FLAT TRACK
AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 4/JUNE 15, 2014
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY/KNOXVILLE, IOWA
P84
Halbert (7) leads Johnson (5).
Although he didn't get the best of
him in this battle, Halbert did come
away with the victory in the points-
paying Dash For Cash.
to be a good year."
It was more of the same in third
place, as South East H-D's Sam-
my Halbert scored his third third-
place finish around the hardened
black clay half-mile.
"This is my third third-place fin-
ish here so we definitely want to
step it up," Halbert said.
Processional… Until It Wasn't
Not only were the final results
seemingly predictable - at least
based on circuit history - the rac-
ing was rather processional as
well, at least once everyone set-
tled in… That is until the contest's
final lap.
There was, however, some
early jockeying for position. Hole-
shot winner Steve Bonsey was
pushed wide while running in
second aboard the Zanotti Rac-
ing Harley-Davidson on lap four
and immediately dropped down
to sixth.
Rogers Racing's Jared Mees
and Harley-Davidson Screamin
Eagle's Brad Baker were the next
to lose ground. On lap five, Mees
attempted to dive under Baker
going into turn one and both men
were run up near the air fence af-
ter Mees suffered a bobble mid-
pass.
Mees passed Baker, who was
running third at the time, in the
melee but opened the door for
Johnson to slip past both and
into a podium position. Baker,
meanwhile, dropped to sixth, al-
lowing Bonsey back into fifth.
The champ reclaimed that spot
on the very next lap, while John-
son overhauled Halbert for sec-
ond on lap 10.
All the while Villa-Esparza/
Crosley Radios Kawasaki's Bryan
Smith lurked just behind the lead-
ing sextet of Harleys aboard his
Kawasaki EX650-based race-
bike.
At that point, the race order
went static among the con-
tenders. That order - Coolbeth,
Johnson, Halbert, Mees, Baker,
Bonsey, Smith - would remain un-
changed for the next 15 laps.
Finally, on the contest's final
lap the action reignited.
Mees attempted to swoop un-
der Halbert and steal away the fi-
nal spot on the box entering turn
three but was denied as Halbert
