Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 27, 2013 12th, Wiles, Mees and Robinson took major advantage and have now made this a five-rider championship battle. Baker saw his series lead go from a moderately safe 33 points, to a tenuous 17-point lead over Wiles. While Smith lost second in the series to Wiles with his 12th, he actually gained ground on Baker, chopping a whopping 11 out of the point's gap between the two. What this all boils down to is a potentially epic series battle to the finale in Pomona, California. Coming off a dominating win at the Indy Mile the week before, the Mega Mile most of the day was all about Smith and his Crosley Radio/Howerton Motorsports Kawasaki. If anything he had a bigger advantage on this wide-open track than he did at Indy. Fastest COLONIAL DOWNS A HIT Stevie Bonsey (80) and Matt Weidman (20) battle on the new-to-the-series and popular Colonial Downs horse-racing track. The first AMA Grand National at Colonial Downs was a positive development for the AMA Grand National Championship. A good crowd of fans showed up at the track, and while tough on machinery, the track made for spectacular racing with riders in full-lock slides at near top speeds. Even long-time fans of the sport were impressed by the visual aspects of watching a race at the Virginia Mega Mile. The horse-racing facility was unique in that it doesn't have traditional grandstands as you'd see at tracks like the Indy or Springfield Miles. Instead there was a fairly small seating area in front of a massive betting pavilion that featured suites, as well as tent-covered seating down the length of the front straightaway. Many fans watched the races from the comfort of an air-conditioned suite or in the pavilion on closed circuit TV. The staff of the track faced some challenges in putting on the event, primarily in the form of noise and dust concerns from residents in the area. Not being familiar with the crowd that comes to Grand National races, there were also typical concerns from locals about the potential of disorderly fans. Things ran smoothly for a first-time event and it was generally well received by the fans in attendance. Darrell Wood, the director of marketing and public relations for Colonial Downs, said he was pleased with the event. "It was exciting and a great step into the flat track world for us," Wood said. "We've got a date in midAugust; it should probably be in the middle of May when it's sunny and low humidity. We had a good crowd. I think it's a great introduction for us. We look forward to edition number two next year." P125 Briefly... the talk in the paddock centered on possible injuries from his hard crash he suffered on the jump at the Peoria TT earlier this month. According to his Facebook page, Halbert is back in training and readying for a return to Springfield this coming weekend. For Jared Mees his win at Colonial Downs was his 13th-career AMA Grand National win and only his second-career win on a Mile. Mees gave a lot of credit to his veteran tuner Kenny Tolbert for his win at Colonial Downs. "A lot of bikes were breaking out there today," Mees said. "This track was tough on equipment and Kenny gave me a great motorcycle that lasted to the end. I really wanted to win one this year and we got that. My arm is still broke and it's been an up-anddown season, so this one really felt good." The Grand National podium at Colonial Downs featured three different brands – Harley-Davidson, Ducati and Kawasaki. It's rare in the series to have three different makers on the podium. Four brands in total were featured in the main, with Johnny Lewis finishing eighth on the Latus Motors Racing Triumph and Robert Pearson also on a Triumph in 15th. In total, the Colonial Downs National featured eight Kawasakis, seven Harley-Davidsons, two Ducatis and two Triumphs.

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