VOL. 52 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 P91
Briefly...
Bryan Smith's win at the Don Til-
ley Memorial Charlotte Half-Mile
was his fourth of the season. That's
the most of any rider in 2015. It also
marked Smith's 21st-career AMA
Pro Grand National victory. That ties
him with Joe Kopp for 14th on the
all-time GNC wins list. When asked
about seeing Jared Mees broken on
the side of the track. "It's racing as
he knows from what happened last
year," Smith said, alluding to Calis-
toga where a broken oil site glass
ruined his own shot at the title. "You
don't wish bad luck on anybody, but
I've had my share, so somebody else
can take the torch."
It was hoped that Troy Bayliss would
return to the Springfield Mile to race
the Labor Day weekend national
on the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports
Ducati, but that appears to be out af-
ter Bayliss crashed in a race in Aus-
tralia this past weekend and broke a
collarbone.
The brand breakdown at this year's
Charlotte Half-Mile Grand National
main event was 10 Harley-Davidsons,
eight Kawasakis and one Triumph.
Before this year's race, Greg Tysor,
who was on hand Saturday, held the
distinction of being the only rider to
qualify for the Charlotte Half-Mile on
something other than a Harley-Da-
vidson in the previous three nation-
als at the track. In 2001's race Tysor
qualified for Charlotte on a Suzuki.
Riders gave good reviews to the
Dennis Pearson-prepped Charlotte
Half-Mile. The banked red-clay oval
had a narrow low groove during the
day, but by the evening program rid-
ers reported the track was racy with
into Charlotte, but it was clear
from the start that Smith and the
factory-backed Kawasaki were
going to be the combo to beat.
Smith was fastest all day in all
track conditions. In timed practice
Smith pushed his Kawasaki to a
of a title, but he would need a
lot of things to go his way to see
that happen.
The Crosley/Howerton Kawa-
saki only had a single Half-Mile
Grand National victory (Hager-
stown 2014) to its credit coming
