VOL. 51 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 14, 2014 P53
Briefly...
The general feeling about the Pomo-
na Half Mile is that you're never quite
sure what the track conditions are
going to be like. And this year the dry
October heat in Southern California
made for some less than ideal condi-
tions – dusty, dry and slick. But once
the sun went down and the tempera-
tures cooled, the track came into its
own with more water and the con-
sensus was that the track was the
best it's ever been. Including from
the newly crowned Grand National
Champion Jared Mees. "The track
was the best I've ever seen it," Mees
praised. "Dennis Pearson did an
amazing job with what he had. I was
pretty happy with it."
Word around the LA County Fairplex
was that it may be the last ever Po-
mona Half Mile. The 5/8-mile track
has hosted many great races and
has been the place to crown cham-
pions in tight battles since its return
to the schedule in 2009. Although
many of the riders have mixed emo-
tions about the track, Bryan Smith
is one that would miss it. "This track
it's probably the best we've ever had
here. It's unfortunate that I'm hear-
ing it may be the last," Smith said.
"That's definitely a bummer - it's one
of my favorite ones on the circuit."
The day at Pomona ended early for
Nichole Mees as she was carted off
to the hospital after suffering a bro-
ken ankle in practice after her foot
got caught in a hole. She was able
to return to the track on crutches to
watch her other half – Jared Mees
– be crowned AMA Grand National
Champion, a moment that made up
for the poor start to her day. Accord-
ing to her facebook page, Nichole
continued on next page
fect to have any chance at all of
making up the 13-point deficit and
he did just that, winning his heat
race, the Dash For Cash and the
25-lap National. But when the
dust settled at the end of the
night, Mees had also done what
he needed to do and his fourth-
place finish was enough to earn
him a second career AMA Grand
National Championship.
"It feels good to get it back,"
Mees said. "It feels even better
to get it for the team, really. It's
It was Bryan Smith's
(42) night at the
Pomona Half-Mile,
but Jared Mees (9)
earned the AMA
Grand National
Championship with
his fourth-place
finish.
