FLAT TRACK
AMA PRO FLATTRACK SERIES, PRESENTED BY VANCE & HINES
ROUND 9 / JUNE 18, 2016
REMINGTON PARK / OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
P76
root of all evil, the red flag came
out. I've had this burn my ass
before at Greenville one year
with Joe Kopp."
Smith knew beating Mees on
this day would be a tall order.
"I was cruising in second.
I had a vision, before the red
flag, that maybe Mees would be
pulling into the infield like at the
X Games a couple years ago.
He had me covered today," said
to almost 12 seconds, was now
gone.
"Tire wear kind of came into
my mind for a second [concern
over tire wear had prompted
AMA Pro Racing to furnish each
of the main-event competitors
with a new, harder-compound
Dunlop rear tire]. I figured we
were burning them pretty good
through the corners," said
Mees. "Then, holy smokes, the
& Hines) started slowing on lap
six and he was out by lap eight.
The winner of the last three
races (all miles), Crosley
Brands/Howerton Motorsports'
Bryan Smith, recovered from a
poor start to take second when
Coolbeth was sidelined. At that
point he was already almost a full
second behind Mees.
It is rare in "mile" racing, but
Mees began to pull free of the
rest of the field.
"I was actually able to kind of
look over at the Jumbotron as I
was going by," said Mees. "I was
noticing that my gap was getting
bigger and bigger."
With the demise of Baker,
Kennedy Racing/Armbruster
Racing's Brandon Robinson had
taken over third and appeared
to be gaining on Smith. Zanotti
Racing/Harley-Davidson Motor
Company's Jake Johnson and
BriggsAuto.com/Martin Truck-
ing's Sammy Halbert were fight-
ing over fourth as riders were
scattered all around the track.
On lap 19, everything
changed when Sammy Halbert
fell in turn four and the race was
red-flagged a lap later.
"I didn't think they were going
to throw it [red flag], because I
came around and saw that his
bike was on the inside and basi-
cally on the infield. I figured that
somebody would go grab it,"
said Mees. "I can't believe that
nobody grabbed it and got it up
there. I don't know if he was just
lacking fitness or what."
Mees' lead, which had grown
Bryan Smith
(42) battles with
Brandon Robinson
en route to a
second-place
finish.
