Cycle News

ROUND 5/JULY 27, 2013 CAL-EXPO FAIRGROUNDS/SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA FLAT TRACK P64 AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP My Own Race: #12 BRAD BAKER 4TH "It was a good night of racing," said Brad Baker after racing in the lead pack and finishing fourth. "I ended up deciding to start on the third row on the outside, just looking at the races. It was almost better to start on the third row outside, than it was inside the first row. It definitely paid off. I started there last year and ended up coming around the first lap in sixth or seventh. I got a fourth-place finish. I rode my ass off; it would have been nice to get on the podium, but I'm staying consistent with a top five. It's definitely good. This was my best mile finish. I got a fifth at Springfield and a sixth at Indy. I've always known that I had it for them, but this year was the first time to have the motorcycle underneath me that was capable and up to my capabilities. Dave Atherton has built an awesome Harley and we've got that thing underneath us now." 　 #7 SAMMY HALBERT 5TH Sammy Halbert lost out in the battle for fourth with fellow Washingtonian Brad Baker. "I got a pretty good start. I was up in there and the guys just kind of went by me. I was in like fifth or so," said Halbert. "I felt like I just didn't have the horsepower. It was a brand-new bike. About halfway into the race, the bike started running better. I think it finally sealed up and started running better halfway through. I just tried to play it smart. I would get behind someone and I would just stay behind them down the straightaway and try to push them down the straightaway instead of drafting them and creating a double draft for someone else to pass us. I felt like 1mm [the change in the restrictor rule] closed the gap up a little bit. It made some better racing, so that was nice. There was still no way I could draft pass Bryan, but it was good, it made for a good race." 　 #5 JAKE JOHNSON 6TH #2 KENNY COOLBETH 7TH Jake Johnson rode to sixth, but he couldn't match the leaders' pace and was well back. "I struggled all day with the main bike, I was off all day long," said Johnson. "For the semi, I went out on the backup bike just to try something else. It felt a lot better; the thing ran really good. From turn three on the first lap of the semi, I didn't have any brakes. Luckily, I was able to just follow Briar [Bauman] around and just kind of draft up on him and let him tow me around the whole race. In the main event, everything was going pretty good. We got a decent start. I was right up there in the middle of the pack. By the time I got to the front of the pack I was in, the lead pack was gone." 　 "I was good all day up until the end," Kenny Coolbert said of his race that culminated in seventh place. "We just kind of got shafted on the practice deal when they prepped the track right after our last practice. That just kept pushing us back because the track got so much faster. We ended up 19th [in qualifying] I think. I was on the back row of the heat race. There is really no passing the Kawasaki and Ducati. All those guys are just so fast. We came from the second row and finished seventh. I felt good, so that's good I guess."

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