Briefly...
The Delaware victory was a mile-
stone for Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. It
marked his second win of 2015, but
also his 35th career AMA Pro Grand
National win, which puts him in elite
company. That moves Coolbeth past
Bubba Shobert to sole possession
of fifth on the all-time Grand National
wins list. Coolbeth is the winningest
active rider in the series and only Hall
of Fame legends Scott Parker, Chris
Carr, Jay Springsteen and Ricky
Graham have more career wins.
Nichole Mees had a hard crash
coming out of a bumpy turn two in
her heat race and she suffered bro-
ken eye socket, which will require
surgery for a plate according to her
husband Jared Mees. Nichole, who
is in her last full season of racing,
was having a great day in Delaware
up to that point, qualifying third on
her Black Hills Harley-Davidson.
Track maintenance was done to ad-
dress the potholes and marbles of
dirt in the turn after her crash.
Mikey Martin crashed the Weirbach
Racing Kawasaki in bizarre accident
after the checkered flag during timed
qualifying. With the finish line closer
to turn one than turn four, riders still
had a lot of speed going into one
even after the checkered flag was
waved. Martin was a bit later to shut
off than another rider and got into
the rider, which sent Martin's Kawa-
saki into a high-speed wobble and
pitched him over the high side. He
suffered a concussion, broken ribs
and a possible ankle injury.
AMA Pro Flat Track last raced in Del-
aware in 2002 when it ran a Half-
Mile in Harrington, Delaware. "We're
VOL. 52 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 P109
continued on next page
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
LARRY LAWRENCE
I
t was Kenny Coolbeth, Jr.'s
night. You could tell from the
start that the veteran three-time
AMA Grand National Champion
and his Zanotti Racing Harley-
Davidson XR750 could not be
stopped at the oddly named
'Roar by the Shore' (the ocean is
35 miles away), the half-mile clay
oval of the Delaware Internation-
al Speedway. Coolbeth called
upon his years of experience to
best figure out how to race the
tricky narrow and sometimes
slick blue groove. It marked
the first time the AMA Pro Flat
Track Championship ever visited
the circuit and a large crowd
showed up for the event.
Coolbeth twice pulled away
from the rest of the field. The
ROARS
