VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P159
the final two rounds and still not catch Smith in the
points chase.
Then fate stepped in. At Calistoga, the prover-
bial two-dollar part came into play. The oil sight
glass on his Kawasaki leaked causing his bike to
puff small clouds of blue smoke. AMA Pro Racing
officials threw the black flag for Smith, he ignored
it and was disqualified, and Mees suddenly went
from nine-points down to 13-points ahead with just
the Pomona round remaining. The championship
wasn't over, with the added points Smith could
gain from a Dash-for-Cash win, would mean that
Mees still had to have a solid outing in the series
finale. And that's just what he had, in spite of a per-
fect night for Smith at Pomona, Mees came home
fourth, which was enough to claim the champion-
ship by a scant three points over Smith.
Mees said while winning the 2014 championship
was certainly thrilling, he admits to mixed feelings
that October night at Pomona.
Mees' interview was conducted as he was pre-
paring to travel to Spain along with Brad Baker and
Shayna Texter to grind it out against more than 40
international superstars, including two-time, de-
fending MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, at the
Superprestigio, a short track exhibition in Barce-
lona, Spain.
So has the order come down from above
that under no circumstance are you guys to
knock down Marquez?
(Laughs) Not yet.
"I THINK WHEN BRYAN
SAW THAT BLACK FLAG,
HE DECIDED, SORT OF,
TO SHOOT FIRST AND
ASK QUESTIONS LATER."
Mees celebrates with legendary tuner Kenny Tolbert.
