P27
LIMA CANCELED DUE TO RAIN
he Lima Half-Mile AMA Grand National was
rained out this past weekend. Rains on Saturday caused officials to move the race to Sunday,
but when it rained again Sunday morning on a track
that was already a deep quagmire with standing
water, officials decided to cancel the event. It was
also announced the race wouldn't be rescheduled.
Defending Lima winner Sammy Halbert wasn't
happy they pulled the plug so early on Sunday
morning.
On Twitter, a frustrated Halbert said: "Nothin
good to say this weekend. Race rained out, but
they didn't even try. Might as well cancel on Thursday when weather looks this bad."
At least two riders weren't too sad about Lima's
cancelation. Defending AMA Grand National
Champion Jared Mees was going to miss the race
anyway with a broken arm suffered at a Steve Nace
All-Star event in Ashland, Ohio, on June 21, so the
cancelation means he'll only miss this Saturday's
National in Hagerstown, Maryland. The rainout
gives him at least a better shot at getting back into
championship contention. He was ranked seventh
in the standings coming into Lima.
"Maybe I can get lucky with two rainouts," Mees
said semi-jokingly referring to Lima and Hagerstown. "It's hard to say. Anything can happen. I
just want to come back and win as many races as
I can and at the end of the year I don't really care
METCALFE:
HE STILL HAS IT
A
ussie Brett Metcalfe was a surprise entry at
the Southwick National Motocross and the
seemingly forgotten rider was impressive to say
the least. The former factory Suzuki Team racer
posted 5-6 scores for fourth overall.
"Metty" suffered an injury in the middle of last
year and, with his immediate future in doubt,
was unable to land a factory ride, or a spot on
one of the major teams for 2013 – they were
continued on next page
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LARRY LAWRENCE
T
The Lima Half Mile was rained out on both Saturday
night and Sunday. And it won't be rescheduled.
what the points are. If we win it, if we get fourth or
seventh, I just want to come back with some really
strong finishes. I've got a new mechanic, Kenny
Tolbert, and I'm really excited to get racing with him
especially on some of these miles."
The other rider not terribly disappointed by Lima's rainout was series leader Brandon Robinson.
Robinson freely admits that Lima is not one of his
stronger tracks.
"I won the Basic Expert race here in '08 and
haven't done much of anything here since," Robinson said.
The series resumes at Hagerstown, Maryland
this Saturday, July 6.
Former factory
motocrosser
Brett Metcalfe
re-appeared at
the Southwick
National.
Larry Lawrence
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHAN MOORE
VOL. 50 ISSUE 26 JULY 2, 2013
