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VOLUME 56 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 P71 IIIMY OWN RACE: biggest group I have ever been in at Springfield. I've been a part of four- or five-rider breakaways. I think there were 12 guys in that thing. I made a pact with myself that I would not push the issue, but I would not go any further back than fourth." 37 BRONSON BAUMAN 4-3 AFT TWINS "I learned a lot," said Bronson on Saturday. "Obviously, everyone kind of knows not to lose the lead dra . Once you do that, it's kind of hard to run those guys down, especially when it is Jared Mees who is carry- ing the number-one plate, and Jeffrey Carver has won this race and is always a front runner. It was a bummer to lose the lead dra ." Monday's finish was one be er. "I got a good start and was just thinking just run with these guys. I thought, 'All right, let's pass these guys.' To lead a few laps felt really good. Not many people can say they led a grand na onal around the Springfield Mile. I can check that one off my bucket list. In my opinion, that track was be er today. It turned out to be one of the best Springfield's I've ever had. I'm not saying it just because I got a podium. It was a really good race track. I tried high, and I tried low. I thought I was in the air fence a couple of laps and s ll had trac on. To be honest, going into turn four on the last lap, I was shaking my head. I was mad. I think I was in like ninth or 10th, I thought. In reality, I got shuffled back, someone kind of moved me up to the wall going down the back straightaway the lap before. That's racing and having that big of a pack here, really surprised me. To be able to pull off a podium is just indescribable for me." Dalton Gauthier (122) outdueled Dan Bromley for the Springfield Short Track victory. sibly a better track than they had on Saturday. The fantastic racing was proof of that. On this day, it was Mees' turn to have problems in his semi when his Indian gave out on the last lap. Mees also had a provisional start card in hand and quickly used it. Much like his teammate had done on Saturday, Briar Bauman charged to the front of the 16-rider field and easily led lap one. Un- like Saturday, there would be no breakaway this time. Reminiscent of Springfield Miles from the 80's and 90's, virtually the whole field seemed poised to take the lead at some time. Stephen Vanderkuur was the first take over on lap three. Briar led laps four and five, Vanderkuur lap six, and then Brandon Robin- son led his only lap of the day on lap seven. Vanderkuur was back in front on lap eight, but that would be his last lap of the race as he coasted into the pits on lap nine. Bronson Bauman worked his way to lead his first Springfield Mile laps on nine and 10. Lap 11 found Jared Mees clawing his way from the last row into the lead, and he would go on to lead 12 laps, in- cluding the all-important 25th lap. Sammy Halbert (Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Vance & Hines, Harley-Davidson XG750R) led laps 17 and 21. On the last lap, 10 riders charged out of turn four in a tight pack headed for the finish line. Mees led his teammates Briar and Bronson Bauman to the podium with Rookie of the Year leader Brandon Price recording his best finish in an AFT Twins main event in fourth. Robin- son, Halbert, Henry Wiles (Bandit Industries/DPC Racing/Wilco Rac- ing, Indian FTR750), Vanderkooi, Fisher and Carver filled out the top 10. Carver was just 0.653 of a second off the lead. "We went to the back-up bike, and that thing was just as strong as anything I've ever rode," said Mees. "My hat's off to my entire team."