FLAT TRACK
AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5/MAY 11, 2019
PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY/PERRIS, CALIFORNIA
P72
riders signed up with three being
eliminated from the semis. Jeffrey
Carver, Ronnie Jones and Jake
Johnson were surprisingly the
riders failing to move on. Carver
used his one provisional start to
finish 12th in the main.
WEIRD NIGHT
Surprise non-qualifier Jake
Johnson said that he felt he made
forward progress with his new Es-
tenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 but
felt that tire choice hurt him early
on. It was stiff competition on
the timing sheets, and Johnson
had a tough start in the semi on a
track that made it difficult to pass,
which left him out of the main and
unable to use his provisional. "I
guess you can say it was kind of a
disaster," he said. "It was defi-
nitely not what we were shooting
for, but it was a weird night. There
were a lot of guys struggling; a lot
of the guys who are winning every
week and were midpack. It was
definitely a weird night, so you
can't get too discouraged. There
Briefly...
The top three were very tight,
and it looked like Halbert was
poised to push his Harley-David-
son into the lead for the first time
this year.
Much like the California highway
system, the grooved surface chal-
lenged the riders with many pot-
holes, both seen and unseen, and
that would play a significant role in
how the race would play out.
One of the holes in turn three
grabbed Henry Wiles on lap seven
and slammed him to the ground.
The race continued for one lap
before the red flags came out.
Even though Wiles was able to
restart he was now a lap down.
Robinson was able to nail the
restart, but virtually everything
behind him would change. Halbert
was pushed high in turn two and
almost fell, dropping back to sixth.
It was even worse for Bauman, as
he ended lap eight in ninth.
As bad as it was for Bronson,
his brother Briar (Indian Motor-
cycles/Progressive Insurance,
Ryan Wells (94) and Michael Inderbitzin (54)
went 1-2 in the Singles main.
It was a positive night
for the Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson
Team. They got on the
podium for the first
time this season and
also took fourth.
