aforementioned opportunity.
Between them in the order
were Vanderkooi, who is starting
to look like a genuine contender
himself after logging back-to-back
runner-up finishes, and Mees,
who salvaged a podium despite
wearing a knee brace and still rid-
ing at less than 100 percent.
The younger Bauman rounded
out the top five, while former
points leader Beach came home
in eighth after chasing the setup
all evening long.
Meanwhile, 2020's third-
ranked Sammy Halbert missed
the main event altogether after
the Coolbeth-Nila Racing entry
came in contact with the wall
and injured his right foot without
crashing during the four-lap Mis-
sion Challenge.
The worry now for the remain-
der of the field is that Bauman's
win will put him right back in the
killer mindset that made him such
a formidable competitor over the
past two-plus seasons.
him in tle conten on and underlined
what he was capable of but fell well
short of pu ng a smile on his face at
the end of the night. He said, "I got
to the front and felt like I was control-
ling the race. And then Briar was on
the bo om line which was obviously
a li le faster and got by me. I was try-
ing to search around a li le bit, and I
guess Mees was there. I shut the door
on him and he rear ended me. I don't
know. I guess it was a racing incident,
but I'm s ll pissed, you know? It took
us out of a good run on this bike. I had
a definite shot at winning the race,
and it just ruined our night. I'm a li le
tweaked but we'll move on."
MYOWNRACE
37 BRONSON BAUMAN
5TH SUPERTWINS
Bronson Bauman enjoyed his best day
yet on the Indian Motorcycle of Okla-
homa City-backed ex-works FTR750,
winning his Semi as the top qualifier
and closing out the evening with a
top-five. A erward, he said, "Si ng
pole for the main event was a huge
confidence booster. I really got a good
first jump off the ini al start and was
rolling pre y good with the guys—it
was Briar, Mees, B-Rob, and I think
Vanderkooi, and we were all having a
good clean ba le. Then some bone-
head made someone else crash, and it
definitely took some wind out of our
sails with the restart, and we couldn't
quite gather it back up. I just brought
it home fi h. It kind of sucked that we
lost fourth the last couple laps, but for
Brandon to come from the ground and
finish fourth—he was rolling good so
congrats to him."
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 22 JUNE 2, 2021 P97
