VOL. 52 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 P113
Briefly...
has almost 3000 followers and the
interaction has been phenomenal."
Briar Bauman's USC/Hart Racing
crew had a close call on the way
to the race when tires blew out on
the team's transporter en route while
James Hart was at the controls. From
all reports Hart did an amazing piece
of driving to keep the truck from tip-
ping over. They had to get a rental
truck and the team got to the track
just as practice was starting. "I'm just
happy they're okay," Bauman said.
"They could have rolled over; I mean
the tires were gone." Ironically their
rental truck also suffered a flat tire.
Bauman and the team rallied and he
finished ninth in the national.
Four different brands of motorcycles
made the national in Delaware. Ka-
wasaki had the most in the race with
10. There were six Harley-Davidsons
and one Yamaha and Triumph.
Jason Isennock and Mike LaBelle
both made their first GNC1 main at
Delaware, which means both will
sport national numbers for the first
time next season. Both said Dela-
ware would be their final national of
the season, so making a Grand Na-
tional main in their final event of the
year was a wonderful accomplish-
ment for both Isennock and LaBelle.
Mike LaBelle described his feel-
ing upon making the national. "Like
a weight was lifted off of my shoul-
ders," said LaBelle, a Canadian rac-
er, who happened to have a birthday
the day after the national. "It meant a
lot to my family who has poured ev-
erything into my racing. We've been
close a couple of times this season. I
was right on track to qualify at Hager-
moved him up to third and got
him within 20 points of the series
lead. He too will need some help
to win a fourth GNC title, but
he's at least put himself in the
mix as the series waits to find
out when the Calistoga, Califor-
nia round may run as the event is
on hold due to wildfires.
resulting 18th-place finish hurt
his title hopes. He dropped from
third to fourth in the standings,
now 31 points back. He's the last
rider still mathematically in the
hunt, but he needs a lot of help.
Coolbeth's win combined
with an additional point scored
by winning the Dash for Cash
teristics of the Yamaha.
"It's handles really good on these
smaller tracks," he said of the Ya-
maha. "It has enough power to hook
and pull down the straight. Right
now I'd say the handling is the big-
gest strength of the bike. The power
works well on half-miles, but we still
need a little more for the miles."
With Colindres' growing confi-
dence and continued refinement of
DeMay's Yamaha, it won't be surpris-
ing to see the combo on the podium
sometime soon. They only missed it
by a half-a-second or so in Delaware.
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