VOLUME ISSUE JULY , P101
don Robinson, who came into
DuQuoin ranked second in the
points and with a strong track
record at the Miles.
Robinson got away in 10th
but worked his way into the
second group, fighting for fifth.
He took control of that position
when the riders took the halfway
flags but faded to an eventual
eighth. As a result, he's now
third in the points and 30 back
of Daniels, an imposing deficit
to erase considering the lack
of rounds remaining, Daniels'
perfect podium record, and the
selection of the tracks to come.
Price said, "It feels better than
a normal podium. I had to work
for it today. I've been sick all
week. I was in the hospital earlier
this week. And to come out here
and get a podium at the 'Magic
Mile,' it's so awesome. Halfway
through that main event, I was
feeling it, but I kept my head
down and tried to stay behind
Dallas and Briar to let them tow
us around and maybe catch
Jared. We just couldn't do it."
It could have easily been a
seven- or nine-point swing, with
Daniels harried throughout by
Memphis Shades/Sody Ent
Yamaha's Brandon Price and Rick
Ware Racing KTM's Briar Bauman.
Even though it could have
been argued that Daniels should
have accepted Mees' victory
as inevitable and worried more
about the riders behind him as
opposed to the one in front of
him, that number-one-plated car-
rot proved to be just enough of
a lure to keep the Estenson pilot
0.055 of a second ahead of Price
and 0.297 of a second ahead of
Bauman at the checkered flag.
By contrast, the main did
not play out as well for the
other major GNC title contender,
Mission Roof Systems' Bran
-
Kelleher with him on the ground and
with broken bones he would need to
mend. He looks to be pretty close to
full strength again at DuQuoin, racing
with the class's top riders and coming
home in fifth, just 0.204 of a second
short of the victory. He said, "This is
pretty crazy. My best finish before this
was 13th so I really wasn't expecting
to be up there, especially this early
in my career. We started off the day
really close and only had to make
one small change. I had the best lap
of anyone in the heats by two-tenths
of a second. This is definitely one to
remember. "
MYOWNRACE
