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/128340
nlike many who have come before him, such as Kenny Coolbet h, Nicky Hayde n, Bryan Bigelo w and jake johnson , jared Mees' entry into the AMA Progressive Insurance Flat Track C hampi o nship series has not been trum peted with all the fanfare of those looking for the spo rt 's next king. In fact , the 18-year -old's performances prior to the 2003 season flew mostly under the radar - the only blip being his acceptance of the AMA Dirt Track Hor izon Award as an amateur in 200 I, effectively placing him in the same class as that year' s Motocross Horizon Award recipient, james Stewart. While Stewart immediately step ped into the limelight of the professio nal motocr oss ranks with Team Kawasaki, Mees took the slow and steady rout e in dirt track racing, chasing a ride in the HarleyDavidson Sportster Performance Series in 2002, and literally built his career from there. With the exception of the series opener, Mees finished in the top five 12 times, with five of those finishes being wins, and only one - at the Springfield Mile - outs ide the top three, landing him the championship in his fi rst year. When an op portun ity to ride with jo hnny Goad's Lancaste r Harley-Davidson squad halfway through the 2003 came about , Mees, who was already well on his way to defending his HDSP title, jumped at the chance in the full knowledge that the path to dirt track stardom has often led through the 1993 AMA Grand National Champ ionship-winning tuner's pit stall. The two immediately meshed, with Mees finishing 16th in the 2004 Progressive Insurance Flat Track campaign. Mees had 21 points on fellow rookie john RaunWood , but due to a bizarre AMArule that only finishes in a rider's first full season of competition count , Wood was named as Rookie of the Year. That was something that didn't sit we ll with Mees, and the RoY title is a small part of a larger game plan in 2004. Unde r Goad's tute lage, Mees has set realistic performance goals. Rather than attempting to becom e the next Scott Parker, Mees is trying to be more tortoise than hare, focusing on finish ing in the top 10 every week and using th at as a solid foundation to build his career. Yeah, volcanoes start like that , too. So , you' re 18 years old , Are you going to vot e? Yep. T hings seem to be going pretty we ll for you in you r rookie season. Y . At the first of the year we had some difficulties with some es things. We got fourth at the Cow Palace, and then in Kentucky we OPEN By Scon ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLAT TRAK FOTOS JARED MEES IS KEEPING IT REAL IN HIS QUEST FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 26 SEPTEMBER8, 2004 CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary