FLAT TRACK
AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 12/AUGUST 17, 2014
PEORIA RACE PARK/PEORIA, ILLINOIS
P116
a good pace and thankfully it was
enough today."
THE WAR
While Mees was unable to beat
Wiles in Peoria, their scrap for
the win pulled him more than
six seconds free of third-placed
Jake Johnson on the Ramspur
Winery/Lloyd Bros Motorsports
Honda CRF450R.
That result, combined with the
seventh-place run of Villa-Espar-
za's Bryan Smith, also saw Mees
pull free in the 2014 Grand Na-
tional Championship title fight.
With just four races remaining,
Mees now boasts a nine-point
advantage over Smith (204-195).
Johnson is still threatening in
third at 190.
After the race runner-up, Mees
said, "I felt so good here, from
the time I got on the racetrack to
the main event. I got the holeshot
but I hooked a hole and got the
huckabuck coming off turn two
and Henry got me. That was half
the game right there.
"After that we played cat-and-
mouse. I'd run up on him a little
bit and he'd gain on me a little
bit. I was riding my ass off. I can't
go any harder -- I couldn't push
any more. I was going 100% and
it seemed like he was pushing
hard. We got into those lappers
and he cut through them like but-
ter and I got hung up."
Defending GNC champion
Brad Baker nearly stole the
holeshot himself and ran in third
