FLAT TRACK
AMA GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 15/SEPTEMBER 27, 2014
CALISTOGA SPEEDWAY/CALISTOGA, CALIFORNIA
P96
behind him.
Fourth-place finisher Sammy
Halbert - whose bike was cov-
ered with oil at the end of the
race - had a first-hand view as he
was right behind Smith when the
Kawasaki started smoking.
"Towards the end there when
Brian passed me he was blowing
smoke and blowing a little oil,"
Halbert said. "I happened to have
just used my last tear off right be-
fore that. So I got a little oil on my
shield."
Johnson also took note of the
smoke after being passed by
Smith for third place and was
mindful to take different lines in
case it was oil.
As for Mees, the man who
gained the most from it all, mov-
ing back up into the champion-
ship lead and taking second, he
was empathetic to Smith's mis-
fortune.
"I'd seen that Bryan was get-
ting black flagged and obviously
he wasn't pulling off because I
kept seeing the black flag and
the 42… It's unfortunate," Mees
said. "Him and I are buddies and
don't want to see something like
that go down. But I've been in that
same exact predicament. In 2011,
at the same place, I was 19 points
leading going into the main event
and came out and was disquali-
fied because I switched bikes.
I've been in that same exact spot.
It's just unfortunate."
When The Smoke Cleared
Smith's disqualification moved
the order up, putting Mees and
his Kenny Tolbert tuned Rogers
Racing Harley-Davidson in sec-
ond and Jake Johnson on the
Lloyds Brothers Ramspur Winery
Harley-Davidson in third.
Johnson was disappointed
with his finish, considering how
strong he felt after the Dash for
Cash, but would take it.
"Finished fourth, but ended
up third so I guess a little disap-
pointing," Johnson said. "We
were there in the hunt to win. We
kind of struggled throughout the
day and kept getting better and
better and better. After that dash
and ending up second I felt really
Kenny Coolbeth,
Jr. looked to be
the man to beat
at Calistoga until
an incident with
Halbert in the Dash
for Cash left him
with a broken hand.
Coolbeth soldiered
on to finish fifth.
