QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 32 LEADERBOARD 128 GLEN HELEN FIRSTS FOR MUSQUIN

Transcription

1 QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 32 LEADERBOARD 128 GLEN HELEN MX FIRSTS FOR MUSQUIN

2 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 SPRINGFIELD MILE MILE AFTER MILE SMITH DOES IT AGAIN! FIRST TEST 2017 APRILIA RSV4 RR & RSV4 RF CUTTING EDGE X2 ALSO DONINGTON PARK WORLDSBK ERNEE MXGP PIKES PEAK 1290 SUPER DUKE BUILD ARCHIVES: CARLO PERNAT

3 P8 CAPTURED Chasing Number One The pack chases leader Bryan Smith at the Springfield Mile. Jared Mees, Sammy Halbert and Brad Baker and the rest all gave it a shot but no one could stop Smith from racking up his fourth straight AFT victory. PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE HOENIG

4 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P9

5 CAPTURED P12

6 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P13 Remembering Minor Memorial Day weekend is always a time for reflection, but this year was extra special at the Springfield Mile as Kenny Coolbeth Jr. took fallen rider Jamison Minor s dad, Scott, for a memorial lap during the national anthem. They rode the bike that Jamison won his semi on last year and spread some of his ashes on one of flat track s hallowed grounds. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF AMERICAN FLAT TRACK/SCOTT HUNTER

7 CONGRATULATIONS BRYAN SMITH ON FOUR WINS IN A ROW.

8 P16 CAPTURED Taking It To The Extreme Spain s Alfredo Gomez tackles one of the tough sections during the Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal. Gomez ended up third with Sherco s Wade Young taking the win in what was a round of the Red Bull Hard Enduro Series. PHOTOGRAPHY BY FUTURE7MEDIA/KTM IMAGES

9

10 CONGRATULATIONS! IndianWreckingCrew /1st& 2nd /SpringfieldMile sscycle.com

11 IN THE WIND P48 PHOTOGRAPHY BY FUTURE7MEDIA/KTM IMAGES Wade Young stands between Jonny Walker (left) and Alfredo Gomez (right) after taking victory at the XL Lagares Extreme Enduro in Portugal. YOUNG TOPS XL LAGARES EXTREME ENDURO South African Wade Young emerged victorious at the XL Lagares Extreme Enduro in Portugal, May The Sherco team rider headed a strong field that also included KTM s Jonny Walker and Alfredo Gomez. Young didn t set the world on fire during Saturday s prologue where he placed fourth. Gomez got things started with the win ahead of his teammate Walker. But when the real racing got going Sunday, Young got to business and jumped out to the early lead and never really looked back. Young had plenty of room to spare when the checkered flag waved. He finished approximately 15 minutes ahead of Walker. Fourth place went to Pol Tarres (Beta) and fifth to Manni Lettenbichler (KTM). CN OVERALL 1. Wade Young (She) 2. Jonny Walker (KTM) 3. Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 4. Pol Tarres (Bet) 5. Manni Lettenbichler (KTM) Jonny Walker was runner-up in Portugal.

12 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P62 SHAKE UP KAWASAKI HAS A TOUGH DAY AT GLEN HELEN AND KTM NOW LEADS BOTH CHAMPIONSHIPS STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE COX Following an opening weekend in the 2017 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships, where Monster Energy Kawasaki s Eli Tomac seemed to be so dominant that he could win no matter where he started, round two at Glen Helen must have come as a surprise to just about everybody not the least of whom may have been Tomac himself. Glen Helen put both Tomac and his teammate (and hometown boy) Josh Grant through the wringer, but the classic California racetrack wasn t done there. In the 250MX class, the hills of Glen Helen even did a number on the most successful race team in the history of the 125/250MX class, forcing three out of the four Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasakis out of one moto each.

13 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P63 Blake Baggett (4) pulled this holeshot almost all the way down the Glen Helen start straightaway. He led a portion of the second moto, but finished second in the moto for third overall.

14 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P64 Marvin Musquin won moto one, the first 450MX National moto win of his career. He followed that up with another first first overall win. As the series heads east, two of the favored race teams now have some ground to make up if they hope to add championships to their doors this summer. 450MX Things appeared to have picked up just where they left off at the start of the first 450MX moto at Glen Helen. Red Bull KTM s Marvin Musquin was up front, fending off the advances of Honda s Cole Seely and Christian Craig, and eventually Monster Energy Kawasaki s Josh Grant. And just like in moto two at Hangtown, Eli Tomac was stuck in the middle of the pack, but already moving up quickly. Seely eventually fell out of the lead pack and Grant fought his way by Craig but couldn t make much of an inroad into Musquin s lead. With a few laps left, Grant s lap times increased by almost five seconds per lap, which led to Tomac taking over the second spot from his teammate late in the race. But not even Tomac had what was needed at that point to chase down Musquin out front. Musquin took the moto win over Tomac and Grant, and a transmission problem for Grant turned out to be the culprit for his sudden increase in lap times. The team headed back to the pits and changed out Grant s engine, and Tomac s, too, just to be on the safe side. In the end, moto one marked Musquin s career-first 450MX National moto victory. That s my first one ever, Musquin said. After winning my first Supercross this year, it s time to shine during outdoors. We ve been putting some good work with the Red Bull KTM team. Glen Helen is definitely a tough track. To get a first motowin like that is awesome, so thanks to the team and everybody involved. We ve still got a second moto to go and if I can get [a good] start, we can battle for the win. Tomac seemed to believe he

15 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P66 let one get away in moto one due to his terrible start. So what was the plan to not let it happen in moto two? To stop being buried going up that second hill, Tomac said. We have the long start here, so it was all on me that time. Marvin got out front and ran away with it. So, I ve got to be closer the next race to compete with him. [I was] feeling good as the laps were going, but like I said, too far back. Grant was upbeat about his fourth podium finish in a row, dating back to the Las Vegas Supercross, followed by both motos at Hangtown, and then moto one at Glen Helen. It was nice, Grant said. Obviously, we ve got to get a good start, but I m just glad to be in front of all my hometown fans. Craig hung on for a careerbest fourth place in the moto on Ken Roczen s vacated CRF450R. The track s nasty right now, especially after first motos, Craig said. It s really rough coming down the hills. But yeah, got off to a good start, just like last week and I threw it away last week, so I had to rebound today. I got out front with these guys and hung with JG for a while, which I was happy with. We had a good pace going. A lot of Jason Anderson (21) makes an inside move on Blake Baggett (4) to take the lead in the second 450MX moto.

16 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P67 people doubted me when I got this ride, but I think this result proves it. I m going to go out there and try to back it up in this next moto. Behind Craig came Rockstar Energy Husqvarna s Jason Anderson and Dean Wilson, Seely and then Rocky Mountain ATV- MC KTM s Blake Baggett. Craig backed up his words about wanting to go out and win moto two when he grabbed the holeshot, just in front of the wheelie king Blake Baggett, who missed out on the holeshot after having to set his front end down and let off the gas to make the first turn. Craig led the first four laps while Baggett and Anderson gave chase. But behind them on the opening lap, the Monster Energy Kawasaki team imploded all at once. In a bizarre turn of events, Grant went down on his own while running near the front, spilling gasoline out of his motorcycle as he hit the dirt. As he was getting up, Tomac got squirrelly and just missed him, then went down, too. At first, it seemed like Tomac went down trying to avoid Grant, but it quickly became apparent that Tomac was experiencing a frontbrake malfunction similar to what he suffered at the Dallas Supercross last February. Both of the

17 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P68 Kawasakis had to enter the mechanics area. Tomac was first, and after much investigation, the team opted to cut his brake line and send him back out into the massive Glen Helen hills without a front brake. Grant came in for a splash of fuel a little while afterward, but his gas cap kept giving him trouble throughout the rest of the moto. Tomac was already a lap down when he re-entered the race, and late in the moto, just as he was catching his teammate Grant who was still suffering from a disobedient gas cap, and some other issues Grant ended up dropping out of the race, reportedly with a fork issue, handing 20th place to Tomac. On the last lap, Tomac passed Monster Energy Team Tedder Kawasaki s Dakota Tedder for 19th, where he would finish, narrowly squeezing two championship points out of the disastrous moto. While all that was going on deep in the field, Baggett and Anderson found their way by Craig, but Craig stayed close to them until the lead pack was joined by Musquin, who had to pass RCH Suzuki s Justin Bogle and JGR Suzuki s Justin Barcia in the early going to get up to fourth place. Just as Musquin began pressuring Craig for third, Craig lost the front end heading into the sand section and went down hard, suffering a boxer s break in his hand that ended up requiring surgery. Anderson passed Baggett down the start straight to take the lead, and that s how they d finish. Anderson took his first-ever 450MX National moto victory over Baggett, Musquin, Broc Tickle and his RCH teammate, Bogle, JGR Suzuki s Weston Peick, Wilson, Seely, Wilson s teammate Martin Davalos, and Barcia.

18 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P69 I had a little bit of bad luck last weekend, but you know, even that first moto wasn t so hot, Anderson said of his motoone fifth-place finish. I need to put myself in a better position. But I m super excited to come out with that win. Really wish I could have done better that first moto so I could have gotten the overall, but pumped for my dude Marvin. Musquin s 1-3 score garnered him his first-ever 450MX National overall victory, and that, combined with Tomac s troubles, gives Musquin a 15-point lead as the series heads to Colorado Kawasaki teammates Eli Tomac (3) and Josh Grant (33) had promising first motos, but things went downhill fast for them both in the second moto. this weekend. Starts are really important and I was looking forward to another holeshot in that second moto, but it didn t work out, Musquin said. We had to fight for it and get to third place. Jason and Blake were a step ahead of me and faster than me. I think a couple lines I was losing some times, but I was trying to be consistent. Third place in that second moto is good and good enough for the overall. First time ever in outdoors. I m proving that I m getting better and even outdoors I can ride a 450. I ll remember that one. Baggett ended up third overall with an 8-2 score on a day when consistency was at a premium. He credits all the changes he and his team made to his motorcycle between Glen Helen and Hangtown. I mean, from suspension, The Kawasaki crew replaces Grant s motor between motos with reported transmission issues. As a precaution, Tomac s engine was also swapped out. clamps, motor mounts, linkage we changed everything, Baggett said. So, just trying to start fresh coming in here. It s been a while since we ve been on the podium and getting on the new bike, just wasn t that comfortable yet. Still going to take a few rounds until we can battle for wins, but at least we led a little bit. We ll get there. We ll be up on the top spot soon. Wilson s 6-7 gave him fourth overall, and Peick s 9-6 landed him in fifth. Seely s 7-8 gave him sixth and Tickle s 14-4 landed him in seventh, followed by Bogle (12-5), Tomac (2-19), and Grant (3-28).

19 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P74 Hangtown and hitting his head. His 9-1 score was good enough for third overall. I feel really good, for sure, Ferrandis said. I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders, only from myself. I don t know why. I was expecting a lot for the outdoors, for Hangtown and for today. I made a big mistake in Hangtown and also in the first moto I made many mistakes. I was feeling good, but I was losing my confidence my confidence in myself on the bike. I have a perfect team behind me. I just show my speed, my skill and what I have inside me. I came here for a win for sure and that s what I want to do. This win is a Dylan Ferrandis had impressive speed in the second moto at Glen Helen. He won it with more than 20 seconds to spare. big win for my team and for all the guys behind me. And two-time 250MX National Champ Jeremy Martin ended up second on the day with a 1-7 score, only one point behind winner Osborne. You know, it took quite a bit [to come through the pack], Jeremy Martin said. You re getting roosted, the track is a lot more rough, so you have to really work the bike to get it in the corners. I was pumped. I got the holeshot again and I really wanted to do it for Nicky [Hayden] this weekend. Osborne carries a 21-point lead over Cianciarulo as the series heads to Colorado. CN 450MX 1. Marvin Musquin (KTM) Jason Anderson (Hus) Blake Baggett (KTM) Dean Wilson (Hus) Weston Peick (Suz) Cole Seely (Hon) Broc Tickle (Suz) Justin Bogle (Suz) Eli Tomac (Kaw) Josh Grant (Kaw) MX 1. Zach Osborne (Hus) Jeremy Martin (Hon) Dylan Ferrandis (Yam) Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw) Colt Nichols (Yam) Alex Martin (KTM) Aaron Plessinger (Yam) Michael Mosiman (Hus) Joey Savatgy (Kaw) Mitchell Harrison (Yam) 13-8 cont. on page 76

20 ROUND 2 / MAY 27, 2017 GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS P78 My Own Race: 36 ADAM CIANCIARULO 4TH (7-3) 250MX Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki s Adam Cianciarulo is now second in points as the series heads out of California. Yeah, it was a great day for me, Cianciarulo said. Unfortunately in the first moto I fell at the start and had to come through the pack. Definitely used a lot of energy, but I felt good today. To walk out of California going into Colorado and the rest of the series with two top-fives, you can t ask for too much more than that. 23 AARON PLESSINGER 7TH (3-13) 250MX Yamalube Star Racing Yamaha s Aaron Plessinger had a very solid ride in moto one at Glen Helen, finishing a strong third behind Jeremy Martin and Joey Savatgy, and in front of points leader Zach Osborne. I felt good, especially holding off Zach, Plessinger said. It s not an easy task. I got off to kind of a bad start and then had to work my way up. Got roosted a lot and used a lot of my tear-offs. But I m happy with that. Just going to come out here next time and try and get a better start, be up there with them guys. In moto two, Plessinger didn t get a great start but made some fantastic early moves to get up to fourth before he went down hard and got up limping. He was a bit slow getting back going again and worked his way back up to 13th from outside the top 20 at the finish. 20 BROC TICKLE 7TH (14-4) 450MX RCH Suzuki s Broc Tickle is riding really well right now. The first moto was going pretty well, Tickle said. I didn t get that good of a start but I rode my way up to 11th. I felt like I could have gotten 10th or ninth if I made a late-race charge, but I ended up stalling my bike with five laps to go and ended up 14th. The track was tough and kind of hard to pass on. I was struggling a bit, just flowing and connecting with the track. But in the second moto, Tickle worked his way forward from the tail end of the top 10 and ended up finishing fourth within just a couple seconds of overall winner Musquin. 14 COLE SEELY 6TH (7-8) 450MX Honda HRC s Cole Seely is still trying to recover from hurting his hip at Hangtown, but seemed happy to keep it up in the mix at Glen Helen. There were positives from today, but also a lot of things I need to work on, Seely said. I m still having some trouble with my hip from last week s crash, so I was in some pain from that throughout the day but worked through it. I got a good start in the first moto and was feeling good for the first half or more but then faded back. I got a terrible start in the second moto and just spent the rest of the race trying to make my way by as many people as I could. We did some finetuning on my bike this week and on Thursday, Press Day, so I was really happy with that. I just need to work on myself and try to keep improving. 19 JUSTIN BOGLE 8TH (12-5) 450MX RCH Suzuki s Justin Bogle seems to be figuring some things out after changing up his program headed into the outdoor series. In moto two, he finished only about seven seconds behind teammate Tickle, and just in front of local boy Weston Peick, to score his first top-five of the season. It was nice to put a solid top-10 together and come out of Glen Helen with a good points day, Bogle said. The bike was fast and we made the right adjustments. We re making progress and seeing results. That s all you can ask for. Everything is moving in the right direction, so hopefully we can keep it going and come out firing next weekend at Thunder Valley.

21 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P80 Mile After Mile BRYAN SMITH DOES IT AGAIN! STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE HOENIG / FLAT TRAK FOTOS The 2017 American Flat Track Championship has thus far been dominated by the Indian Motorcycle Company, and Bryan Smith in particular. The defending Grand National Champion has now racked up four consecutive wins on his Allstate Insurance-backed Scout FTR750. A week of heavy rains skipped around the Illinois State Fairgrounds, home of the fabled Springfield Mile, and near perfect conditions greeted the large crowd of spectators and racers alike. When the green light flashed for the 25-lap AFT Twins main event, it looked like business as usual as the burgundy Indian motorcycles shot to the front. I wanted to nail the holeshot and go as hard as I could

22 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P81 A large crowd filled the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the first Springfield Mile of the year, which was narrowly won by Bryan Smith (1).

23 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P82 Smith s fourth straight win came with just of a second to spare over Jared Mees, and also right there was Sammy Halbert (69). and get away from those guys. It was working for a little bit, said Smith. I was peeking back and me and Jared [Mees] were staying about the same. I felt that he was about the only guy that could run my pace, without just totally burning his tire up. Early in the race, Bryan just snapped and took off and I was thinking, man he dropped the pace quick, said the Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing-backed Mees. The third Indian rider, Allstate Insurance s Brad Baker, was closing, in third, and soon another Indian podium looked inevitable. Smith appeared to be on the verge of the unusual (for Springfield) runaway win, but, Jared inched up on me once and I was going hard, said Smith. I thought I didn t want to be an idiot and burn my tires up, so I eased up. Then it turned into a three-way battle with us Indians again. Even though the Indians were up front again, they were not alone this time. Young Davis Fisher (Bob Lanphere Beaverton Motorcycles/Kawasaki) was having his best Grand National ride and was sitting in fourth. Sammy Halbert (Estenson Logistics/ Yamaha) joined his Washington neighbor in an effort to catch the lead draft. Kenny Coolbeth was having his best ride on the Factory Harley-Davidson/Vance & Hines XG750 and on lap nine moved in between Fisher and Halbert, as all three closed on the Indians. Up front all three of the Indian riders took turns leading, but Smith was making most of the lap money. On lap 19, everything changed. Ironically a loose coolant line on Coolbeth s ride

24 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P84

25 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P85 left a string of coolant entering turn one. It would gather up both his Harley-Davidson Motor Company teammates, Jake Johnson and Brandon Robinson, sending them into the air fence. I saw a strip of coolant or oil going into one, said Johnson. By the time I saw it, it was too late. I was on the ground and I saw Brandon s bike go flying. The riders were not seriously injured, but neither could make the restart. Mechanics were able to fix Coolbeth s bike, but because they did repairs during the red flag he was forced to start in last, thus effectively ending his chances for the day. Baker had led lap 19 and would lead off the six-lap restart, but Smith wanted the lead and the maneuvering for track position quickly started. Smith leads Mees in the main event.

26 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P86 I figured that off the restart that the Indians would get away, said Smith. I saw Davis Fisher there behind us. Then Sammy was in the mix and I thought, dang, his bike was strong. It was strong in different places than the Indian. It made it tough to maneuver your way past everybody. It s weird when the track is 80-feet wide and you re going that fast. The I think I passed Davis on the start and I made a big move when guys got like two, three wide down the front stretch and shot up to first or second, said Halbert. With five to go I was able to get the Yamaha out front which was nice. It really felt like I had a shot at the win. I led lap 23 and 24. I just tried doing the same thing that I had done on those two laps. I obvitrack gets really narrow when you re in third. The restart had condensed the field and it wasn t just an Indian playground anymore. Halbert had his Yamaha in the thick of it and on lap 23 a very rare occurrence happened, something other than an Indian was in the lead. Halbert held the smallest of leads on lap 24, but it s a 25-lap race. Halbert got in the action and actually led the 23rd and 24th laps of the 25-lap race.

27 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P87

28 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P88 ously should have done something different, because they did something different. It is what it is, but I was at least happy to break up the little Indian party and get up on the box. The large crowd was on its feet, as the drag race from turn four would decide the winner. I just barely squeaked around Sammy, that was really where the race was, getting into turn three on the last lap, said Smith. I had to go hard to get around him, but not too hard to Kenny Coolbeth lost coolant on the track that took out his H-D teammates, forcing a restart. Starting last on the restart, Coolbeth got his bike fixed and ended up 12th. run into the back of Jared and blow us off the groove. It was like threading a needle on the last lap. Smith was perfect again and won by a margin of.005 of a second over Mees with Halbert just.045 back and Baker.129 and Fisher at.311. Also finishing less than a second behind were Jeffrey Carver (Ben Evans Racing/Carver s BBQ Kawasaki) and Jake Shoemaker (Weirbach Racing/Kawasaki USA Kawasaki). That s got to be one of the closest miles I ve ever lost, said Mees. Losing it by that much, you re more disappointed. I did everything I felt like was right. It was just so close. He got me. Bryan s crafty. Man I want to win one of these miles and snap his streak for sure. We ran him down and then on the restart here came Sammy. It was fun, added Mees. It was a good race. We were slowing the pace down before the red flag. That s something that Bryan and I seem to do lately is just slow it all down, conserve the tires and get some players up in there. I think he s trying to think the same thing I m thinking. When we get more people in there it kind of jumbles things up and makes each one of us think more. I want the same thing that he wants. Maybe we are better off just checking out and taking

29 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P90 Hayden Gillim dominated Saturday night s TT AFT Singles class. off and doing our own thing. Henry Wiles (Willy Built/Mad Dog Racing Kawasaki), Johnny Lewis (Zanotti Racing/Dodge Brothers Harley-Davidson) and Jeremy Higgins (Higgins Racing/RLJ Racing Kawasaki) filled out the top 10. AFT SINGLES With the AFT Singles class not participating on the Springfield Mile, a TT race at the State Fairgrounds Arena was added to the schedule on Saturday night. Road racer, Hayden Gillim made his first dirt track appearance of 2017 and completely dominated the night. The Cycle World/Suzuki-backed Hayden was the fastest qualifier, then easily won his heat and semi before going wire-to-wire in the 15-lap main event. When the 18-rider field squeezed into turn one it was Gillim popping out of turn two and over the jump with the lead. It was an awesome night. I went out and qualified and got the pole, said Gillim. I won my heat race and semi and then coming out here and somehow able to win the main. That just topped off an awesome night. My Suzuki was working great all night; I don t think I touched anything since we pulled it out of the van, said Gillim. I probably should have tightened up the front brake lever. As soon as I went out on track, my front brake lever went loose and it just dropped straight down. I was having to hold it up with my thumb all race. Somehow I was able to manage it although there were a couple of close moments. West Bend Harley-Davidson s Jesse Janisch (Yamaha) was a solid second, about two seconds back the entire race. I actually had the holeshot, but Hayden kind of had the inside, said Janisch. We all went in there pretty deep. Parkinson Brothers Racing s

30 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P92 Kolby Carlile (Honda) pushed his way into third and settled there. Even though Janisch stayed close to Gillim, the race was never in doubt. I would catch Hayden a little bit and then I would lose him. It was kind of a seesaw battle, said Janisch. I never even got close enough to show him a wheel or anything like that. In fact, once the first lap was over, the top seven positions never changed. Cameron Smith (Carroll Motor Fuels / Honda), Kyle Johnson (Parkinson Brothers Racing/Honda), Brandon Price (Don s Kawasaki/Kawasaki) and Shane Narbonne (JMC Motorsports, MRT/Honda) filled out the top seven positions. Ben Lowe (Bruce Lowe Excavating/Honda) made one of the few passes as he got by Clayton Vonmoos (Stickit2me/Yamaha) for eighth place. Wyatt Anderson (Waters Autobody / KTM) rounded out the top 10. CN AFT TWINS 1. Bryan Smith (Ind) 2. Jared Mees (Ind) 3. Sammy Halbert (Yam) 4. Brad Baker (Ind) 5. Davis Fisher (Kaw) 6. Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Kaw) 7. Jake Shoemaker (Kaw) 8. Henry Wiles (Kaw) 9. Johnny Lewis (H-D) 10. Jeremy Higgins (Kaw) Gillim, Jesse Janisch and Kolby Carlile made up the Singles podium. Points leader going in, Shayna Texter didn t qualify; Carlile is the new championship leader. AFT SINGLES 1. Hayden Gillim (Suz) 2. Jesse Janisch (Yam) 3. Kolby Carlile (Hon) 4. Cameron Smith (Hon) 5. Kyle Johnson (Hon) 6. Brandon Price (Kaw) 7. Shane Narbonne (Hon) 8. Ben Lowe (Hon) 9. Clayton Vonmoos (Yam) 10. Wyatt Anderson (KTM)

31 VOL. 54 ISSUE 21 MAY 31, 2017 P93 Briefly... The weekend saw one of the best turnout of riders, as there were 50 AFT Twins entries for the Sunday s mile and 49 AFT Singles for Saturday night s TT. Spectator turnout was also impressive as Memorial Day Weekend has been notorious for bad weather. The ominous forecast didn t seem to deter people this year and they were treated to a great weekend of racing. Bryan Smith s win keeps him in line to tie the late Ricky Graham s record of six consecutive wins and 12 total wins, set in With the season one quarter of the way over, Smith would have to maintain his torrid pace to tie Graham s total wins in a single season. There are three more mile races left on the schedule for the Mile Master. Half miles should be okay. Charlotte was good to us, I won there, said Smith. Any of the clay half miles, I think will be the same story, me or Jared. Lima will be interesting; Brad is so strong there. Sammy will probably ride his XR there and go fast. There will be a couple others guys that will get in the mix there too, that will be a fun one. It will be a real level playing field, between the Indians, Harleys, Yamahas, everything. I m ready for the half miles, I think I can win them. The AFT Singles points race tightened up considerably as points leader coming in, Shayna Texter, failed to get out of the Last Chance Qualifier. By way of his third-place finish, Kolby Carlile has taken over the lead, by one point, over Texter. I ve never been in the points lead before, so this is pretty cool, Carlile said. That race was long. I kept seeing shadows, and I kept pushing. We do a lot of training down in Kentucky with the Team 95 crew, and if it wasn t for that, there s no way I would have been able to stick through that main. Despite the fact Bryan Smith has been rolling up the wins, his points lead is just 10 over Jared Mees as the season sits one third of the way over. Both riders have been on the podium at every race. It s tough because right now in the points chase we ve just got to go out there and win. It seems like the second-place guy is either me or Bryan right now, said Mees. We re trying to get more people up in there between me and Bryan to get the points. Right now Bryan is doing really well. Obviously we re not doing too bad. We re just losing. Saturday night s TT race had the unique format of the AFT Singles race running the same night as the traditional Steve Nace AMA All Star Series. Jared Mees picked up some extra money for their new baby by winning the Expert Singles race on his Montgomeryville Cycle Honda over Briar Bauman (Zanotti Racing Honda) and Dan Bromley (Bromley Cycles KTM). In the Amateur portion of the program, Australia s Max Whale won the Open Singles, Rich King (Senior 40+), Kolton Featherston (450cc), Josh Lowder (Vintage) and Kash Schnowske (250cc) won their main events. Rob Pearson returned to action for the first time at the mile since his hand injury in Daytona. Pearson made it into the semis where a 17thplace finish ended his day. Ryan Varnes earned his 2018 National number when he edged Chad Cose in their semi thus making his first national main. Varnes finished 15th.

32 ROUND 7 / MAY 27-28, 2017 ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUND / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP 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 consistently 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 something 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.