Once past Rick Ware Racing's
Briar Bauman and Fairway Ford's
Jarod Vanderkooi, Daniels diced
with title rival Mees for second
as Robinson threatened to break
free after opening an early ad-
vantage of seven-tenths-plus of
a second in first.
But the fight for second
spurred the duo forward and
eventually placed Daniels on Rob-
inson's rear wheel, while a bruised
Mees, still not quite 100 percent
following a mountain bike spill a
little over a week earlier, slowly
faded from the pursuit.
Daniels' momentum saw him
swoop through on Robinson as
the race hit its halfway point. He
then fixed his eyes forward with
a breakaway of his own seem
-
ingly within his grasp. However,
a minor miscalculation in one
turn gave Robinson the oppor-
tunity to strike, which he gladly
accepted.
From that point on, Daniels
stalked, pressured, threatened,
and even dove through, but he
never could make a pass stick.
And so it was Robinson, by
0.086 of a second, who became
the first rider in the premier
class to claim a third win this
season. That accomplishment
also saw him step ahead of
Mees to become Daniels' near
-
est challenger in the champion-
ship hunt.
"It feels awesome to get a
third win, especially at what
would be my hometown race,"
Robinson said. "Growing up an
hour and a half from here and
having so many friends and
family here, it means a lot. I've
never won at the races close to
home. I've been close—second,
third, fourth—but never sealed
the deal. So, it feels cool to get
the job done in front of every
-
body.
VOLUME ISSUE JUNE , P67
by both to claim yet another victory.
"We started off really good, and then
sort of went backwards," Saathoff
said. "We figured out what was going
on and had a really good heat race
and really good [Al Lamb's Dallas
Honda] Challenge. I felt strong in the
main. Tom and I were having a heck
of a battle out there. But the moisture
in the track kind of went away, and I'd
say that's my weakness. As soon as
the moisture goes away, I start to spin
up everywhere and go backwards. I
was trying my hardest just to hold on
and maybe move forward, but it was
hard to exit out of the corners."
MYOWNRACE
Robinson (44) held
off Dallas Daniels
(32), an early leader,
for the win.
