Cycle News

AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 51 ISSUE 24 JUNE 17, 2014 P85 held strong. After securing third Halbert said, "I got behind [Stevie] Bon- sey and was able to make a nice aggressive pass on him and get my way up into a podium posi- tion. I fought with Jake [Johnson] and Jared [Mees] a little bit, so that's good company to be fight- ing with." Bonsey was more success- ful in his last-lap strike. He set Baker up and took a measure of revenge for their Springfield Briefly... "It's a little bit slick here being a day race and all the rubber on the track from the cars last night," said Jake Johnson. Stevie Bonsey elaborated, explaining, "This track was a little bit difficult. It was hooked up and then it was slick and then it was bumpy and then it was smooth. I wish they would have graded it from yesterday and started over… maybe we would have had a little bit better surface." Sunday's race was held on Father's Day, a fact that was a repeated theme among the riders: Jake John- son: "I wouldn't be doing this stu- pid stuff if it wasn't for him." Sammy Halbert: "I want to dedicate this one to my dad for being an awesome fa- ther." Kyle Johnson: "Big thanks to my dad. It was great to take my dad on a victory lap on Father's Day. I couldn't think of a better way to cel- ebrate." Kolby Carlile: "Mainly I want to thank my dad - it's Father's Day. Nothing would be possible without you." Shayna Texter: "This happens to not only be Father's Day but also my dad's birthday, so it's extra spe- cial to [make the main for the first time] this weekend." While Shayna Texter earned a place in her first Grand National Championship main event at Knox- ville, even more history would have been made had she been joined by Nichole Mees in a two-female main. Unfortunately, Mees crashed while holding down a qualifying position on the last lap of her semi-final race. Texter's boyfried, Monster Energy Kawasaki Werner-Springsteen Rac- ing's Briar Bauman, raced against My Own Race: 25A SHAYNA TEXTER 16TH Latus Motors Racing/Castrol Triumph's Shayna Texter made a GNC main event for the first time in her career at Knoxville Raceway - the same venue where she earned her first Pro Singles victory back in 2011. She just missed going directly to the main from her heat, finishing a close fourth, and then se- cured the final spot by claiming third in his semi. "I was really looking forward to Springfield and that obviously didn't go the way we wanted," she said. "I feel like everything hap- pens for a reason. After sitting back and thinking, I figured it would be more fit- ting to make my first Grand National at a race where I won my first Pro Singles race. And this happens to not only be Father's Day but also my dad's birthday, so it's extra special to do it this weekend." 80 STEVIE BONSEY 5TH Zanotti Racing's Stevie Bonsey ripped off into the lead at the start but was shuffled back early on. However, he recovered to claim fifth with a last-lap dive underneath defending series champ Brad Baker. "Well, it went okay. I'm not jumping up and down with excitement. I wanted to be on the podium -- of course I wanted to win. It started out good - I got the holeshot, but Coolbeth went past me like I was standing still - he was on a mission. I tried to settle in behind him and chase his pace, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep up with him and he got away a little bit. I don't know if it was Jake [Johnson] or Jared [Mees], but somebody got under me and pushed me off the groove. As that happened I got freight-trained by about four people. So I settled back in and started catching Brad [Baker] little-by-little." 1 BRAD BAKER 6TH The snake-bit title defense of reigning Grand National Champion Brad Baker on the works Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle XR750 continued at Knoxville. A limping primary bike cost him a heat race win and then his 'B' bike gave up during the 'Dash for Cash'. He went back to his 'A' bike for the main but the earlier issues resurfaced. However, Baker was encouraged by his riding and the fact that his broken arm is healing better than expected. "It was a decent day. Heck, I felt amazing on the motorcycle. I've rode a motorcycle three times in the last eight weeks now; usually I ride a minimum of three times in a week. My whole body suffered from that. But to come here and feel like I was the fastest guy out there, but just have mechanical problems the whole time… Dash for Cash I went out there on my backup bike and ended up blowing the thing up after making a charge to the front from the back row. I thought I had the holeshot in the main event, but my 'A' bike was still sputtering up… it had a miss all day. The guys worked hard to try to figure it out but we never did get it out of the motorcycle." continued on next page

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