Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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THE CHAMP'S TAKE VOL. 54 ISSUE 10 MARCH 14, 2017 P77 mix for the championship regard- less of what machine he's on, and it makes you wonder why Indian or Harley-Davidson didn't bring Wiles on board simply because the schedule plays so much into his favor. Sammy Halbert is always a contender. He'll be the premier rider aboard a Yamaha this season, racing the Estenson Logistics/Truline Yamaha FZ-07. The powerful Zanotti Racing team has picked up 2012 Rookie of the Year Briar Bauman. Bau- man is a two-time national win- ner, both times on short tracks. If he improves this year on the big tracks, something riding the Zanotti machines should help with, he could be another one to mix it up with the factory riders in the championship chase. Cory Texter has been coming on strong of late and has devel- oped his CTR Kawasaki into a true potential winner. The same can be said of Jeffrey Carver Jr. on his Carver's BBQ Kawasaki. Jarod Vanderkooi, Davis Fisher and Ryan Wells (all racing Kawasakis) are the young guns of the series who could break through to be among the front runners this season. The one certainty about the 2017 American Flat Track season is that nothing is certain. The racers themselves are as anxious as the fans to get the season started and see how things are going to shake out. They'll get their wish starting this Thursday in Daytona Beach. CN races in 2016 who are lining up in 2017 on a bike they've never raced before." Smith is talking about the six big factory riders—himself, Brad Baker and Jared Mees on Indian; Jake Johnson, Kenny Coolbeth Jr. and Brandon Rob- inson on the factory Harley-Davidson XG750R, and leading non-factory contender, Sammy Halbert on a new Yamaha FZ-07-based machine. Smith's feelings about being on the new Indian are mixed. He's happy to be part of the iconic brand's return and the financial stability it gives him and the Howerton Motorsports team, but he can't help but think how big of a favorite he would be going into the season if he were racing last year's championship- winning Kawasaki. "It's good in one sense, that we're all in the same boat riding new machines, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking, 'Damn, we could have really cleaned house on the Kawasaki.' The Indian has the potential to be better than the Kawasaki, but we haven't had the time to get it there just yet. Hopefully that will all change pretty quick." The new Daytona TT track is so unique, plus it will be the first time this generation of racers has tackled a national TT aboard the big Twins. While the combination of new bikes and new tracks have pundits scratching their heads on picking a front-runner, Smith claims that no matter what bike he's on, Henry Wiles, until proven otherwise, is probably the rider to beat. "I know he's got a big motocross background and he really took advan- tage of that racing TTs on the singles, but I think he's going to be just as tough flinging around these twins over the jumps and running through tight turns." Smith also feels the new qualifying format has the potential to put a big wrench in the works for some of the top guys. "You could be the fastest in timed qualifying, win the fastest heat race, but say you stall it on the line in the semi, you're done. There's no provisional starts. There's going to be a day when all the top guys are going to screw up with that new format and a guy who normally runs eighth or something is going to win it." Smith predicts the Daytona TT track could become a super rough and techni- cal challenge. "My understanding is they built our track right after the Daytona 500 and then covered it with plywood and built the supercross track on top of that," Smith said. "They have the Ricky Car- michael amateur races after the main supercross event and then a quad race, so I don't think they'll be able to peel that supercross track off the top until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. If the stars align they'll uncover the track and it'll look great, but you know how that goes. The biggest challenge with that timeline is getting the track to where it's smooth and racy. I'm kind of expecting the track to get kind of gnarly and maybe look like the Alligator Enduro out there." Throw in some new venues for 2017 and the twins being raced on national TT and short tracks, Smith agrees this could be the most interesting season in series history. "I don't know how all these changes are going to be on us riders," Smith said. "But I do know it's going to be one helluva year for the spectators, that's for sure."