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FLAT TRACK 2018 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 14 / AUGUST 18, 2018 PEORIA RACE PARK / PEORIA, ILLINOIS P72 iii My Own Race: 17 HENRY WILES 1ST PLACE AFT TWINS "I was able to get into second quick, then I was able to take my time a little bit," said Wiles. "I knew Briar had a good pace. I got by him in three and four. He was able to come back by me going into one and I was able to get back under him again. After that I didn't see him. I just made sure I rode a good, strong race. There were a couple lappers, I don't know if they know what the blue flag means, or they don't care. Either way we got around them. The closing speed on some of these guys is unreal, especially late in the race. You are trying to get around them clean. I knew the start was going to be key. Fortunately, I was able to get those passes done quick. That was something that I was worried about. Briar was flying, I knew that he was the guy that I was going to have to beat. Everything worked out for me after the start." 14 BRIAR BAUMAN 2ND PLACE AFT TWINS "I got the holeshot and I led seven or eight laps. I was just waiting and wondering where he (Wiles) was at," said Bauman. "He finally caught up to me. I rode wide in the last corner and he just rolled underneath me. I was thinking I had a good run and should charge on him in one, maybe shake him up. I thought I did that, but he went back by me and checked out. I know how quick he is here. I went underneath and thought about doing something cool, but then he came back down. I figured I needed to conserve and follow and maybe he would make a mistake. In my conserving, he put a gap on me. There was some serious lapped traffic. I know Henry was pretty upset, but he needs to understand that everybody is racing. There are so many tight spots, it makes it hard to move. A lot of the guys I got to hadn't seen the blue flag yet. Lapped traffic played a big role. I could have been closer and made something happen, but you just move through them. He is hard to beat, he has won here 14 times. He knows what to do. His head is so big that when he lines up here, he has already chalked it up as a win. That's a good thing to have. " 5 JAKE JOHNSON 3RD PLACE AFT TWINS "You could almost see the story all day: Henry was fast, Briar was a little bit off, I was a little bit off and it was tight after that. I just didn't have the pace that those guys had," said Johnson. "I saw Henry miss a shift on the starting line. I thought, 'Well if anybody has a shot this is it.' Briar got the holeshot and I was able to hang there for a lap or two. He was just slowly inching away. Sure enough, here came Henry. He got by me and took off and went after Briar. I had a healthy gap back to fourth. I went into 'don't crash and don't mess up' mode. That allowed Jared to reel me in at the end of the race. He was just inching up, getting closer. I think he was a little bit in championship mode. I'm sure he wanted to win this race, but he didn't have to. I'm sure he wasn't 100% Jared today. He smelled blood in the water. He hasn't been off the podium here in a long time. I'm sure he was hungry for it. I saw the five-to-go and just put in a charge. I did what I could to keep him behind me. I'm not sure how close he got but I was able to keep him behind me. I'm always disappointed when I leave Peoria. I have finished on the podium a lot here, but I could never see Henry when it's over. It's bittersweet. It's great to be on the podium, but I just got whooped." 1 JARED MEES 4TH PLACE AFT TWINS "It was a tough day, tough race. I got an okay start. On the first corner someone got into the side of me and drifted me wide," said Mees. "I got back by Hayden Gillim. I was railing in Jake well and the lappers just killed me bad. They didn't have a blue flag or warning. I was tracking Jake down fast but couldn't get to him. I rode hard; I rode harder to get fourth place today than I have some of the wins this year. It is what it is. It was a good day and [I] stayed safe. I'll get out of here and go to Springfield. They did an amazing job here today on the racetrack. Hats off to them that we got this in today and everyone got out in one piece." 169 HAYDEN GILLIM 5TH PLACE AFT TWINS "My first twins ride at Peoria was a rodeo. On the first lap of practice I almost went off on the jump, on both jumps," said Gillim. "My foot slipped off on the way up and it was kind of game over from there, but I was able to save it. I had good speed all day. I need to figure out how to put a full 25-lap main event together. I was running fourth in the main. I caught Jake a little bit, then I had another big moment off the jump. At that point I was just thinking, 'just relax.' I looked back and Jared was right there but there was a big gap back to sixth. I figured if Jared got by me I would ease up. Sure enough, two laps later, he ended up going by me on the front straight. I thought, 'all right, that's my race. I'm going to relax and bring it home fifth.' Top five on the Peoria TT, first time in the Twins class, I'm happy with that."