Racing Scene Column - AMA Flat Track at Pomona
By noderel:
Los Angeles, CA. - Brad Baker won the battle (25-lap feature) AND the war (2013 championship) Saturday, October 12 when the AMA Grand National Championship Flat Track Series returned to the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona. Baker (No. 12 Harley-Davidson) had an 11-point lead (190-179) over Bryan Smith (No. 42 Kawasaki EX650) entering the Pomona finale. He finished the season 17 points (219-202) in front of Smith. They both won their heat races and finished one-two in the feature. Baker won the dash for cash $1,000 and five points, plus a point for leading the most laps in the feature (15 laps to 10 by Smith). Baker earned the maximum possible 29 points to 23 for Smith.
The Pomona finale was another thriller with the championship duel between Baker and Smith going toe-to-toe on the track and in their point battle. Baker, a 20-year old from Eatonville, WA, and Smith, a 30-year old from Flint, MI, started from the six-rider front row in a field of 18 plus one provisional starter. Baker and Smith traded the lead five times just at the starting line alone, but more than that around the track. By my count, Baker led the first five laps, plus laps 14-15 and 17-25. Smith was the leader from laps 6-13 and on lap 16. A championship point duel cannot get much more exciting than that. Baker edged Smith by 0.706 officially, with third place Briar Bauman 1.148 off the lead.
Third place in final points was Brandon Robinson, who tallied 185 points. Jared Mees, the 2012 AMA GNC champion, finished fourth with 177. Past AMA GNC champions Kenny Coolbeth (sixth) and Jake Johnson seventh) also made the top ten in 2013 points. This season had 14 dates in eight states (CA, FL, IL, IN., MD, OH, VA, and WA) from March to October. The Lima, OH race was not run. The circuit included the Daytona Beach short track during bike week, six miles, four half-miles and two TT races. California had four events--at the Sacramento and Santa Rosa miles, plus the new Stockton short half-mile and long Pomona half that thoroughbred horsemen call a five-eighths.
The GN Expert 750cc class had nine winners in 13 features with Robinson a three time winner. Baker and Smith won twice. Manufacturers: Harley-Davidson and Kawasaki tied for most GNC victories with five. Honda won three times. The support AMA Pro Singles 450cc class, run in conjunction with the GNC, ran 11 features and had ten different winners. Shayna Texter, a 22-year old 5'0” 95-pound blond from PA, won twice on her No. 25A Honda CRF450R at the miles in Sacramento and Indianapolis. She also won a pair of Basic Pair Twins mains on her Kawasaki EV650 at the Springfield (IL) mile. Honda won eight of eleven 450cc mains to one each by Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki.
Pomona had 27 Experts and 35 Pro Singles support riders present in the class for newer riders to AMA pro racing. The Pro Singles class also had a tight point battle for the season championship between Wyatt Maguire (from WA) and Ryan Wells (from NY). Maguire won by one point (137-136) over Wells. Both championship contenders started from the first of three rows with six riders per row. Wells led the first lap; fastest qualifier J.R. Addison, from outside row one, was the leader from lap 2 to the lap 16 checkers. Addison told the crowd, “This is great. I came here to win. I wanted this one real bad. I got out front early.” Wells finished second, 7.236 seconds back and Maguire placed fourth, 8.467 off the lead. All 18 riders finished within 23.815 seconds of the lead. Maguire did just enough to edge Wells for the title.
Tag—the Activation Group of Beverly Hills co-promoters were Chris Morgan and Charlie Frank. Total purse was $44,000 with the Expert main paying the top three finishers $6,000, $4,100 and $2,850. Last position paid $1,000. The Expert dash paid $1,000 to the winner, with a drop-off of $500 and $350 to P. 2-3 and $100 to P. 6.The Pro Singles paid the top three main event riders $1,000, $500 and $350. Last spot paid $100. AMA flat track and TT racing great Skip Van Leewen served as grand marshal. He raced from the early 1960s to 1972 and won numerous features at Ascot Park in Gardena.
Presenting sponsors at Pomona were: Law Tigers (motorcycle lawyers), Glendale Harley, Pomona Valley Harley, and Budweiser. With 6,500+ spectators present, an AMA representative from the Ohio HQ presented the No. 1 plates for use in 2014 to 2013 champions Baker and Maguire. The 2014 AMA season will begin as usual at Daytona Beach during bike week. A glossy, 30-page $7.00 printed program at Pomona contained action and color photos, rosters, biographies, point standings, and list of past AMA champions from 1954-2012. Two accomplished female AMA pro riders (one in each division) competed at Pomona.
With the San Gabriel Mountains looming in the background on a shirt-sleeve 65-degree evening, the setting was perfect under the large, covered main grandstand of the LA County Fairgrounds. Young people these days gravitate towards extreme sports such as the X Games or D-1 Drifting by skilled automobile drivers. Video games and fantasy football also attract young people. They should give AMA two-wheel motorcycle racing on dirt a try because it offers extreme 100+ mph racing down the straights elbow to elbow. Riders drag their left foot steel boots on the track through the corners, while continually swapping positions. They do all this without a car body or open-wheel car roll-cage for protection. That is courage, skill and bravery in action.
LEGENDS AUTOGRAPHS: Twenty-six “Legends of Ascot” retired AMA riders sat at tables in front of the main grandstand and signed autographs for fans from 5:00 to the 6:00 pm opening ceremonies. Riders alphabetically, (with AMA numbers in parenthesis) were: Jim Berry (39), Don Emde (25), Bryson Farnsworth, Broc Glover, Dave Hansen (23), 1969-84 rider John Hateley (”first to use 98 after Joe Leonard went to Indy 500”), Tom Horton (55), Ronnie Jones (16), Dennis Kamegae (51x), Shawn McConnell, Rick Miller, 1969-74 rider Ron Moore (37), Bob Morrison (25), Jody Nicholas (58), Sonny Nutter (19), Danny Perkins, Preston Petty (68), Jim Rice (24), Bobby Schwartz, Buddy Stubbs, Sammy Tanner (7), Nick Thoreau (64), C. H. Wheat (6), Tom White (80), Eddie Wirth (77) and Mike Yarn (46z). Nutter, Wirth and Tanner also raced midgets and CRA sprint cars at Ascot.
SPEEDWAY BIKES: Speedway bikes for the second consecutive year raced invitational heat races and main on the same track used by GNC riders. Six veteran riders competed and others watched from the pits. A pair of three lap heats preceded the 3-lap main event, called the AMA Super Long Track Championship. Gino Manzares (No. 24) won heat one over Billy Hamill (No. 104). Hamill beat Manzares in heat two. Eddie Castro No. 14) was third in both heats. Hamill led all three laps of the main and edged Manzares by 15 yards. Castro was third, 60-yards back. Jason Ramirez (66) and Tyson Talkington (48) followed. Justin Boyle (18) DNS the main after his engine failed in heat one. “Crazy Chris” Ackerman (Steve Evans promotions) announced speedway bike races and plugged speedway bike racing at Costa Mesa, San Bernardino and Industry.
Ackerman conducted post main interviews of the top three on the infield stage. Winner Hamill told the crowd, “It feels awesome. I've never experienced a track this big. Gino is one of my students and tonight I was learning from him. Thanks to flat track for having us here.” He plugged his speedway bike racing academy for youth ages 8-15 in cooperation with Hagon Shocks. Manzares won the speedway bike long-track championship on July 27 at the 480-yard Perris Auto Speedway inner oval. Unlike the GNC bikes that used transponders for timing/scoring, lightweight and brake-less speedway bikes were timed by hand-held stopwatches. Evans timed Hamill's fastest lap at 28.96. The fastest GNC qualifying time was 30.281 and the Pro Single fastest qualifying time was 31.022.
WINNERS: Pro Singles heat winners were J. R. Addison, only16, and Kyle Johnson. Jake Monaco won the last chance qualifier with a last lap pass. Ohioan Addison (24z) won the16-lap main. GNC Expert heat winners were Brad Baker, Bryan Smith and Kenny Coolbeth. Baker won the dash for cash for the first two riders from the three heats. Stevie Bonsey won the one semi (instead of the usual two) so the first six finishers advanced to the feature. Johnny Lewis started from row two, fell early, remounted and still raced to a top six position in a 15 rider field, advancing to the feature. Baker took the exciting main.
Total race laps were 48 for the Pro Singles, 69 for GNC Experts, nine for speedway bikes for a total of 126 laps. Four past GN Expert champions—Coolbeth, Johnson, Mees and Halbert (combined title)--competed. Seven manufacturers—Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Ducati, KTM, and Triumph—raced. The Expert 19 rider feature field represented nine states. Four from CA, three each from IL, MI, and PA, two from WA, and one each from CT, KY, MN and NY. The 19 feature bikes were: 11 H-D, four Kawasaki, two Triumph, and one each Ducati and Suzuki.
PRO SINGLES MAIN: Three manufacturers comprised the field—15 Honda CRF450R, 2 Kawasaki KX450F, and 1 Yamaha YZ450F. The 18-rider field came from six states as follows: CA-8, WA-4, MI and OH-2 each, NY and PA-1 each. Shayna Texter finished seventh at Pomona, 14 seconds off the lead and ranked fourth in final 2013 points, 27 points behind the champion. Stephen Vanderkuur, the 2012 Pro Single Champion, finished ninth at Pomona and earned third in final 2013 points, 25 points behind the champion.
Clio, MI Harley-Davidson riders Jared Mees, 27, and Nicole Cheza, 26, (No. 15) were married this year on Sunday, September 1 at the starting line prior to the Springfield, IL mile. She climbed aboard his No. 1 Harley and they took a slow ride around the track in their formal wedding attire. Then they donned their racing leathers and both raced into the 25-lap feature. Jared finished sixth and Nicole 13th, 21.983 seconds in back of Jared with 14 riders on the lead lap. I watched their wedding and all GNC heats, LCQ and feature that day live on the Internet. AMAproflattrack.com used three cameras and the track announcer. The six rider lead pack--winner Robinson (44), runner-up Smith (42), Beach (95), Coolbeth (2), Baker (12) and Mees (1)--finished within 0.419 of each other and changed positions frequently. It was a thriller.
At Pomona Nicole told me she is using Mees as her surname; the newlyweds have not yet taken a honeymoon. Nicole was in third place in the ten-lap semi that advanced the first six finishers to the feature. On lap 7 she slowed and pulled into the pits. “My brake rotor broke and wedged against the back wheel,” she said after watching hubby Jared place fourth in the feature.
The Pomona GN Expert feature had 19 starters, one more than normal. Henry Wiles used a provisional and started alone in row four behind three rows of six riders. Thirteen riders finished and all ran 25 laps. Wiles was one of the non-finishers. Semi winner Bonsey had “a broken rod” and lasted four laps. Personable GNC Expert winner Baker basked in the post-race ceremonies, interviews and photo-ops with family and fans for about 45 minutes. Baker won the 2008 Horizon Award and the 2009 Pro Singles National Championship. He won the 2011 GNC rookie of the year trophy when he finished sixth overall in points. He finished fifth in 2012 GNC points and now is 2013 champion at age 20. Clearly, he is a rapidly-rising, talented star of two-wheel racing on dirt. He could win many more championships in the next decade. He had one GN Expert victory before his Pomona title-clinching, winning ride.
Pomona's first race started at 6:49 pm. The Expert dash for cash for the top two riders in the three heats was four laps. The six-wide lineup had Mees, Briar Bauman, S Halbert, Smith, Coolbeth and Baker from inside to outside. Smith led lap 1 as P. 2-3 Mees and Coolbeth made it three-wide leaving turn four. However, red-hot Baker led laps 2-4 and won by 15-yards over Smith. Mees, Coolbeth, Bauman and Halbert followed closely. Baker ran the fastest lap on lap 4. He told the crowd, “This bike goes wherever I want it to go, high, low or wherever. My mom, dad and brother are here to support me tonight.”
FEATURE: The Expert 25-lap main started at 9:30 and Mees led from the rail into turn one. Fastest qualifier Baker elected to start three spots off the rail and led at the end of lap 1 over Smith. On lap 2 Mike Martin (91) fell easy in turn two near the hay-bales, causing a red flag and complete restart (25 laps). He remounted and rode to the starting line where he and his bike were cleared to restart. Riders added additional tear-offs to helmets. At 9:36 the full field restarted and this time Bauman led into turn one. At the end of the first circuit Baker (high) and Smith (low) ran one-two to lap 6 when Smith suddenly led Baker by 20-yards. A photographer in the second turn caught the reason. Baker's body was airborne and horizontal over his seat as he held onto his handle bar. He almost high-sided off his Harley. He recovered from a 25-yard deficit at lap 8 and closed to the back of Smith's bike. From laps 11-13 the first four riders—Smith, Baker, Mees and Bauman—were a breakaway group and raced in a tight pack, 40-yards in front of P. 5.
Baker took the lead from Smith on lap 14; a lap later Bauman passed Mees. Two laps later Sammy Halbert fell hard near the second turn hay-bales, causing another red flag at 9:44 pm. He escaped injury. Riders put on new tear-offs and lined up single file at the starting line for a standing start at 9:56. The running order was: 12, 42, 14, 1, 2, 95, 5, 27, 44, 10, 98, 91, 61, 23, 20 and 68 (16th). Baker led lap 16 and Bauman took P. 2 from Smith at lap 17. Smith retook P. 2 two laps later with an inside pass on the backstretch. Smith led lap 23 over Baker but he got too high entering the first turn at speed and Baker reclaimed the lead for the final two laps. He won by ten yards over Smith, who had ten yards on P. 3 Bauman. Harley-Davidson, Kawasaki and Suzuki finished 1-2-3. “That's the way to race for a championship,” the announcer exclaimed. P. 4 on were: 1, 95, 2, 5, 27, 44, 10, 98, 23, 61, 91, 20, 7, 17, 68 and 80. The checkered flag flew at 10:01 pm and it was still 65 degrees according to the AMA stat sheet. The race took 31 minutes, including 18 minutes of red flag delays.
PODIUM QUOTES: GN winner Baker stated, “That was one of the best races of the entire series. There weren't as many changes at the Springfield mile. I almost got off once and figured I better back off and be smooth. In the last three laps my brake duct fell off, but you don't need brakes here much anyhow.” He added, “Bryan Smith is an awesome competitor.” He thanked Tony Dodge and Dodge Bros. Racing. Baker received his AMA No. 1 plate from 2012 champ Mees (an AMA tradition of passing the torch so to speak). Then Baker said, “This year has had its ups and downs. At Daytona I had some points taken away from me. I'm upbeat now. This is a great series all season long. I really love it and make my living at it.”
Runner-up Smith said over the PA, “I feel good. It was a good race and fun day. I'd much rather win, but I was good all day. I was on the edge. The restart after the red (lap 17) got me a little out of rhythm. I came up a little short for the championship this year, but I'll be back stronger next year.” Smith congratulated Baker and said, “we could have taken each other out many times but we race cleanly.”
P3 Bauman, 18, made his first ever podium appearance. “I told you I'd get here,” he told the AMA announcer. “Today started out good. I felt it in my heat and the dash. I even led for half a second. Brad got close once and scared me half to death.” At post-race tech inspection, Bauman told me his career best finishes were fourth in Virginia and fifth at the Peoria TT this year. He finished 2013 in position 11 with 88 points, as did Stevie Bonsey, who also lives in Salinas ironically. Bauman's younger brother Bronson (No. 30Z Honda) also raced at Pomona and finished fifth in the Pro Singles feature, only 8.519 seconds off the lead.