VOL. 54 ISSUE 10 MARCH 14, 2017 P75
were also in the top five at Peo-
ria last season. So maybe you
start with those guys, but who
knows? It truly is a wide-open
round one.
There's a great mix of tracks
this year in the 20-race series,
with eight half-miles, six miles,
four TTs and two short tracks.
And then there's the big
question—who's going to win
the 2017 American Flat Track
Championship?
And again, it's the hardest
call in decades. Bryan Smith is
the defending champ, but the
obvious advantage he had on
the miles with the Howerton
Kawasaki could be neutralized
this season. Still, Smith is a mas-
ter of the mile and with the big
tracks dominating the schedule
he could, once again, be the
rider to beat.
With Smith perhaps not having
the machinery advantage he
had last year, that could swing
the advantage to fellow Indian
factory rider (but under separate
tents) Jared Mees. Mees is a
multi-time champ who wins with
grittiness and race toughness.
While Mees normally doesn't
put together a bunch of wins like
rival Smith, he rarely has an off
weekend and is almost assured
to be on, or near, the podium in
every race.
And then there's Brad Baker,
generally acknowledged to
be the most gifted talent in
the series. He's so wide open
all the time that he's tough on
equipment. If his bikes hold up
B
ryan Smith sounded a bit uneasy
on the phone a little over a week
before the 2017 American Flat
Track season is to take the green flag
with the March 16 Daytona TT. The man
who earned the coveted number-one
plate last season sees nothing but the
unknown in front of him.
Next Thursday Smith, will be racing
the new factory Indian FTR750 for the
first time on a unique first-time track in
front of the main Daytona International
Speedway grandstands. It's a high-pres-
sure season opener and Smith has had
barely any time on the new Indian, and
he hates not being fully prepared.
"We've been a little more than
delayed and haven't had the chance
to ride them yet or even get everything
done to ride them," Smith says of his
2017 race machine. "Hopefully that
will change in the next couple of days
and I think we're going to try to test
somewhere."
Smith isn't the only one scrambling.
He paints a clear picture of just how
wide open and unknown the coming
season is going to be for nearly all of
the top riders.
"There's never been a season like
this," he explains. "I mean you have
seven guys that won grand national
THE
CHAMP'S TAKE
Defending champ
Bryan Smith is
uncertain as to
what the opening
round has in store
for him, his team
and everyone else.
