Jared Mees Wins Round 3 at the Austin Half Mile Dirt Track

Posted in: Harley Racing
Posted by: Rex Stout April 18, 2016
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Jared Mees wins Austin. Mees (No. 1 Harley-Davidson 750) earned a tough victory at the inaugural Harley-Davidson Lone Star Half-Mile at Circuit of The Americas Saturday night. Mees charged the pack after Brad Baker was forced to leave the track due to technical difficulties on lap seven and was challenged again when a red flag with five laps to go turned round three of the AMA Pro Flat Track season into a five-lap shootout. Sammy Halbert was third.

Brad “The Bullet” Baker, the 23-year-old 2013 AMA Pro Grand National Champion had this to say about the race, "Last night was a tough one to swallow. It always sucks to have a mechanical failure but it hurts a little extra when you are in the lead and pulling away. Nevertheless, my Harley-Davidson Vance & Hines Team did an awesome job giving me a bike that was fast and handled great. There's plenty of races left and we will be back to go for the win in Arizona, only a little under a month away."

Jared Mees, the Michigan native took home the Öhlins “Fastest Lap Award,” as well and was pleased with the victory. Mees faced disappointment in last year’s Summer X Games in Austin but won the 25-lap Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines class race over No. 27 Robert Pearson (Harley-Davidson 750).

“I don’t know if I had anything for Brad,” Mees said. “I’d just settled into my groove and I don’t know if I could have run him down. At the red flag, I thought, ‘Don’t do this to me, you owe me.’ It was really good to win. I needed this for the confidence after I had a so-so Daytona. The credit goes to the team. We relate very, very well. They never let me down.”

Pearson fought with Halbert for position and placed second, making it his best finish in his career and first-ever podium. No. 80 Stevie Bonsey finished 3rd, while DAYTONA Flat Track Round 2 winner, No. 5 Jake Johnson was next. No. 66 Dominic Colindres led last year’s X Games winner No. 42 Bryan Smith and No. 73 Doug Lawrence. BY THE NUMBERS Circuit of The Americas GNC1 Race (25 Laps) - GNC Expert Twins April 9, 2016 Circuit of the Americas Austin, TX Race Time: 8:20.990 Margin of Victory: 1.194 Best Race Lap: Jared Mees Wins (0:18.970) TOP TEN POSITONS

POS	NO.	RIDER(S)	SPONSOR	BIKE	INTERVAL	GAP	BEST LAP	POINTS
1	1	Jared Mees	Las Vegas H-D,Rogers Racing,Harley Davidson Motor...	Harley-Davidson 750	25 Laps	WINNER	0:18.970	24
2	69	Sammy Halbert	BriggsAuto.com,Martin Trucking,Lucas...	Harley-Davidson 750	1.194	1.194	0:19.156	9
3	80	Stevie Bonsey	CR Motorsports,Alpinestars,Steeles Cycles,Motion...	Harley-Davidson 750	1.325	0.131	0:19.091	16
4	5	Jake Johnson	Zanotti Racing,Classic H-D,Harley-Davidson MOtor...	Harley-Davidson 750	2.325	1.000	0:19.431	15
5	66	Dominic Colindres	Babe DeMay,Memphis Shades,Yamaha,Bell...	Yamaha FZ07	2.813	0.487	0:19.277	14
6	42	Bryan Smith	Crosley Brands,T&T Construction,Howerton...	Kawasaki Ninja 650	2.884	0.071	0:19.481	13
7	73	Doug Lawrence	Doug Lawrence Racing,Town Moto,Parts Canada,John...	Harley-Davidson 750	3.413	0.528	0:19.635	12
8	17	Henry Wiles	USC Racing,Hart Racing,J&M Logging,Tim Trowbridge...	Kawasaki Ninja 650	4.207	0.794	0:19.702	11
9	10	Johnny Lewis	Lloyd Brothers Motorsports,Dillard Family Racing	Ducati Hypermotard 1100	4.929	0.721	0:19.712	10
10	98	Kayl Kolkman	Kolkman Racing,Motostation,Dreamscape...	Kawasaki Ninja 650	5.147	0.218	0:19.767	9

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