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FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY P80 AFT SINGLES Goodroe Racing's Parker Nor- ris was able to grab the lead of the 15-lap final on his Honda, but it only lasted a lap as Kevin Stollings (Ben Evans Racing/ Dave's Cycles) blasted into the lead on lap two and never looked back. Stollings pushed his Honda to a huge lead. Stollings increased his lead margin every lap and held a mas- settled for fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Another 12 seconds back, Ben Evans Racing/Carver's BBQ's Jeffrey Carver brought his Kawasaki home alone in sev- enth. Chad Cose, Johnny Lewis (Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati) and Kenny Coolbeth (Harley-Davidson Motor Com- pany Harley-Davidson XG750R) filled out the top 10. "Even though I made a bunch of mistakes, I learned during it. I changed my riding style. I was able to at least come home with a podium finish. I still haven't got that first win of the year yet, but it feels good to be back on the box." Brandon Robinson and Briar Bauman hooked up and ran down the Indians, but stalled out once they caught up. They My Own Race: 9 JARED MEES 1ST AFT TWINS Jared Mees had been dominant all day, but when Halbert flexed the Yamaha's muscles he was forced to use a different approach. When the laps ran out it all came down to last lap strategy. "I kind of wanted to lead it off four," said Mees. "Sammy would get off of four good one lap, and then spin it up bad off four one lap and kill my momentum, because I didn't have that drive. He was kind of going to the inside and I just went around on the outside. It feels amazing to finally get a mile win this year on the Indian, and stop Bryan's streak. It was a good night for us, honestly. We got it done and that's all that matters. I wanted a perfect race. You can't have it all. I am excited to get back to winning." 69 SAMMY HALBERT 2ND AFT TWINS Thus far in 2017 Halbert is one of the few riders able to challenge the Indian dominance and this race he was just 0.013 of a second from posting Yamaha's first twin win in many years. "I led a lot of that one," he said. "The Estenson Racing, Yamaha FZ-07 was running strong. I figured I would just need to block a little bit going into turn three, which I did. It worked. I led into turn three, like last weekend, which is what I think we both wanted to do. Unfortunately he just got a good run off of four and just nipped me at the line." 6 BRAD BAKER 3RD AFT TWINS It basically took Baker the whole race to make up for his lap-two mistake. "I was so fast in one and two. If I could have had the speed I had in one and two, in turns three and four, I think we would have had a pretty solid chance at the win," said Baker. "Whatever I would make up in one and two, I would lose in three and four, and then some. I tried so many different things. I just couldn't seem to keep the thing in line; I'd get sideways and lose all my drive. I would set it off into turn one as far as I could and make up time on Bryan. That was basically the story of the whole race. Finally I started shifting in three and four. I was at least able to kind of maintain the speed through there. That's really all I needed to do." Even though they were racing for third, not first, it was a satisfying conclusion for Baker. "I waited until three to go and I passed him (Smith) going into three. I was able to lead down the front straight away. I kind of hung there for a lot of the race because I knew that if I showed him that I could do that, he would go into a strategy. I blitzed through one and two where I knew I was faster. I just knew if I got a little bit of a gap, that maybe he wouldn't have enough time to capitalize on me, and sure enough he didn't."