STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
LARRY LAWRENCE
T
here was a lot of hype and
anticipation for this year's
Memorial Day Weekend
Springfield Mile. Besides the
excitement brought by the AMA
Grand National debut of World
Superbike legend Troy Bayliss,
there was also the appearance
of Daytona 200 winner Danny
Eslick and a slew of riders in
new seats for the summer. Yet
for all the buildup to this year's
Springfield Mile in the end it was
the tried and true combination
of Bryan Smith and his power-
ful Kawasaki-backed Crosley
Brands/Howerton Motorsports/
Villa-Esparza Kawasaki EX650-
based flat track machine that
VOL. 52 ISSUE 21 MAY 27, 2015 P83
Briefly...
In the Springfield Mile Main there
were five different brands of mo-
torcycles—eight Kawasaki EX650-
based machines, six Harley-David-
son XR750s, two KTM 990 Super
Dukes, two Triumph Bonnevilles and
a Ducati 1100 Hypermotard.
There were glitches with timing and
scoring during the Main and initially
the scoring sheets showed only Bry-
an Smith and Jared Mees leading
laps, however in reviewing the video
it was clear that Smith led 21 laps,
Willie McCoy led two and Sammy
Halbert and Jared Mees each led a
lap apiece at the start-finish line.
Bryan Smith's Springfield victory
was his fifth win at the famous Mile.
Four of those wins came aboard Ka-
wasakis and one on a Harley-David-
son. Springfield was a milestone win
for Smith. His victory was the 18th-
career Grand National victory. That
places him for the first time inside
the top-20 on the all-time AMA Pro
Grand National wins list. He moved
out of a tie with Hank Scott and
Steve Eklund and now is tied for 19th
all-time with Jake Johnson.
Smith's Kawasaki is sporting a new
Kawasaki Green paint scheme since
the team is now receiving backing
directly from Kawasaki. The paint
scheme tastefully also gives play to
longtime sponsor Crosley Radio.
Jake Johnson was notably absent
from Springfield. He was slated to
race a USC/Hart Racing Kawasaki
at the event, but for a yet unknown
reason Johnson and the team parted
company. We reached out to John-
son for comment. He did not talk to
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