FLAT TRACK
AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16 / SEPTEMBER 8, 2018
WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY / MECHANICSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
P74
A
merican Flat Track
returned to the iconic Wil-
liams Grove Speedway for
the 16th race of the 2018 sea-
son. Heavy midweek rains and
dire weather forecasts forced
AFT officials to scramble in their
effort to get the event run. In
somewhat of a meteorological
miracle, both AFT Twins and AFT
Singles main events were run
before steady rains inundated
the area.
What a historic night it proved
to be as the AFT Twins featured
the Bauman brothers—Briar and
Bronson—finishing first and sec-
ond. Briar (Zanotti Racing/Roof-
Systems, Indian Scout FTR750)
was able to put everything to-
gether in the twice red-flagged,
25-lap main event and pull off his
first win of the year.
"Someone told me the last
time brothers were one and two
in a national were the Haydens.
That means a lot to me," said
Briar. "It was remarkable. Our
parents are here. The whole
family and all my Pennsylvania
family, too. It's basically a home
race at this point. I wish I could
be in California, but it's still an
incredible deal."
While Briar's win was not that
surprising, as he had posted fast
qualifying time and backed that
up with the fastest heat time,
Bronson (Indian Motorcycle/
Allstate Insurance, Indian Scout
FTR750) was a late bloomer,
storming all the way from the
penalty line to second.
"I was fifth or sixth and that
single-file restart really helped.
It paid off for me," said Bron-
son. "I've been on the opposite
end of that. Restarts aren't re-
ally my thing."
Jake Johnson (Estenson
Racing/McCandless Truck
Center, Indian Scout FTR750)
got the holeshot in the first
start with Sammy Halbert
(Harley-Davidson Motor Com-
pany/Vance & Hines, Harley-
Davidson XG750R) and Briar
Bauman right behind. When the
pack thundered into turn three
there was contact between
Johnny Lewis (Briggsauto.com/
KE Motorsports, Indian Scout
FTR750) and Kenny Coolbeth
(Nila Racing/Columbia Avion-
ics, Indian FTR750).
Coolbeth hit the ground leav-
To beat the rain,
the evening
program was
bumped up at the
Williams Grove
Half Mile. Good
timing, because
the rains came
during podium
ceremonies.
Brothers
BY DAVE HOENIG
PHOTOGRAPHY BY FLAT TRAK FOTOS
