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/1125433
VOLUME 56 ISSUE 22 JUNE 4, 2019 P69 The Lexington Red Mile came down to a two- man race for the win. Jared Mees (1) held on for the victory. Bryan Smith re-entered the scene. Wiles dropped to fourth as Stephen Vanderkuur, who had run as high as third before the red flag, now chal- lenged him. Mees seemed content to hold his pace, as Bauman hunted for a way by. Very late in the race, Bau- man was able to take the lead into turn one, only to have Mees blast back into the point before the lap was over. "I really had to think what I wanted to do," said Bauman. "I wanted to roll him on the outside in turn one, but it's kind of a skeptical move. I decided that I was going to hold back. At that point, try to get a better run and draft to the line. Unfortunately, we couldn't." Track STILL THE LEADER Despite dropping five points to Jared Mees, Briar Bauman was able to keep his AFT Twins points lead. Bauman is 19 points up on Mees with Brandon Robinson (after getting up off the ground restarting and finishing 13th) eight more back. In the AFT Singles, Jesse Janisch's lead is down to three over Mikey Rush with Dalton Gauthier and Dan Bromley still in the hunt. Cory Texter's undefeated string has propelled him to a 20-point lead over Ryan Varnes in the AFT Production Twins class. Kayl Kolkman is another 12 points back. BOUNCING BACK The way his day went, Briar Bauman was lucky to end up where he did after a big spill in his heat. "That was difficult. We were stuck in the air fence at one time," said Bauman. "I just missed a shift coming into the corner. I went back to get it because when I would miss it, I would lose quite a bit of time. I caught a false neutral getting into the corner. It sent me zinging off into turn two. Before I knew it, I was stuck in the fence and was trying to figure out where the rest of our day was going to go." NO RAIN-OUT THIS TIME With over four inches of rain pum- meling the brand new racing sur- face at the Red Mile, there were a lot of concerns if the race would actually happen even a day late. The track turned out to be surpris- ingly smooth but unfortunately developed a narrow and unforgiv- ing groove. Most felt fortunate that there was a race and not another long trip home without a race. GRAND MARSHALL Kentucky's own Rose and Earl Hayden, heads of the Hayden family, and Earl's Racing were the Grand Marshalls for the race. AFT Events, promoters of the race do- nated $1.00 from every ticket sale to the Nicky Hayden Foundation. ROGER LEE HAYDEN SUITS UP Last Sunday, after the Springfield Mile was postponed, Estenson Racing's Tommy Hayden decided they needed a rider to replace JD Beach while he was off-road rac- ing. So who better to call than his recently retired brother, Roger? After being away from dirt track for many years, while he fin- ished out his road racing career, Roger jumped at the chance and finished ninth in his semi, one off of making the main. "It was a lot of fun. It was a learning experi- ence," said Hayden. "It was cool just being out there. I was getting quicker as the day went on. I was definitely disappointed to miss the main by just one spot. It was a positive day, from where we started to where we ended up. We've got a lot to learn. It was not too bad for such a long layoff. We really struggled with grip. The bike has a little bit of work to go. Of course, I've got some work to do. Hopefully, we can do some more and continually get better." Briefly...