L
ast weekend, Harley-Davidson/Screamin' Eagle's Kenny Coolbeth was bit-
terly disappointed after failing to make the main event at the Lima Half
Mile. This week he made up for that by winning his first AMA Grand
National as a member of the factory Harley team.
Coolbeth, in his fourth race aboard the orange and black, factory bike,
dogged early leader Jared Mees for 15 laps before taking the lead for good on the
16th of 25 laps of the half-mile oval, giving him win number one (on track, at least, as
Coolbeth was credited with the rained-out Syracuse Mile victory because he was
fast qualifier, but everybody was awarded just a single point) with his new team.
"It's awesome. We came here with high hopes and we accomplished it,"
said Coolbeth, who won here last year. "We accom-
plished what we wanted to do. Last weekend
was a bummer (not qualifying for Lima
National main). I had felt awesome all
night, and then we had an engine go
south. We just went back and did our
homework and, obviously, it worked."
While Coolbeth was riding a high
with the win, Mees was on the other
end of the spectrum, the Screamin'
Eagle/Lancaster Harley-Davidson rider
looking to have a podium finish in the bag,
when his rear tire went flat with just a few
laps remaining, putting him out of the race and
hurting his standings in the championship chase.
Kenny Coolbeth
bounces back
to win at I-96
STORY BY DAVE HOENIG
PHOTOS BY FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM
With Mees out of the
picture, Coolbeth
was able to cruise
to his first victory as
a member of the
factory Harley-
Davidson team.
Jared Mees (21) and Kenny
Coolbeth (31) battled in the I-96
Half Mile until Mees suffered a
flat tire.
I-96 Speedway
Lake Odessa, MI
Round 4
July 1, 2006
JULY 12, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S
30
AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship
