Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/833352
VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P81 focus. Avery was able to hold off Texter at the line by less than a 10th of a second. Carlile and Price followed—all three were within 0.3 of a second. Unfortunately under post-race inspection, Stollings' Honda could not pass the sound test. At some point during the race, the header bolts had loosened and the exhaust leak led to a failed test. Racing Kawasaki) and Cam- eron Smith (Carroll Motor Fuels Honda) were all in contention. Stollings' blistering pace took its toll on his pursuers. First Vanderlaan dropped out on lap 12, then a lap later, Norris' en- gine blew; he was able to safely get off the track in turn two. With Stollings holding over a six-second advantage, the race for second was everyone's sive six-second lead when the checkered flag fell. His dominat- ing ride overshadowed a great race for second. Norris, Shayna Texter (Richie Morris Racing/McElroy Packag- ing Honda), Kolby Carlile (Par- kinson Brothers Racing Honda), Tristan Avery (Ron Ayers Racing Honda), John Vanderlaan (Zane Amaro Farms Honda), Brandon Price (Don's Kawasaki /DPC 1 BRYAN SMITH 4TH AFT TWINS By Bryan Smith standards, the defending Grand National Champion had a poor day and actually struggled to just make the main out of the semi. "It was all right, especially after in the semi going off the groove and not being in a transfer spot for a minute," said Smith. "I started on the second row and on a track like this, it's sketchy. I was thankful to just get up there. I sure had hopes of battling for the lead, even though it was farfetched. I thought I still had third but just missed it by 0.009 of a second I think." 44 BRANDON ROBINSON 5TH AFT TWINS The race marked a big turnaround for Brandon Robinson as he has struggled to come to grips with the new Harley-Davidson XG750R. "It feels good. It feels like a win, honestly, for the way this year has been going," said Robinson. "I'm excited with the progress we are making. I was kind of by myself for the majority of it and I ended up running down Bryan and Brad with five or six laps to go. I found some- thing in three and four; I was kind of riding a little higher. I couldn't ride the bottom around the groove with those guys. I was losing time and decided to go up there and it stuck and worked. I was able to run those guys down slowly but surely. It took the entire race, but I got there. Once I got there, I really didn't have anything else to go around either of them. Honestly it is just good to get back up front for myself. This has probably been the most mentally tough year in my career. Things haven't been going good. We've crashed and we've had mechanicals." 14 BRIAR BAUMAN 6TH AFT TWINS Briar Bauman has been fighting his own 2017 gremlins. "It felt good just to finish the main at this point. This is only the third race I've finished this year, out of seven or eight," said Bauman. "On the last lap, I was thinking, let's just bring this thing home. I didn't look back or anything. I didn't care if I got drafted at the line. I just wanted to finish this thing wherever we're at and get some points. Robinson and I were racing pretty hard there for a while. His bike had a little bit of a leg on me, so I would have to late draft him. Finally he came by me and signaled hop in. At that point, I had already thought that I need to relax. So I hopped in behind him, and we basically just pushed each other up to the Indians. Once we started rolling up on them I thought, 'no way.' We were getting close, closing the gap. This was working. He did more pulling than I did. I was just kind of on his wheels. I give a lot of credit to him and Harley. At least for tonight, they've got their stuff figured out and working well. The race between him and me for pretty much the whole main event was not much racing, but we were there. By the end of it, we were on the Indian guys, Brad and Bryan.