FLAT TRACK
2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 4 / MAY 13, 2017
ARIZONA SPEEDWAY / PHOENIX, ARIZONA
P68
Smith's margin of victory was
just 0.057 of a second. Hav-
ing pulled well clear of Halbert,
Mees was third just a half
second behind his Indian run-
ning mates. Jarod Vanderkooi
brought his Richie Morris Rac-
ing/McElroy Packaging-backed
Kawasaki home fifth just ahead
of Zanotti Racing's Briar Bau-
man. Bauman had made the
I came off of four and I was right
on his tail. I thought I should be
able to get by him and he ducked
it inside. As soon as I pulled out of
the draft I went below the groove
and I spun up, I lost all my drive.
If I was to do anything differently
I would have tried to line up my
dash to the start/finish line on the
outside, so I would have been on
the groove."
In a drag race off turn four,
Smith's positioning told the tale.
"I didn't really have a whole lot of
draft on him," said Baker. "There
should have been some on the
front straightaway, but it was a nar-
row groove. As soon as you pulled
inside of it, it wanted to spin up.
Sammy Halbert had his Yamaha FJ-
07 flying on the dry and slick track.
