Cycle News

FLAT TRACK AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9/AUGUST 2, 2014 CASTLE ROCK RACE PARK/CASTLE ROCK, WASHINGTON P54 My Own Race: 23 JEFFREY CARVER JR. 6 TH Last year Jeffrey Carver Jr. got his first Grand National win at Castle Rock. Although he didn't repeat it this year, he was in contention all night, winning the first heat race and was right there in the thick of the four-way battle for that last po- dium spot. "Well I got a pretty good start, ran up there and was right there with the top guys and was trying to make a move," Carver said. "I race with JD [Beach] every winter all winter long on like this exact style track, but about half the size so I know what JD's like. I knew he was going to be re- ally hard back there, especially since he was trying to push forward. And we were battling. I was trying to get by [Jared] Mees. I could see his [Beach] shadow and stuff and then I heard him panic rev over the jump and I checked up and he landed on the side of my bars, hit me and I squared him back up out of the right hander and passed him back. We were like two laps to go and somebody blew up down the backstretch and there was oil all over the straightaway and I hit it, got all stepped out. Almost went down and JD slipped by. I knew we were fast all night. We were right there it was cool to be right in contention again." 42 BRYAN SMITH 10 TH It was a tough day at the office for Bryan Smith, but in the end 10 th place allowed him to pick up some points and only drop six points behind Jared Mees."The night started out bad, we couldn't qualify very good," Smith said. "Felt al- right, but just couldn't piece together a whole lap. I'd mess up one corner or the other. Obviously, I blew qualifying so then I was on the second row in the heat. I was hoping I could squeak in there in the heat race and not have to mess with the semi because you never know what can hap- pen. And that didn't happen so then I had to ride the semi. Luckily, I went on to win the semi so it was good because I turned some good lap times. So I knew I was kind of on pace; it wasn't me anymore screwing up and the bike was good. But the main, coming from the third row, it's basically how risky do you want to be because you put yourself with everybody jumping and crashing and such tight corners. Basically how much do you want to risk it to put yourself in a position to maybe make out really good or crash? I was kind of in between. Kind of sticking my nose in and out of places and didn't really make any moves the first couple of laps where I really needed to be to get mid pack with the guys that are my pace." 7 SAM HALBERT 8 TH Alhough it started out good for Sam Halbert in front of the home crowd in Washington, it kind of went pear shaped after opening ceremonies for the Fredricktown Yamaha. "I felt really good in qualifying and was quickest for awhile and thought I really had a shot at doing well tonight, but unfortunately in the heat race I crashed on the first lap and jammed up the front brakes and had to pull off," Halbert said. "I did my best from there and made it through the semi and put on a charge through the main and made some passes. It's just unfortunate because I felt like we had really good speed tonight so I'm kind of bummed that I put myself on the third row to start with on a track that's fairly hard to pass. Tonight the track was better than last year, I think, so I was able to make some passes and worked my way up and, after getting by Jake [Johnson], I started catching the next pack of riders. I got a little excited towards the end as I was getting close to them and spun it around backwards and fell on the ground again. But I was able to pick the bike up quick, blast through a Dunlop banner and only lose one spot out of the deal." 9 JARED MEES 4TH Jared Mees felt he was better than his fourth-place finish, but was more than happy to leave Castle Rock with the points lead. "I don't know it was weird when I woke up to- day I just felt a little nervous and tense for some reason for this place for me," Jared Mees said. "I've gotten like four seconds in a row or something here and to come here and kind of ride tense wasn't really me. I felt pretty good in qualifying in my heat race, I rode really tense in my heat race, but I got in the dash… I was better in the dash. Man, if I could've just ridden the whole day like I did the last 15 laps of the main event, I would've been a lot better off. The last 15 laps of the main event I woke up and ran those guys back down. I had a really good shot at Baker about two laps in a row towards the end, but in the back of my mind I was looking at the big picture. I didn't really want to stall it or wipe us both out or anything. Brad rode me clean earlier in the race so there was no reason to ride him dirty." 95 JD BEACH 5 TH Factory Yamaha road racer JD Beach returned to his dirt track roots at Castle Rock and came away with fifth in his first dirt track race of the season."It was a really good race," JD Beach said. "We started on the second row. I was actually surprised after the first lap I was about seventh and made a pass for sixth and was battling right there with Baker and Mees and Carver. It was really, really tough to pass. I tried to pass Jeffrey [Carver] over the jump and we got together in the air and then I whiskey throttled and went straight into the right hander and almost took Mees out. It was a little hectic. With about two or three laps to go some- body blew up going into the last turn and so Jeffrey hit the oil and went a little bit wide and I was able to get by him and bring it home fifth. I think for me after crashing in practice, crashing in the heat race, getting fifth in the main from the second row's not too bad."

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