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D espite a 12-year absence of AMA National Flat Track activity, a n e a r- capacity crowd flooded the Castle Rock Race Park f o r r o u n d f o u r o f t h e A M A G r a n d National Singles Championship, and they were treated to American Suzuki's Jake Johnson's first victory of the 2006 season and a main event that featured no less than eight Washington racers. The Mount St. Helens Motorcycle Club along, with Bob Lanphere's Beaverton Honda-Yamaha, hosted a great weekend of racing in the Pacific Northwest, with the "new" TT track proving to be a chal- lenge for the series regulars - with a nar- row groove developing on the bottom of the smooth racetrack that made starts more important than ever. "I just tried to stay smooth," said Johnson. "I about threw it away in the right-hander a couple of times. I got a lit- tle excited. It got a little bit slicker than it was in the heat race. I was kind of freak- ing out there for a little bit." Johnson was pushed for most of the race by defending Grand National Champion Chris Carr, the Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford-backed rider from Pennsylvania never getting close enough to seriously challenge for the win. Third place went to Saddlemen/ Honda's Rider Club of America's Jared Mees with Mack Daddy Racing/Pro Honda Oil's Henry Wiles finishing fourth. Memphis Shades/Yamaha/Parts Unlimited's J.R. Schnabel rounded out the top five. Washington's own Jethro Halbert got the holeshot on his Zanotti Racing/A&A Racing mount in the 25-lap main event, but Johnson powered his Suzuki to the front, coming off the last turn on the first lap. Johnson opened a small lead as Halbert was under pressure from the defending Grand National Champion Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford's Chris Carr. "I think Jethro got the holeshot - he was getting off the line good all day," said Johnson. "He got the holeshot, but I passed him coming out of four on the first lap. He came out of the right-hander to the left. He was taking it a little bit easier coming out on to the short track. I would lose a little bit of time, but I could keep it down on the bottom in the wet stuff and get a good run. He got in there a little hot and was riding up towards the top of the groove. I was able to get by him." On the fourth lap Carr was able to get under Halbert in the sweeping last corner, but the when the champ squeezed by, contact was made and Halbert hit the dirt. He would remount and finish a disap- pointing 14th. "I got a good start from the second row and was able to roll around the outside of a few guys," said Carr. "I got up into third behind Halbert and Jake, then Jake got by him and was getting away. I found a little hole in the middle of three and four to where I could get underneath Jethro. He tried fighting it off and we made contact - unfortunately, he went down." The top positions would stay the same for the remainder of the race as Carr closed some, but could not challenge Johnson as he captured his sixth National win in six years on the circuit. "It sounded liked somebody was right on me for the whole race," said Johnson. "I didn't want to look back - I just tried to stay smooth. With five to go, I kind of peeked back and saw somebody back there. I didn't know it was Chris [Carr]. I saw that I had a little bit of room, so for the last five laps I just kind of chilled out and made sure I kept it on two wheels. I cruised it on home." "I chased Jake as hard as I could," said Carr. "I could gain a little bit of time here and there, and then I would make a cou- ple little bobbles and lose my rhythm. I stayed even with him. I just needed to get off with him and maybe be able to put a little bit more pressure on him. It just did- n't happen. I had a good rhythm going. I was making good time going off into one, but I struggled coming off the corners - off the tight left and off of turn four. I was- n't really getting off those corners. He was able to get really good drive. When you're getting good drives on a track like this, you're going to do well. He got bet- ter drives than I did. I just couldn't quite get the bike to go forward like his." While the leaders were checking out, there was a great battle going on for third. Schenk Racing Ent./Silkolene's Kyle Ragsdale had picked up the Washington banner as he was running third in his first national main event. "I had a pretty good time," said Ragsdale. "I was sure I could get into the main, but I surprised myself when I was running third for a while. I got off the line pretty good and just tried to hold the rest of them off. I got tired after halfway and then I went backwards. I've run 25 laps, Castle Rock Race Park Castle Rock, WA Round 4 August 12, 2006 AUGUST 23, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 34 AMA Grand National Singles Championship STORY & PHOTOS BY DAVE HOENIG/FLATTRAKFOTOS.COM The flag drops on the start of the Castle Rock TT with Jethro Halbert (69) getting the jump on eventual winner Jake Johnson (14) and the rest of the pack.