VOL. 52 ISSUE 23 JUNE 9, 2015 P73
but just could not get by him.
"I just couldn't quite figure out
what to do with him [Smith]," Hal-
bert said. "It was like the corners
were so tight you had to wait for
him to get on the gas until you
could get on the gas. And then
I just couldn't quite make it hap-
pen. The way the track was you
had to really try and ride mellow
and not give it too much gas, but
I really wanted it so I was kind
of finding the balance between
going for it and taking it easy. So
I did the best I could. Tried to
stay on his back wheel and wait
for a mistake but it wasn't there.
So happy to walk away from the
inaugural Flat Track X Games
with a medal."
Also getting lucky was the
heat race one winner Baker,
who inherited that final podium
spot with Mees' misfortune.
Although the factory rider had
a great start to the final, he just
didn't have the right setup on
track that had changed from his
win earlier that evening in what
was perhaps the best race of
the evening.
"To bring home the bronze and
be on the podium at the inaugural
X Games Flat Track was pretty
dang sweet really," Baker said.
"Bad luck for Jared [Mees] and
kind of good luck for me. It was
definitely a heartbreaker for him."
MEES' MISFORTUNE
A half a lap—that's how close
Mees was to taking home the
gold and going down in the
history books as the inaugural
X Games Harley-Davidson Flat
Track winner.
That's the way of racing some-
times. And while the reigning
champ has been around long
enough to know that, it doesn't
really make it sting less. He
came to Austin to win, and came
just short with a bit of bad luck.
"It still hasn't really completely
sunk in to get over it quite yet,"
Mees said. "It was basically
half a lap to go to get gold and
ended up dead last. Was ex-
It looked like Mees had it in the bag.
