IN
THE
WIND
P42
MEES REDEEMS AT X GAMES
J
ared Mees claimed redemp-
tion in the Harley-Davidson
Flat-Track Racing main event
during the opening night for ES-
PN's Summer X Games at Circuit
of The Americas (COTA) in Aus-
tin, Texas, June 2. Mees, on the
factory Harley-Davidson XR750,
won by a margin of 0.369 of a
second over Kenny Coolbeth
(Zanotti Harley-Davidson XR750)
with Brad "The Bullet" Baker
finishing third aboard the factory
Harley-Davidson XR750.
Mees also secured the inau-
gural AMA Pro Flat Track win
at the Harley-Davidson Lone
Star Half-Mile at COTA in April
and has bragging rights to call
himself the king of the half-mile
circuit. Mees came to Austin
with a purpose, having suffered
a mechanical failure on the
last lap while leading the race
in last year's X Games, and he
used that memory as motivation
during Thursday night's perfor-
mance.
"It's awesome," Mees said.
"It's probably one of the biggest
highlights in my career. It feels
like I just won the Grand Na-
tional Championship, honestly.
Last year when we got invited to
come to the X Games, I wanted
to be the first guy to win it. I was
so close and it didn't happen
and I heard about it until tonight.
I was bitter and upset. But to
Jared Mees got his X Games
gold medal after winning
the Flat Track main at COTA.
Last year, his bike broke on
the last lap while leading.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GABRIEL
CHRISTUS/ESPN
IMAGES
