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FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS P94 My Own Race: 1 BRYAN SMITH 1ST AFT TWINS "When you are in third, you have your work cut out for you to try to get back to the lead. It was a little nerve wracking on that last lap," said Bryan Smith. "I thought I could lead or be second coming off of four. It seemed like they drafted me late. It seemed like I could get a pretty good run in second to the lead, but I knew I couldn't be third. Some tracks you can be third, but it wasn't happening today. The key is reacting on the last lap. I knew I would be third if I was third place going into to turn three. With probably four laps to go, I thought I was going to swing out and go past Jared and Sammy to the lead. When I swung out, there was a hell of a crosswind and I got sideways and just about blew the groove. That would have been the race for me. It would have put me in about fifth or something. It should be some interesting Fans Choice footage. It looked like I was at Lima." 69 SAMMY HALBERT 3RD AFT TWINS Early in the race Sammy Halbert was just off the pace. "Those guys were for sure checking out. For me, when the track was slick at the beginning, I was pretty far off the pace and dropped way back," said Halbert. "As the track gained grip, my setup came in. Those guys were really far ahead but somehow I was able to catch them. It took a lot of hard work, but I reeled those guys in. As soon as I got up to the draft, the red flag came out, so it kind of evened up the score anyway. From there I stayed in first or second for the most part until the last bit of the race. Going into turn three Bryan came around the outside. Congrats to him for sneaking out another win. That's impressive, hopefully we can get one here soon. For sure the mile experience comes into play. I haven't been battling for a whole lot of these wins here at Springfield, a couple but not recently. Those guys have been consis- tently battling for the wins here. Just knowing what to do in that situation is where the experience comes in." 6 BRAD BAKER 4TH AFT TWINS The junior member of the Indian "Wrecking Crew" is becoming increasingly frustrated with his near misses. "I'd say the restart didn't help me by any means. I had a pretty good rhythm going there before the red flag," said Baker. "I had positioned myself pretty good coming off of four. I felt like I had some- thing figured out to get those guys going to the stripe. I wanted to be in third. It was like two to go, and I had a good draft on both Jared and Bryan. I poked it up underneath Bryan and thought, 'No, I'm going to stay one more lap and be in third.' When I let off that's when Sammy went by both of us. Then I was in fourth. When you're in fourth then it messes up the whole rhythm of what you can do. The draft is different too. Those guys draft each other and you're in fourth just kind of getting towed along at whatever pace the guy is drafting in third. So you really don't have any extra speed to be able to get by those guys. With less than five to go, I really didn't have much time to capitalize. That is just the way the cards fell for me. I knew where I wanted to be. When another guy came into the equation it messed stuff up for me. I'm not happy by any means." 67 DAVIS FISHER 5TH AFT TWINS Davis Fisher had a very strong day, after winning his heat race he ran in, or just off, the lead pack all race. "Once I caught the draft I felt like I could have made a move and the red flag came out," said Fisher. "I haven't been too good on my starts this year. I was thinking this would be a good time to get a good start. I got a decent start. Sammy came up there and mixed it up with us. He kind of scattered us. I was right there at the end of the pack and couldn't make the move. This was my best finish. Next we will be looking at a podium, hopefully. I think I am just gaining trust on a motorcycle again. After last year's deal with developing the motorcycle and the way it was handling, I've got to get my trust back with the motorcycle and know it will be ok."