Cycle News

ROUND 9/AUGUST 24, 2013 COLONIAL DOWNS/NEW KENT, VIRGINIA FLAT TRACK P126 AMA J&P CYCLES GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Henry Wiles ended up second on the Lloyd Brothers Ducati. in timed qualifying (so much so that he elected not to go out in the second qualifying session), then the fastest heat race and a victory by over three seconds in the four-lap Dash for Cash, Smith had momentum all in his court. When the green flag dropped on the 18-lap main it was Smith, BAKER'S BAD DAY as expected, darting off to a quick lead. By lap six he held a 2.5-second lead that was building and then the Kawasaki's motor began to sour. "It had a misfire when he was running it and was toggling the kill switch," said team owner Ricky Howerton. "So I don't know if it All Brad Baker had to do in the final five races to cruise home to his first AMA Grand National Championship was to not make any major mistakes and avoid bike problems. After Colonial Downs you can scratch the latter. Bikes running at full power, the entire length of the track, all the while ingesting dust, made for a lot of broken motors at the end of the day and Baker's Dodge Brothers Racing Harley-Davidson XR750 was one of them. He blew up his main bike in the heat race and then just as he took the lead in the National, the engine expired on his backup bike. "I destroyed two motors today," said a dejected looking Baker after seeing his series lead chopped in half. was the kill switch or where the kill switch plugs into the loom… it was something pretty piddly. It sucks for him [Smith]. He could have made up a lot of points, but woulda, coulda, shoulda. We gained some points on them [Baker], but it could have been more." Smith kept the bike running "It's a shame because looking at the times I was trailing down Bryan [Smith] before he broke. I took the lead and was going down the backstretch and opening up my lead and then went into turn three and the thing locked up. It's got a pretty big hole in the front side of the cases. It's a tough break. I think I had that thing won. It was a fun race and I was having a blast out there." Baker continues to be positive about his championship chances. "We're still in the points lead, but it's definitely narrowed things up, especially with Henry [Wiles] getting second. He closed in on me, and Bryan as well. It will make things interesting for the rest of the year, but as long as I have some good motorcycles underneath me and they can hold together I think I can still make it happen."

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