VOL. 54 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 15, 2017 P93
Lima. I wasn't just sitting on the couch; we were work-
ing. When we came back, we were ready."
"Last year I was asked and I might have been a little
over zealous, but I was asked about how it was going
to go with the twins here. I said I think it's going to be
even harder to win, but that was before they changed
the track," said Wiles. "They changed the track and they
slowed the jump down. Making the track like that,
I don't know if it really changed anything. Maybe with the
heavier bikes, it was a little bit more of a workout. That's
about the only thing I can say about the track change."
Almost as impressive as Wiles' win streak,
Jared Mees now has seven second-place
finishes to Wiles during his streak. Including
the last four in a row.
Sammy Halbert had a run-in with Jake
Shoemaker that left Halbert's Yamaha without
a shift lever. Halbert was stuck in second gear
the rest of the race.
Whether it was due to the beautiful weather,
the fact the AFT Championship is now on TV
or that the race now features twin cylinder
motorcycles, reportedly the largest crowd in
the last 10 years covered the hillsides.
Bryan Smith posted his best Peoria finish, but
he still lost ground in the points race to Mees.
While Smith is having a good year, defending
his GNC title, Mees is, unfortunately for Smith,
having a year dreams are made of. "Every time
somebody talks about my year, the Lima thing
pops right into my mind. [The one race Mees
failed to qualify for]. Obviously we rebounded
really well from that," said Mees. "We've got
four races to go. We've just got to stay consis-
tent and keep charging."
Mees' points lead has grown to 41 with just
four races remaining. The year is far from over,
but it is a very steep hill for Smith to climb.
It's a much different story in the AFT Singles
class. Shayna Texter (Richie Morris Racing/
McElroy Packaging Honda) remains in the lead,
despite not qualifying for the main at Peoria.
Kolby Carlile has now moved up to second, just
two points behind Texter. "Wherever we are in
the points is fine, but what I'm most happy about
is that we've got the Estenson Racing Yamaha
really going now," said Carlile. Brandon Price
slipped to third, but is still only 10 points off the
lead. Ben Lowe is in fourth and still mathemati-
cally in the hunt 40 points behind Texter.
Briar Bauman (14)
chases Mees en route
to a third-place finish.
