Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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FLAT TRACK AMA PRO FLAT TRACK SERIES ROUND 5/JUNE 28, 2015 ALLEN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS/LIMA, OHIO P130 My Own Race: 6 BRAD BAKER 1ST Brad Baker was perfect at Lima, meaning he won every- thing there was to win. He was the fastest in timed qualify- ing, won the fastest heat race to earn the pole, was vic- torious in the Dash for Cash and dominated the national. He put his hand up just before the start when something caught his eye. "I looked down at my front wheel and saw one of the wheel spacers spinning around," Baker said. "I was like, 'Oh, dang, that's not good.' Then I looked over on the left side. We switched to Showa racing suspension this year and factory Showa has been awesome at making our motorcycles work, but the difference is you've got a pinch bolt on the left that holds everything together and I didn't see it there. If I would have kept my hand up I would have gone to the hot box (where they work on the bikes) and would have gone all the way to the back. So it was a ballsy move hoping that thing (pinch bolt) stays, or I go to the back and maybe lose this national. When I finally got in the lead I kept looking down at my front wheel to make sure the axle wasn't backing out. After the restart I found out it doesn't take a pinch bolt and I was all good. It feels good to come here and win. It was a treacherous race- track today. Henry [Wiles] and I went back and forth there a couple of times, but I think I got him when I hooked up really well coming out of four." 14 BRIAR BAUMAN 3RD Briar Bauman scored his first podium since winning at Daytona in 2014. It was a great bounce back after missing the Main at Sacramento. The third-place helped him move up to seventh in the standings. "It was unbelievable," Bau- man said. "I got a bad start and didn't really know where to race—I was running bottom, top, all over the place. I finally saw Jeffrey Carver go to the bottom and thought 'Wow, that looks like it's working.' I went to the bottom and sure enough it was. Pretty soon I was getting by people and before I knew it I was with Sammy [Halbert]. At this place you never know where you're at, but I had a good run on Sammy and just missed him. To come out third is unbeliev- able. We've had kind of a rough season, a few mechani- cals, but it feels good to finally put it together." 1 JARED MEES 4TH Jared Mees took over the points lead for the first time this season after a solid fourth-place finish at Lima. He felt like he was right on the edge of running with the podium riders, but couldn't find a good line to make it happen, es- pecially due to the conditions. "I thought I was going to be able to catch those guys," Mees said. "But then the lines changed and the track got super dusty and you couldn't see. I found myself just going into the turns just hoping for the best. Fortunately we got the points lead because Bryan [Smith] and [Kenny] Coolbeth had some rough luck today. Sometimes that's the way it rolls." 17 HENRY WILES 6TH Henry Wiles is a great cushion rider, but after leading