Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/653298
FLAT TRACK AMA PRO FLAT TRACK SERIES ROUNDS 1-2 / MARCH 10-11 DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY / DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA P68 caught him," added Coolbeth. "He said it was fine. He said I was just faster than him." GNC 2 In the GNC 2 opener on Thursday DGR Motorsports' Dalton Gauthier pushed his Yamaha into the lead on lap two of the 16-lap main and was able to hold a somewhat comfortable margin to the end. The Elder Trucking/RLJ Racing-backed Honda of Jus- tin Jones was a solid second over Cycle World/Suzuki/ Team 95's Hayden Gillim. The Friday race saw Dylan Morin Racing/Arai/Morin Roofing's Dylan Morin parlay a great start from row three, after earning his way into the main with a semi victory, to a solid win. Morin pushed his Kawasaki into the lead on lap twelve of the sixteen-lap race. After taking the lead from last night's winner, Dalton Gauthi- er, Justin Jones had led all the way. Last year's winner Jones would be forced to accept second for the second night in a row. Gauthier held off Par- kinson Brothers' Ryan Wells for third and holds a narrow one-point lead over Jones. Following a major accident in Sacramento Morin has been on the sidelines for a while, but has shown he is ready to pick up where he left off. The GNC 2 class once again looks to be very com- petitive in 2016. CN Briefly... Entries in both the GNC 1 and GNC 2 classes grew noticeably with 55 riders in the GNC 1 class both nights and the GNC 2 class posting at 83 and 80 riders each night. With only 48 riders qualifying for the "Night Show," timed qualifying was intense. About one second was the mar- gin between fast time and loading into the truck for the night. Sammy Halbert and JD Beach were the fast GNC 1 qualifiers while Hayden Gillim and Jesse Long topped the GNC 2 qualifying. While it is often said that you can't win the points race in Daytona, but you can lose it, this year most of the con- tenders had a good opening. Sam- my Halbert leaves Daytona with a narrow lead over Jake Johnson. "I'm pretty stoked to get a double podium at Daytona and leave with the points lead," said Halbert. "Daytona has been good to me. This isn't the first time that I've left here with the points lead. I'm pretty happy going into the rest of the season. I feel like I've got a good shot at it this year." Tied for sixth, 15 points back are the two riders that have been 1-2 the last few years—Jared Mees and Bryan Smith. Smith was able to get by Mees on Friday as both rode midpack. "I was just happy with two top 10s," said Smith. "If somebody would have told me last week that I would come out of here with two top 10s I would have given them all the money I have. Anytime you can run with the champion and beat him, that's good, especially when he has been the guy beating me the last couple years. We are tied now and as long as I can win more races than him and if it would come down to a tie at the end of the year, I'll be happy with that." THURSDAY 1. Sammy Halbert (Yam) 2. Brandon Robinson (Hon) 3. Brad Baker (Hon) 4. Jared Mees (Hon) 5. Bryan Smith (Kaw) 6. Jake Johnson (Hon) 7. Donald Mullen II (Hon) 8. Doug Lawrence (Hon) 9. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (Hon) 10. Robert Pearson (Yam) FRIDAY 1. Jake Johnson (Hon) 2. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (Hon) 3. Sammy Halbert (Yam) 4. Brad Baker (Hon) 5. JD Beach (Yam) 6. Brandon Robinson (Hon) 7. Davis Fisher (Hon) 8. Bryan Smith (Kaw) 9. Jared Mees (Hon) 10. Dominc Colindres (Yam)