VOL. 51 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 26, 2014 P75
though he claimed his front tire
never broke the beam and didn't
trip the red light.
It was nervous times for
Smith, who coming into the main
was so confident that he had the
race in hand. Starting from the
back made things much trickier.
"You just leave yourself so vul-
nerable when you're back there,"
Smith said of starting from the
back row. "A couple of guys
in front of me nearly stopped
reaching for tear-offs. I knew I
had to get in the top five quick to
dodge the roost, because when
you're in 10th you cannot."
While Smith was trying to
make his way to the front, for one
shining moment the semi-retired
Joe Kopp, who's a specialist at
these types of tracks, put the La-
tus Motors Triumph to the front.
No one knew for certain, but it
was likely the first time in years a
Triumph has led a Grand Nation-
al race. Brad Baker moved up
past second-place Jeremy Hig-
gins on the Baer Racing KTM
and then moved by Kopp to take
over the lead on lap three. But
the defending champ's time at
the front was short.
Smith was coming fast. He'd
gotten a blazing jump off the
line, but got balked in the first
turn. He was fifth on lap one,
third on the second lap and clear
to second by lap three. On lap
four he broke through to take
over the lead. It was an amazing
run through traffic, especially
considering the roosting he had
to endure to get there.
Once up front Smith was able
to set his powerful Kawasaki on
Briefly...
ran as high as third five laps into the
National before his bike lost power.
Higgins ended up being the top KTM
finisher in seventh.
There was a lot of diversity on the
front row of the main. Bryan Smith
earned the pole on his Kawasaki and
he was joined on the front row by
(in order of qualifying) Johnny Lewis
(KTM), Jeremy Higgins (KTM), Joe
Kopp (Triumph), Brad Baker (Harley-
Davidson) and Brandon Robinson
(Kawasaki).
Not surprisingly Bryan Smith turned
the fastest lap of the race in the 15-
lap national. His 44.870 on the Vil-
la-Esparza/Crosly Radio Kawasaki
was over a half-second faster than
Johnny Lewis' second best time of
45.424. Henry Wiles turned the third
best lap time of 45.483 on his Don's
Kawasaki entry.
Brad Baker's
factory Harley-
Davidson broke
on the final lap
and he had to
feet paddle to
cross the finish
line in fourth.
