VOL. 50 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 15, 2013
Briar Bauman
put his Suzuki
on the podium
in third.
lap and he had to relinquish the
lead. Fortunately, it sorted itself
out and he won the heat, putting
himself into the Dash For Cash,
which was also the Dash To Aid
his championship hopes, as he
needed all the points he could
Wyatt Maguire finished fourth at
Pomona to win the Pro Singles
title by just a single point over
Ryan Wells.
"No, it ain't too bad," Maguire said.
"Once the light goes green it all kind of
goes away."
And at the end of the day, he would
have a Pro Singles Championship that
doesn't leave his resume.
P65
Briefly...
wins of the season with three, which
included his Springfield Mile doubleheader sweep and his first-ever win
at the second short track race at
Daytona. Baker and Smith tied with
two wins each. Baker bagged two
half-mile wins at Hagerstown and the
Pomona finale, whereas Smith was
the mile guy, winning Cal Expo and
the Indy Mile.
get to close that 10-point gap on
Baker.
Also advancing to the Dash
was reigning AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees.
The third heat would go convincingly to Kenny Coolbeth Jr.,
with Briar Bauman grabbing the
last spot in the dash with his runner-up finish in the heat.
The stage was set in the Dash
For Cash with a stacked deck of
riders and although Smith made
a great effort it was Baker that
would end up on top, putting
the championship further from
Smith's grasp. And since Robinson couldn't make it to the Dash,
his championship hopes were all
but done - barring an epic main
and some luck on his side.
As for the main, those who
weren't happy with their start had
a second and third chance to improve it as long as they were still
in the game.
The first start ended up in a
complete restart after Michael
Martin crashed in turn two and
This year was a year of firsts for the
young Brad Baker. Not only did
he secure the ultimate prize with
the Grand National Championship
he also got his first Grand National
Expert win earlier in the season at
Hagerstown. If you didn't see this
youngster's rise to the top coming,
you weren't paying close attention
as he added many accolades to his
resume. Baker was the AMA Horizon Award winner in 2008 with five
amateur national dirt track titles under his belt. He won the Pro Singles
Championship in 2009; and in 2011
he was rookie of the year. His latest accolade as the Grand National
Champion was accomplished in only
three years in the Expert class.
there were key players in both
starts – Baker, Smith, Mees, and
Briar Bauman – with the standouts being Baker and Smith.
With a title on the line, Baker and
Smith were both going all in.
What you saw for most of the
race was lead changes in almost
every turn. Smith would lead in,
Baker would out and then there
would be the occasion where
one or the other would have an
advantage for the entire lap.
