VOL. 51 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 12, 2014 P73
to script when Smith clocked the fastest time
during the afternoon's timed qualifying. But
the tide began to turn after the qualifying heat
races where Coolbeth earned the pole for win-
ning the fastest heat race of the night. He was
joined on the front row by other heat winners
Smith and Mees, along with Brandon Rob-
inson, Jake Johnson and defending champ
Brad Baker.
A third strong contender came into the pic-
ture when Johnson won the points-paying
Dash for Cash on his Ramspur Winery/Lloyd
Bros Motorsports Ducati Hypermotard over
Coolbeth and Smith.
In the National it was Johnson who broke
to the front at the start. Johnson led the first
three laps in a tightly knit group that included
Smith, Mees, Coolbeth. On lap four it was
Coolbeth moving to the point and he would
lead the rest of the way. His lead went from
a half-second on laps nine and 10, to over a
second by lap 13. His biggest lead came on
lap 24 when he led by 2.607 and at the flag his
margin was 2.470.
A SERIOUS SCRAP FOR SECOND
Besides racing flawlessly and managing his
tires well, Coolbeth was helped along the
way by the intense scrap over second that
Briefly...
race," Mees said. "In the semi I got
a great start and really dominated.
The bike was working perfect. In the
main event we got behind a few peo-
ple and struggled a little bit, but we
finally made our way past a couple
of riders. It felt like I got a flat tire. I
don't know if it was just tire wear, but
it started wobbling away pretty good
there in the end."
The crowd looked smaller for this
year's Indy Mile. The move to Friday
night might have had an influence, but
the local weather forecasters were
calling for 100 percent chance of rain
all week leading up to the event. The
promoters were even mulling over
canceling the event on Thursday
because they were so sure the race
would be rained out, but the track ex-
perience only brief light rain early in
the day, but the threat of bad weather
had a major influence on the crowd.
Pro Singles points-leader Davis
Fisher, who finished on the podium
in every race but one coming into
Indy, was again in the hunt for a po-
dium when he went down hard on
the front straight in an ugly crash on
the last lap. Davis spent the night go-
ing through a barrage of tests in the
hospital, but he was released and
reports he'll be in action again after
a couple weeks of recovery.
This year was the 60th anniversary
of AMA Grand National racing at the
Indy Mile. Hall of Famer Joe Leonard
won the first Grand National Series
race there in 1954 on a factory Har-
ley-Davidson. After that race in '54
there was a long 15-year gap before
the race returned to the schedule in
1969. There was another gap from
the late 1990s until 2008 when the
Nick Armstrong
held off fellow Califor-
nian Ryan Foster to
take third. It marked
his second straight
podium finish in Pro
Singles.
With just four rounds remaining
Johnson is in the driver's seat now
for the championship with Fisher
sidelined.
(From left to right)
Runner-up Kyle
Johnson, winner
Jarod Vanderkooi
and third place Nick
Armstrong take to the
podium after the Pro
Singles final.
continued on next page
