Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/164511
ROUNDS: 10/11/AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 1, 2013 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUNDS/SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK P64 AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP gin of victory over Smith and Beach. Sunday's race was a more typical Springfield Mile with a pack of six riders battling it out to the end. That pack included three Harley-Davidson riders, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr., Brad Baker and Jared Mees and Coolbeth actually led on lap 10 of the 25-lap race. Yet in spite of the Harley's being very much in the hunt on Sunday it was the Kawasaki trio sweeping the podium in the same order they had on Saturday, only this time Robinson's winning margin was a mere .202 oif a second. Only .4 of a second covered the top six in Sunday's race. "The track was awesome," Robinson said of Sunday's race. "I had to figure out which line was the best and I ended up going back to the same line as yesterday. They definitely started moving up and following my line. It's part of racing though. Everyone learns from one another." Smith said Sunday's race was one of the most hectic he'd ever been a part of. "From the green light, it was wide open," Smith said. "I was giving it everything I had. I was hoping my tire would hold up because I didn't know how to save it to keep up. Everybody had the same problem; they were all a little bit sideways except Brandon [Rob- How's Sammy? The mystery of what was going on with series standout Sammy Halbert was the talk of the pits at the last couple of AMA Grand National races. Halbert, who lives his life openly in social media, had been mum for a few weeks since suffering a hard crash at the Peoria TT last month. And that has led to much speculation. When Cycle News contacted Halbert after the Indy Mile it sounded to reporter Larry Lawrence that Sunday's race featured the closest battle for the lead of the two races as Mees (1) leads Bryan Smith (42), Baker (12), Coolbeth (2) and Robinson (44). Halbert choked up while trying to explain his absence before suddenly hanging up. Halbert broke cover this weekend and was on hand at Springfield and claimed he wasn't choking up on the phone call, but merely trying to figure out what to say before deciding he didn't want to say anything. "I wasn't emotional, I just didn't want to talk about my private medical condition," Halbert said before explaining that he's suffered a con- cussion at Peoria and his doctor told him to sit out for a little longer. Halbert was at Springfield helping his brother Jethro, but not racing himself. Sammy explained that he was going to be tested again soon and expected to be racing at Santa Rosa at the end of the month. "It's frustrating because I feel fine right now," Halbert explained. "I decided to come out and help my brother, plus Miriam wanted to come to cover the race." Referring