VOL. 53 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 P85
"Today's main event felt like
it took about 14 hours," said
Smith, as he came away with
a five-point lead over Mees. "It
was a long time coming and that
makes it that much sweeter, es-
pecially to dethrone somebody
as good as Jared. That makes it
even better."
GNC2
Parkinson Brothers Racing's
Ryan Wells had clinched the
GNC2 Championship earlier in
the year and was sporting the
number-one on his Kawasaki
and finished the year with an
easy win before moving up to the
GNC1 class next year.
Kopp would end up with a
seventh-place finish for the
Indian Factory.
Kennedy Racing/Armbruster
Racing's Brandon Robinson (H-
D) finished a lonely fourth well
ahead of USC Racing/Hart Rac-
ing's Henry Wiles (Kawasaki).
Lloyd Brothers Motorsports/
Dillard Family's Sammy Halbert
(Ducati) was sixth ahead of Kopp
and 2016 Rookie of the Year
Smith Racing/J&F Construc-
tion's JR Addison (Kawasaki).
Zanotti Rcing/Harley-David-
son Motor Company's Kenny
Coolbeth and Ritchie Reynolds
Racing/Rod Lake's Chad Cose
rounded out the top 10.
heat race and started mixing it
up with Brad I was like, 'We've
got not just steam, but this thing
is getting through the corner.'"
After about eight laps, Kopp
began to fade. "The hardest part
is just in the head, mentally,"
said Kopp. "In that main event,
about five laps in when we start-
ed mixing it up with Bryan, Brad
and I, they were pushing ahead
way more than I was comfort-
able with. The bottom line when
I came into this deal was to test
and develop and go home in one
piece. There were some pucker
moments down there in three
and four. It would make me chop
the throttle and slow down."
