VOLUME 58 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 17, 2021 P95
back and get the win. I'm stoked."
On Saturday night, it was
Jared Mees' turn to strike back.
While Friday's third-place finisher
Mees had already stood on top
of the box twice in '21, Bauman
had largely stolen his thunder.
That was true in terms of the big-
ger picture—winning the last two
Grand National Championships—
as well as in recent weeks, as
Bauman's win streak allowed him
"I'm beaten, but I'm not out. It
feels amazing to get the win.
Kenny Coolbeth put together a
great bike for me, and I just had
to play it smart, keep it smooth
and stay focused.
"Sometimes it happens when
you're fighting through adversity,
you're able to find that extra little
bit within you to give it all you have.
Briar threw everything he had
at me, and I was able to get him
MYOWNRACE
and second-place finishes. Following his
Saturday runner-up, he said, "I got off to a
good start and tried to reel Dan [Bromley]
down in the beginning. But I made a few
mistakes and was just learning the track.
It was pre y slick in the beginning, but it
came around for me. Cam [Smith] came
around me about halfway and I just fol-
lowed him and started finding some lines.
I'm hur ng with my ankle right now, but
we'll pull through and hopefully get be er
before Peoria."
1 BRIAR BAUMAN
2ND-6TH
SUPERTWINS
Sixth-place (and lower) finishes are just
part of the deal—unless you're factory
Indian star Briar Bauman, who entered
the New York Short Track II with a big tle
advantage built upon eight consecu ve
podiums. Bauman had an explana on
for the aberrant result—one that could
have been much worse, as it turns out.
"Kind of even ul, especially on lap one,"
he said of race two. "Me and Brandon
[Robinson] locked bars, and I went into the
biggest tank-slapper I've been in in my life.
I regrouped and was right in the mix. But
lap by lap, things kind of went weird and
I wasn't ge ng a good feeling from the
bike. I don't know why. Long story short,
we had a huge mechanical that probably
shouldn't have let us finish the main, but
somehow, some way, we were able to
finish. Sixth is kind of a huge bummer, but
at the end of the night, it was really, really
lucky."
After placing third Friday,
Jared Mees bounced back with
a convincing win Saturday.
