VOL. 51 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 P69
contender Jared Mees put a second Har-
ley on the podium was simply icing on the
cake. Fans gave a hearty cheer, not only for
an epic race they just witnessed, but it was
the venerable old school American flat track
machine once again holding off the modern
water-cooled, fuel-injected bike that repre-
sents the flat track motorcycle of the future.
While the rivalry is perhaps not quite as
intense as the Harley vs. Honda battles of
the 1980s, the supremacy of Smith and
his brutally fast and reliable Kawasaki have
established a new black knight in AMA Pro
Grand National racing. Everyone else is an
underdog to Smith on the miles. Smith had
won three of the four Grand National miles
this season leading up to the tradition-filled
Labor Day Springfield Mile, once the sole
race that determined the AMA National
Champion each year. And in the 25-lap Na-
tional it was Smith who controlled most of
the race. He led 20 laps of the main, com-
pared to three laps led by Henry Wiles and
one each by Jake Johnson and Coolbeth.
But it's lap 25 that really counts at Spring-
field and it's usually that final go around
when things are decided at this race.
Such was the case this year. All the ex-
citement happened in turns three and four.
Smith led a breakaway of four riders going
Briefly...
son) to have a shot. "It's closing,"
Coolbeth said of the points gap. "But
we just need to keep winning races.
We kind of lost that mid-season, due
to some mechanicals and me. The
small bikes are my biggest downfall,
but I have fun racing still and I'll be
around for a while I think."
It was a case of musical chairs in
terms of riders moving to new teams
at Springfield. Most significantly was
Brandon Robinson leaving USC
Kawasaki and moving back to TJ
Burnett Farms Kawasaki, the same
team he rode with to sweep last
year's Springfield Miles. "I wasn't
having fun so I knew it was time for
a change," Robinson said of his re-
turn to his old team. "I left on good
terms, so there are no hard feel-
ings." Robinson finished 10th in his
first race back with TJ Burnett Farms
Kawasaki.
Jake Shoemaker, who finished
second last weekend in Virginia, took
over the USC Kawasaki ride from
Robinson. "I've been riding my own
bikes," Shoemaker said. "I've been
working on them, driving to the rac-
es, paying for everything, so to get
on a team where they cover all the
expenses for the bike and travel and
everything it's really good. It's what
I've been looking for and it will allow
me to focus more on racing and less
on working on the bikes. Hopefully,
this ride will propel me up to the front
and we can have a successful end of
the season and hopefully come back
strong next year."
Robert Pearson raced aboard
the KTM/GE Capital/Waters Auto-
body Racing KTM LC8 at Spring-
field. Pearson said they reached an
helped out a lot. Pa-
tience is everything
with a track like this,
and I couldn't be
happier."
Jarod Vanderkooi
leads Brandon Wil-
helm and Molly Terry
in the Pro Twins
main. Vanderkooi
won over Terry
with Wilhelm's bike
breaking late in the
race.
Jake Johnson
(5) was one of
four riders who
led at least one
lap of the 25-lap
National.
continued on next page
