Cycle News

FLAT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND: 1-2/MARCH 13-14, 2014 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY/DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA P54 National Champion recently lost his longtime ride with the fac- tory Harley-Davidson team and he has a point to prove this year. Coolbeth signed with the power- ful Zanotti Racing squad so no one would be surprised by stand- out performances on miles and half-miles, but winning the Dayto- na Short Track? Coolbeth would have been called a longshot by Vegas bookmakers. Why? Be- cause the rider from Morris, Connecticut has been racing the event since 1994 and has never won. "I've had seconds and thirds, but for some reason never put it My Own Race: 14 BRIAR BAUMAN 1ST/15TH Briar Bauman scored a major breakthrough to win his first National in Thursday night's race. Things didn't go nearly as well in Friday's National. He was 15th. He came away with fifth in the standings. "I just tried to keep myself calm in those last laps when I was leading," Bauman explained. "I just did my own race and it paid off. I didn't know how big of a lead I had. It takes too much work here just paying at- tention to what's in front of you. I looked back once just to see what gap I had and finished it off." On Friday Bauman was obviously not as upbeat. "We had an awesome set up last night, but tonight we just missed the set up. I don't know what it really was. Here you need a little luck and I didn't have it tonight. We ran a little narrower wheel than we would have liked to run, before we realized where the track was at. I was doing big skids and couldn't get hooked up. Overall it was a good week at Daytona, which was huge. Last year I left here with four points. It's going to be a good year I think." 7 SAMMY HALBERT 2ND/4TH The most consistent rider at Daytona this year was Sammy Halbert, who was returning to a place he's won at three times, returning after missing the race in 2013. Halbert was a fast qualifier both days and carried that momentum into the evening program. He'll be series leader when engines fire again at Springfield over Memorial Day weekend. "The points lead feels good for sure," Halbert said. "It was a tough race [Friday night's fourth]. I didn't get a great start and didn't play my cards right at the beginning. I was able to work my way through and catch up to the podium spots. I reeled those guys in, but once I got there, there was noth- ing I could do. [Stevie] Bonsey started protecting the bot- tom and I had Brandon [Robinson] nipping at my heels. I feel like I've learned a lot in the last few years and my program is getting better. I've got the points lead and this is the time for me to shine and focus and get the job done. I think I've got a good chance to win it this year." 44 BRANDON ROBINSON 3RD/5TH Brandon Robinson broke through to win at Daytona last year. It wasn't to be for the Oxford, Pennsylvania rider this time around, but he turned in the best comeback ride of the weekend in Friday night's race after getting caught up in a crash he couldn't avoid and then charging back to fifth. His valiant effort paid off as he leaves Daytona tied for third in the standings. "Not a bad finish for where we came from," said a slightly beat up Robinson after Friday night's round two fall. "I'm definitely disappointed because I think we had something for those guys and could have had tonight's race. I worked my butt off coming from the back. It's days like this where you take the bad and turn them into a top five that wins championships. I slipped up a little bit and [Jake] Constantine poked it in the hole and there wasn't any room to do too much and he ran into the back of Sammy and highsided and I had nowhere to go. It's just one of those deals." 54 MIKE RUSH 4TH/9TH A two-time Daytona winner, Mike Rush was solidly in the mix Thursday night, but slipped a bit on Friday. "We got a little bit of a bad start from the second row," Rush said of Thursday's race. "I picked my way through. You had to pick and choose your lines tonight. It was really slippery and bumpy." On Friday Rush had to make his way to the main via a semi, which meant a third-row start. "I made the best out of it. We put some good laps and made some passes. A top five yesterday and a top 10 tonight - I'm not complete- ly bummed out. The track was real greasy and there was a lot of carnage out there, guys getting into each other. You had to be smooth basically - that's it." 80 STEVIE BONSEY 9TH/3RD Stevie Bonsey made an excellent turnaround from ninth Thursday night to a podium on Friday. "It was a decent night," Bonsey said after scoring third Friday night. "It wasn't the top step of the podium, which is what I wanted, but we ended the race on a good note. I was kind of getting down on myself yesterday and knew I had to make some changes and we did. I got some good sleep last night and put my head down from practice to finish. My bike worked better when the track was greasy. When it started drying out the back wheel was hooking up so good that it started pushing. I had to change up my riding style about 15 laps in. I can't thank Team Zanotti enough. David's been busting his butt to get me out here and I've been putting the hours in the gym. Hats off to them. I couldn't do it without them. This is a track that I worry about the most and we came away with good points."

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