Cycle News

ROUND 3/SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA/MAY 11, 2013 FLAT TRACK P70 AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Pearson ended up fifth in the first Twins race of the young season. National victory, was riding a near perfect race. But Halbert just wasn't going to let it happen on his watch. "I didn't want to be the one to let him [Baker] get that first win so I dug deep," Halbert said. "I was thinking about how much it pays to win. I was pretty hungry for that. It's been a while since MAGUIRE DOES IT I've been out here making a paycheck. I dug really deep and I pushed super hard. I was on the very edge of the track in turns three and four. I really risked it all; I was close to throwing it away a couple times. That's what it took to get the win here tonight. That's how I like to win, when it's on a track that you've got to ride hard. Crowd favorite Shayna Texter and her Crosley Radio/ Howerton Motorsports Honda dove to the bottom of turn two on the first lap of the 16- lap AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles main event and took the lead from Rodney Spencer Jr., but yet another Washington hot shoe Wyatt Maguire had a different plan. The Kirkland Racing/Pro1racingheads.com-backed Maguire made quick work of both riders, then took off and hid. At that point it was game over. With Maguire pulling to nearly a five-second lead, all eyes were focused on the scramble that was going on just behind Texter with Spencer, Bronson, Kyle Johnson, Cole Frederickson and Hunter Taylor all trying to occupy the same piece of real estate. Maguire's smooth ride propelled him to his first win The harder you ride, the quicker you go." Halbert took over on lap 20 and eventually pulled to nearly a one-second lead. Baker's second was the sixth second-place finish of his young career, including all three races this year. "You can't complain about second; it's always a good finish," Baker said. "It has been pretty consistent with me right now. It is just a trend of leading about 20 laps and getting it taken away from you with about five to go. Sammy rode an awesome race. We had a good battle the whole time. We were close at the beginning. I felt myself gap him a little bit and I started feeling him there a little bit at the end. He studied me the whole time and in the Pro Singles class. "I won my first AMA Pro Singles race. It feels pretty good," said Maguire. "It was definitely tough getting through the field, but we ended up changing gears and it helped a lot. It feels incredible to pull off my first ever victory here in Stockton. I need to thank my family and all of my sponsors - without them I would never have the opportunity to experience something like this. After tonight I am sitting tied for first in points." Kyle Johnson backed up his Daytona win with another podium appearance, passing Spencer on lap 11 and leading the large swarm to the finish line. Johnson and Maguire are co-leaders of the AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles points standings with 48 points – six clear of Ryan Wells, the Waters Auto Body-backed rider ending up ninth in the final.

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