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"I t was the longest 25 laps - not physically, but mentally - that I ever had," said Kenny Coolbeth after piloting his Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Screamin' Eagle-backed Harley to a near-perfect race on the rough Farley Speedway half mile. The small town of Farley, Iowa, was the site for round nine of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship/AMA Grand National Twins Championship and Coolbeth dominated the stock-car oval, much as he did last year, leading all 25 laps and held almost a three- second lead over Lancaster Screamin' Eagle Harley- Davidson's Jared Mees at the end of the race. "I knew I had to get out there and just put my head down quick," Coolbeth said. "I knew those guys were going to put their heads down. That's exactly what I did. I looked back with seven laps to go, and I thought it was Chris [Carr] behind me. I just kind of played it safe the whole race." Coolbeth and his Harley-Davidson Motor Company teammate Rich King led the 18-rider field into the first turn. "The track wasn't really full of holes, it was just chat- tery," Coolbeth said. "Your suspension would work so much. You would just lose your wheels - that's what we fought all day. We finally figured it out in the heat and pretty much stuck with the same setup in the heat and main, everything worked great. I started third in from the top in the main, but Rich got a good shot on the inside. I saw him coming up in front of me, but I had a lot more momentum on the outside and went around him." This would prove to be the last time Coolbeth was truly challenged for the lead. "I felt good for about the first four or five laps," King said. "I got an excellent start, then I just started struggling in one and two. The thing was trying to throw me off. I don't know what the deal was." Reggie Amos Custom Homes' Tim Eades, Mees and Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford's Chris Carr were right behind going into the first turn. Coolbeth immediately put distance between himself and his teammates, King and Mees. Mees had slipped into third on lap three and began to work on Harley's elder statesman. "How about Timmy Eades? He was flying," Mees said. "I got by Timmy, and Rich was gone. I didn't think I was going to be able to catch Rich, but I reeled him in and caught him. I thought as I was reeling him in that I was also reeling in Kenny a little bit. When I got by Rich, I think I was reeling Kenny in a little bit, but Kenny and my pace, I think, are really close. I couldn't make it up. Kenny was fast, hands down. I wish I would have got off with him, I think it would have been a great race. He was gone and he was smooth, that's what it took to win it." Carr had followed Mees around Eades on lap three and settled into fourth position. "I was the fourth-best guy tonight," Carr said. "It was a really tough track. "It was real bumpy and one-lined. It Farley Speedway Farley, IA Round 9 August 5, 2006 AUGUST 16, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 42 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship/ AMA Grand National Twins Championship STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM Kenny Coolbeth (31) gained a few points on series points leader Chris Carr after taking a flag-to-flag win at Farley Speedway.