VOL. 53 ISSUE 25 JUNE 28, 2016 P39
Halbert blasted to the outside of
turn two, he was pulled into the
deep cushion and suffered a vio-
lent get off, prompting another
red flag and restart. Halbert's
crew was unable to make repairs
to his damaged XR750 and
the race restarted without the
shaken rider.
Mees was the biggest bene-
factor from the restart, moving
from fourth to second. "The
restarts can make or break you.
When I saw the red flag, at first I
thought, 'Darn,' because I had a
good rhythm going," said Mees.
"I think the best I could have
maybe gotten was a third. I got
two good jumps where I was.
Since Sammy fell down I was
up to third starting out. Brandon
was running a higher exit. It was
rougher and more of a tank-slap
type of deal. He had some big
moments. My hat's off to him, he
rode the heck out of that thing.
With everything that was on my
plate this week, for me to come
out here and finish second, I'm
pretty happy. I'm leaving here
with a big smile."
Perhaps Baker had the most
potential to gain from the re-
starts, but it was not to be. "The
restart could have helped me.
I felt on the last start that I was
running a pretty good pace,"
said Baker. "I missed a shift off
the first start and I really missed
a shift off the second one. I went
all the way back to about twelfth.
I had to work my way back up."
In the six remaining laps,
Baker was able to claw his way
to a podium finish. "I could have
given those guys a fight for the
win, if I wouldn't have missed
that shift," said Baker. "Getting
on the podium at Lima, or any
time, really is good."
GNC 2
Current GNC 2 points leader
Ryan Wells (Parkinson Brothers
Racing) was pretty much in a
class of his own all day, post-
ing fast qualifying time before
running away with his heat race.
Wells kept rolling in the 16-lap
main, winning by over eight
seconds.
Varnes Racing/Myers Motor-
sports' Ryan Varnes was able
to grab second from Dalton
Gauthier on lap seven, but he
was unable to cut into Wells'
advantage.
Canadian riders Broderick Bu-
chan and Dave Pouliot rounded
out the top five.
There were numerous crashes
throughout the day, most were
minor, but Don Taylor and Davis
Fisher both were confirmed to
have suffered fractures – Taylor
the most serious with a broken
femur. Fisher has a broken bone
in his wrist with a recovery time
of four to six weeks. With the
series taking a four-week break
until the race in Charlotte, NC,
Fisher may not miss much ac-
tion.
Dave Hoenig
GNC 1
1. Brandon Robinson (HD)
2. Jared Mees (HD)
3. Brad Baker (HD)
4. Bryan Smith (Kaw)
5. Johnny Lewis (Duc)
6. Jake Johnson (HD)
7. Jeremy Higgins (Kaw)
8. Dustin Crow (HD)
9. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (HD)
10. Robert Pearson (Kaw)
GNC 2
1. Ryan Wells (Hon)
2. Ryan Varnes (Yam)
3. Dalton Gauthier (Yam)
4. Broderick Buchan (Hon)
5. Dave Pouliot (Kaw)
6. Hunter Edwards (Hon)
7. Kevin Stollings (Hon)
8. Brandon Price (Kaw)
9. Jamison Minor (Hon)
10. Kyle McGrane (Hon)
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DAVE
HOENIG
Lima promoter/racer Jared Mees (1) came away with second place.
