CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
T
here's no doubt about it, 2017 was a seminal year
in American Flat Track. Indian Motorcycle was
dominant with its new Scout FTR750 racing machine.
In the 64-year history of the championship, it's safe to
say a new motorcycle has never come in and domi-
nated quite like Indian's FTR750. And then there was
the transformation of Jared Mees. Mees winning the
title was not all that surprising, this year marked his
fifth AFT Twins National Championship; it was the way
Mees did it. He used to be a grinder, a guy who won
titles not by winning a ton of races, but by being on
the podium nearly every weekend. He blew that m.o.
out of the water this season with the second most
wins ever in a single season.
The other notable that came out of 2017 was the
struggle of Harley-Davidson. The factory Harley team
of Jake Johnson, Kenny Coolbeth Jr. and Brandon
Robinson, riding the XG750R, didn't earn a victory
in 2017. Only Johnson managed a single podium
result—a third at the Buffalo Chip TT. The Motor Com-
pany should offer up any model bike Jeffrey Carver
would like as a reward for keeping Harley from being
shut out for the first time in the history of American
Flat Track. Carver's victory at the Lone Star Half-
Mile in Fort Worth, Texas on a XR750 was the sole
victory for Harley-Davidson in 2017.
What Indian did this year in flat track racing was
unprecedented. Hiring Jared Mees, Bryan Smith
and Brad Baker on a single team was a stroke
of genius. Indian must have thought that if they
happened to not have everything dialed in with
their new race bike, they would at least have the
three most talented riders in their camp. Then
they sealed the deal by hiring the best tuners in
the business as well. Turns out Indian did have the
FTR dialed in and the results were jaw-droppingly
good. Indian won 14 of the 18 AFT Twins Nation-
als, took 37 podiums and six podium sweeps and
finished one-two-three in the championship! The
2017 manufacturers tally reads: Indian with 14 wins,
Kawasaki with three and Harley-Davidson with one.
That kind of dominance is not unheard of—Harley
won every national in 1956 for instance—but it is
very rare.
P124
American Flat Track 2017
Bigger crowds, TV coverage, great racing—
yes, flat track is making a comeback.
