINS "We made some changes before the main event. The whole group made a change, and it was the wrong one," said Kenny Coolbeth. "We were right there with Bryan, but as the track got slicker, we went back. Our gear was just too fast for us to slow down. It stayed the same throughout the whole race for me. With about seven or eight laps to go I was pretty much in survival mode. I was up there. Briar got me on the white flag coming out of four. It was a top five fin- ish and I had fun. We have some good races coming up. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."