VOL. 52 ISSUE 14 APRL 12, 2016 P41
that dialed."
Also racing his way to the front
after a slow start was Sammy
Halbert on his BriggsAuto.com/
Martin Trucking-backed Harley-
Davidson. "At the beginning
of the race I was kind of at the
back of the pack and guys were
going everywhere," said Halbert.
"A few laps in I found a good line
going into one and two and was
managing the other end. It was
very different. You just had to
find a line that worked for you."
After getting a good start,
Stevie Bonsey (CR Motorsports/
Alpinestars) was keeping pres-
sure on Halbert, but just couldn't
finish a pass. "I got a good jump.
We even got the holeshot," said
Bonsey. "I went a little wide
going into the turn. On the exit
I spun up a little bit and I lost
some ground there. I got kind
of freight-trained and stuck me
on the outside. In turn three I hit
those bumps every lap.
"It was sketchy. Everybody
tank slapped around each other.
I sat back and Sammy got by
me. I kind of settled in and
started making ground on him
and would hit that bump and
make a mistake again."
Just when the race appeared
to be settled, Weirbach Racing's
Briar Bauman crashed his Kawa-
saki in turn four, bringing out the
red flag. The race would now be
a five-lap dash.
Mees was able to get just
good enough of a restart to
hold his advantage down the
back straight. "The restart was
a huge concern on a track like
this, because turn three was so
rough going in," said Mees. "I
was just worrying about not get-
ting off turn two good and letting
somebody bonsai up the inside
of me. I made sure I got off turn
two extremely well off the restart
and I did."
"The restart made me ner-
vous," said Pearson. "I thought
man, 'Maybe I've got a shot to
win, but maybe I could lose out
on this second that I've been
holding on to for twenty laps.'
Jared Mees (center) celebrates on
the podium with Rob Pearson and
Sammy Halbert.
Mees leads the way on a hard-packed and dusty track.
