STORY & PHOTOS BY DAVE
HOENIG/FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM
A
lmost halfway into the 2006
dirt-track season, we still
have yet to see a repeat win-
ner in the AMA Ford Quality
Checked Flat Track Champi-
onship. And that was still the case when
the checkered flag fell on the first-ever
J o e Weatherly Memorial at Virginia
Motor Speedway. This time it was Lan-
caster Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's
Jared Mees turn to win, and he did just
t h a t , t a k i n g h i s t h i r d c a r e e r G r a n d
National victory.
"I can't believe it, it's just one of those
things," said Mees. "I'll tell you what, out
of all the things in the world, winning a
Grand National on a dirt track is probably
the best feeling in the world. I don't know
what other feeling there is out there
that's any better."
Mees ended up topping the still ailing
Joe Kopp, the Latus Harley-Davidson
rider finishing just .217 of a second behind
at the end of 25 laps of the immaculate
Virginia Motor Speedway half mile. Then
came Screamin' Eagle Moroney's H-D's
Bryan Smith, the consistent rider from
Flint, Michigan, holding off Coziahr
Harley-Davidson's Johnny Murphree for
the final podium spot after a back-and-
forth battle for the entire race.
SuperTrapp/Docs H-D's Mike Hacker
rounded out the top five finishers after
getting the best of Harley-Davidson
Motor Company's Kenny Coolbeth.
Defending Grand National Champion
Chris Carr ended the main event in 16th
place. That combined with yet another
winner in the series, tightened things
even more in the Grand National
Championship point standings as Smith
moved into a tie with Carr atop the pile.
Carr and Smith have 70 points each, just
five ahead of Coolbeth and 10 ahead of
Rich King, the Harley-Davidson Motor
Company rider failing to make the main
event in Virginia after suffering a mechan-
ical failure in his semi.
Virginia Motor Speedway
Saluda, VA
Round 6
July 15, 2006
JULY 26, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S
30
AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship
Jared Mees is the
latest winner of an
AMA Grand National
dirt track
The Joe Weatherly Memorial gets
under way at Virginia Motor
Speedway with eventual race-win-
ner Jared Mees (21) leaving the
front row with pole-sitter Logan
Myers (14x), Chris Carr (1), Johnny
Murphree (20), Joe Kopp (3) and
Kenny Coobeth (31).
ADD MEES
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