VOL. 50 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 13, 2013
guns like Brad Baker, Briar Bauman and JD Beach all ran up in
the front early, while Wiles was
making his way through the field.
It's likely that it will be one of
these riders who will eventually
stop Wiles' Peoria streak and this
year's race was a great shot for
them, but ultimately they couldn't
hold off the man who has owned
this track for almost a decade.
The victory not only set a new
winning streak record at Peoria,
it also pushed Wiles past Bryan
Smith to second in the overall
AMA Grand National Championship. Wiles sits 29 points behind
Baker in the points chase with
five rounds remaining – four of
them on miles. Emerging from
Peoria into the homestretch, the
2013 Grand National Championship is now likely down to three
men - Baker, Wiles and Smith.
Henry Wiles (17) used every bit of the
racetrack and more in coming from
behind to win his ninth Peoria TT on
Sunday. Here he passes Bauman.
P55
Briefly...
There was some confusion on the
brand of motorcycle Henry Wiles
actually raced in the Peoria TT. According to AMA Pro Racing, it was
in fact a Honda CRF450R that
was re-badged to look like a Kawasaki. A close look at photographs
from the National confirmed it was
a Honda. The Honda is owned by
PBR Racing and Craig Parkinson.
Brent Armbruster tuned Wiles' winning machine.
Shaun Russell, who thrilled the
Peoria crowd, by coming out of
nowhere and leading the first three
laps of the TT National, is slated to
race a Lloyd Brothers Motorsports
Aprilia on the upcoming miles at
Indy and Springfield. Russell has
no idea how it will go on the bike.
"It's a bike Lloyd Brothers used to
use," Russell said. "It's been kind
of sitting for a couple of years. They
basically said, 'If you want to ride
and can get them ready and get
them to the track, you can ride
them as much as you want.' So I
went and picked them up and got
everything worked on. I feel like
they're decent bikes. I don't know
what they handle like or anything
like that, but I know they're fast so
we'll find out in a week I guess."
JD Beach came straight from the
AMA road race National at Utah one
week earlier to race the Peoria TT.
He scored third. It not only marked
his best ever result at Peoria; it was
also his second podium in AMA
Grand National competition. His
first podium came in his pro debut
at the Springfield Short Track in
2010. When asked if it was tough
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