VOL. 50 ISSUE 27 JULY 9, 2013
P71
CYCLES
heat and the four-lap Dash For
Cash earlier in the night. Forced
to start the National from the
third starting spot after his heat
was red flagged, Baker timed
the light perfectly and led the
25-lap National off turn two with
White's Harley-Davidson/South
East Harley-Davidson/Flat Track
Live's Sammy Halbert and Zanotti
Racing/Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson's Jake Johnson on his hip.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company's Kenny Coolbeth, rookie
Jake Shoemaker and Crosley
Radio/Howerton Motorsports'
Bryan Smith followed the lead
trio nose to tail.
When the field hit turn three the
complexion of the race changed
completely. As Baker inched
away, Johnson and Halbert got
together.
"I got a good start, but Brad
got the holeshot," said Johnson.
"I was second going into three,
then my buddy Sammy [Halbert]
gave me some love, basically
into three and halfway through
four. That took us both up way
high and we both ended up being
buried back in the pack somewhere."
For his part, Halbert took the
blame.
"I finally got a good start and
I was up in third going down the
back stretch on the first lap,"
said Halbert. "I misjudged it a
little. Jake [Johnson] let off a little
sooner than I thought he would
have. I was kind of sliding up the
track and he was coming down
the track and I got into the back
of him pretty hard. We were both
lucky to keep going. That was unfortunate. It kind of ruined both of
our races."
Jake Shoemaker
also had a careerbest night in
Maryland, the
rookie finishing
second on the half
mile.
Briefly...
Following his dominating performance Brad Baker has taken a
commanding 20-point lead in the
AMA Pro Flat Track presented by
J&P Cycles Grand National Championship. "Hopefully, I can carry
the momentum on. The points are
looking good," said Baker. "It would
be looking even better if the little
mishap had not happened in Daytona [where Baker lost 19 points due
to running an unapproved fork]. It
would just make it that much better if I can continue this point lead.
I just want to keep on having fun.
As long as I'm having fun I'm usually
going fast. That's the goal." Baker
now leads a three-way tie between
Brandon Robinson, Henry Wiles
and former Grand National Champion Jake Johnson, 77-57.
Defending Grand National Champion Jared Mees was forced to
sit out the night as his broken arm
continues to heal. It appears that
he will only miss one race since the
Lima round was rained out. Mees
says he will be ready in two weeks
for the Elma, Washington half mile,
but it will be an uphill battle to defend his title as he sits in 10th - 44
points behind Baker.
Wyatt Maguire has pulled ahead
of Kyle Johnson in their war over
the AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles title. After his second-place
finish, Maguire holds an eight-point
lead. Ryan Wells is just two more
points back. Jason Isennock's win
has pushed him into fourth - 16
points off the lead.
Several Pro Singles riders took
advantage of the AMA Pro Racing
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