AMA Pro Flat Track & Stu's Shots Reviews Salinas TT & Short Track Action from Easter Weekend

Henry Wiles throws his #17 Monster Energy/Don's Kawasaki/Shift Racing/Jones Bros.-sponsored Kawasaki KX450F into turn 3 during a qualifying session at the Southern Illinois Center in DuQuoin, IL. on April 16 during round 3 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series.  Wiles suffered a leg/knee injury during his heat race at DuQuoin that caused his leg to swell considerably during/after the event, and as a result he finished 19th out 19 riders at the DuQuoin Indoor Short Track, and also left a big question as to how or if he would be able to ride in the following weekend's round 4 & 5 at Salinas.
Hammerin' Hank overcame the adversity of his knee problem at Salinas over the weekend, however, and scored the most points over the two-event weekend over all of the other Expert riders combined.  During Saturday afternoon's TT race, he won his heat (the fastest of the day), came home third in the Fastenal Dash for Cash, and then followed eventual winner Jake Johnson home in second on the demanding course, showing once again why he has been the most dominant rider in the Expert Singles Series over the course of the last few years and winning the Singles Championship in '09-'10.
But the weekend wasn't over just yet, as there was still some short track racing to do, and Wiles again showed why he is a master of the Singles Series.  Winning his heat and settling for 5th in the Dash for Cash, Wiles started from the middle of the front row in the short track main yesterday afternoon and put on a clinic to take the win over first-time Grand National podium finisher Jimmy Wood by .169 seconds.  Scoring 47 points on the weekend, Wiles moved from 12th to 6th in the overall championship standings with 64 points total on the year. 
However, what happens to Henry for the next few months will depend on the outcome of his surgery, which was scheduled for today.  Stating after yesterday's race that it needed to be done now, even he won't know for several weeks (at least) when he will be able to return to the track.  And that is something the rest of the competition might not mind after the stellar weekend he had on the west coast, and especially with the Springfield TT race on May 28 coming up that everyone knows how much he has dominated over the last few years.

Here's hoping Henry's surgery and rehab goes well and quickly, and we see this fast fighter back on the track in a little over four weeks over the Memorial Day Weekend.  That may be too much to ask for depending on the seriousness of his injuries, of course, but he will be missed while he is under the knife and recovering.  Congrats on a great weekend, Henry and here's to a safe and quick recovery so you can get back out here to wow us some more!
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Race Report: AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship, Round 5

SALINAS, CA (April 25, 2011) - The AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship returned to the Salinas Sports Complex yesterday for the Round 5 Short Track event, where hard work by promoter Ken Netto and the AMA Pro crew provided a very racy venue for the Easter Sunday showdown. Defending Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Henry Wiles (Monster Energy Kawasaki/Jones Bros Racing) had been fighting problems all year, but a wire-to-wire win in Salinas' Expert Main, coupled with a second-place finish in yesterday's TT, has marked Wiles as newly resurgent.
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Henry Wiles topped the Salinas ST podium on Sunday. Photo by Dave Hoenig.
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Wiles' victory was somewhat bittersweet, since he'll be undergoing knee surgery next week that may force him to miss a significant chunk of the 2011 season, but the affable Michigan rider went out on a very high note. "They were an awesome two days," Wiles said. "I'm still pumped about it all. It just means so much to me, with some of the things I was up against the whole weekend, really. I can't wait to get back to racing and get back to all the fans. All the fans coming out to the races and getting excited about watching motorcycles race, that really motivates and drives me."

The race was far from a gimme for Wiles, as fast qualifier Jimmy Wood (Southland Racing/M.E.H. Corp.) tried every way possible to get around the solid Wiles. "I started trying to make a couple different moves here and there," said Wood. "I checked behind us a couple times, [and] we had a little bit of a gap, so I figured I could just sit behind him. He wasn't making any mistakes at all. On the last five laps, I tried going up a little bit to go around him, [but] he was just too fast."

The race for third ended up a family affair, as Woody Kyle Racing/Kings Kustoms' Jethro Halbert had it, and little brother Sammy (Woody Kyle Racing/Fredericktown Yamaha) wanted it. The two battled back and forth for a long time before Sammy was able to wrest the position away on Lap 22. "I thought he might make it easy," said Sammy, "[since] I'm going for a championship, but he really wanted to be on the podium too."

Yesterday's TT winner Jake Johnson overcame a second-row start to bring his Zanotti Racing Honda home fifth. American Motorcyclist Association/Dallas Fort Worth Honda's Chris Carr stayed in the hunt as well, finishing sixth over youngsters Jeffery Carver (Van's Yamaha/Woody Kyle Racing) and hometown hero Stevie Bonsey (Mack Daddy Racing). Monster Energy Kawasaki Werner-Springsteen Racing's JR Schnabel and Chaplin Kawasaki's Kenny Coolbeth filled out the top ten.

The Fastenal Dash for Cash saw Jethro Halbert come out of the box quick and win the four-lap sprint over Wood and Bonsey. The win was worth $1,000 and an extra 5 points toward the Grand National Championship.

Sammy Halbert continues to hold the overall GNC points lead in the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship, his 103 points giving him an 8-point margin over defending Grand National Champion Johnson. Coolbeth and Brad Baker follow with 74 and 72 points, respectively.

The Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles main saw a first-time winner in the form of Shoe Racing/Sportland Motorsports' Will Cato, who ran away with the victory. Current points-leader Gerit Callies finished almost two seconds back, while a small war raged several seconds behind him between second-generation racers Mickey Fay (Pat Hayes Racing/Rod Lake) and Rod Spencer Jr. (Rod Lake/Hooper Motorsports). The two fought furiously over the last podium spot, but in the end neither got it done, as the honor instead went to Weirbach Racing/General Engineering's Mikey Martin.

It is Callies, however, who maintains a strong hold on the points lead, topping Mikey Avila 102 to 90 after a sixth-place finish on Sunday. Martin and Cato follow with 72 and 56 points, respectively.

Next up, the AMA Pro Racing Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship heads to Springfield, Illinois, after a brief hiatus. The series will return to racing May 28 and 29 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the Springfield TT (AMA Pro Round 6) and the Springfield Mile (AMA Pro Round 7). To be a part of the Memorial Day weekend action, visit www.illinoismda.com.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

For additional information contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Jake Johnson lines up his #1 Zanotti Racing/Schaeffer's H-D/MotionPro/Arai-backed Honda CRF450R for his heat race during round 3 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series inside the Southern Illinois Center at DuQuoin, IL. on April 16.  The defending AMA Flat Track Grand National Champion (and '06/'08 Singles Champ) put in another great ride at DuQuoin to come home 3rd on the night behind event winner Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. and 7-Time AMA GN Champ Chris Carr, coming off the second row in doing so.
Jersey Jake showed the west coast crowd at Salinas over the Easter Weekend why his IS the defending champ, in winning Saturday's TT race over second place Henry Wiles by 2.473 seconds, and third place Brad Baker, 3.526 seconds back.  Then on Easter Sunday during the Short Track main, he came off of the second row to bring it home in the 5th spot, behind winner Wiles, second place (and 1st-time GN podium finisher) Jimmy Wood), 3rd place Sammy Halbert and 4th place Jethro Halbert.  After 25 uninterupted laps (in a race that only took 5:36 to complete when riders where turning 13 second laps), Johnson was still only 3.623 seconds back of winner Wiles.
Johnson has already established himself as a serious threat to repeat in the 2011 season as champ with only five of 21 scheduled events in the bag.  With him moving into second in the overall championship standings behind series leader Sammy Halbert (103-95) after rounds 4 & 5, when the series resumes at Springfield on May 28 for the TT and May 29 for the mile, the competition had better be ready for JJ.  Because he's obviously ready for them!

Congrats to Jake for a great win this weekend, as well as getting the second highest point total on the two day event, for what is starting out as another great year for this great racer.  Great job man!
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Race Report: AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship, Round 4

SALINAS, CA (March 24, 2011) - Defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson (Zanotti Racing) roared to victory at the inaugural AMA Pro Racing Harley-Davidson Insurance Salinas TT on Saturday afternoon, but that triumph didn't come easily. Despite leading twenty-four laps of the twenty-five-lap National, Johnson's win was at times very much in doubt, as series rookie Brad Baker had his ENI USA-backed Honda parked on the champ's rear wheel for much of the contest.
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Reigning GNC champ Jake Johnson took victory at Saturday's Salinas TT. Photo by Dave Hoenig.
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Johnson's early lead slipped away after Baker disposed of Rogers Lake Racing's Jared Mees on Lap 8 and set out after the lead. Baker appeared to be faster almost everywhere; everywhere, perhaps, save the all-important last turn to the finish line.

"I looked back and saw Brad," said Johnson. "Not that I was less worried, but when I was young, I was kind of a hammer head. It was dry slick and you had to be careful not to spin the tire, but I was the one doing that and he was the one making up ground on me. He caught me and started poking a wheel in on me here and there. I kind of threw out the defense a little bit."

Every time Baker looked to have a chance, the veteran Johnson would squirt away. The battle raged until Lap 23, when Baker took the lead at the line. Disaster hit Baker almost immediately, however, as he lost the front wheel in the tight, left-hand turn leading into the infield. Baker's first win was not to be, but he was able to get the clutch pulled, remount, and forge on.

"I almost had it," said Baker. "I almost kept it up down there, but it was the hardest corner of the race. That's where I was making up the time on Jake for the whole race, [but it] was harder to lead in there than it was in second. The front-end got away from me. Fortunately, I pulled in the clutch and kept it going, [and] I almost held on to second. Winning the race would have been awesome."

Baker lost first and second, but he was able to hold on to third and earn his second podium finish of 2011. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Henry Wiles overcame a near-disastrous first lap to climb all the way from tenth to a solid second-place finish.

Mees, who had appeared to be in position to get his first podium finish of the year, ultimately lost ground to both Wiles and current points-leader Sammy Halbert (Woody Kyle Racing/Fredericktown Yamaha). Mees was able to salvage fourth with a last-lap pass of Halbert.

Farewell Tour or not, American Motorcyclist Association/Dallas Fort Worth Honda's Chris Carr continued his string of impressive showings, as he moved from fourteenth on the first lap to a closing sixth at the end. Southland Racing's Jimmy Wood had won the Fastenal Dash for Cash (and the $1,000 and five points that went with it) earlier in the afternoon, but that proved the high point of Wood's day, as he would limp home in the National itself, finishing two laps down in eighteenth.

Johnson's win and Halbert's fifth-place finish have tightened up the championship hunt considerably, as the top two are now separated by a single point, Halbert with 85 and Johnson holding 84. Brad Baker and Kenny Coolbeth sit nineteen and twenty points behind Halbert, respectively.

Earlier in the day, the Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles main was won by California's Mikey Avila. "This is really great," said Avila afterward. "I'm not really much of a TT rider." The Boughner Racing/M.E.H. Corp-backed Avila had been pressed early in the race by points-leader Gerit Callies (Full Throttle/Gillespie Small Engines), but a late-race mistake cost Callies second, as Rod Lake/Hooper Motorsports' Rod Spencer Jr. slipped by and earned his first podium appearance of 2011.

The Callies-Avila points race is once again tight. After the pair split Daytona wins at the opening round, Avila turned in a disappointing finish at last weekend's DuQuoin round. That was nearly negated, however, by yesterday's performance, and Avila currently sits just six points behind class-leader Callies.

The AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship launches immediately into Round 5 of the series with a short track event today, Sunday April 24, at Salinas, California's, Salinas Sports Complex. For tickets to the event, visit www.salinasflattrack.com/tickets.php, and to follow today's on-track action via live timing, visit www.amaproracing.com and click the green bar at the top of your screen.

Wishing you a very joyful Easter, from everyone at AMA Pro Racing.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

For additional information contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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Motorcycle-USA.com had Bryan Harley on the scene over the weekend at the Salinas Sports Complex for rounds 4 & 5 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series.  Here's his story on round 5 of the short track from yesterday:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/504/9807/Motorcycle-Article/Salinas-Short-Track-Flat-Track-Results-2011.aspx

....and then you can read his spin on round 4 from the Salinas TT on Saturday here:

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/504/9801/Motorcycle-Article/Salinas-Flat-Track-TT-Race-Results-2011.aspx
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Checkered Flag Photos out of California was on the scene at rounds 4 & 5 of the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at Salinas over the weekend.  Here's the link to their great shots from the weekend:

http://www.printroom.com/ghome.asp?evgroupid=0&domain_name=checkeredflagphotos&group_id=85
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You can check out Dave Hoenig's Flat Trak Fotos.com results and pictures (when posted) here from the Salinas Short Track yesterday:

http://www.flattrakfotos.com/2011%20Results/RESULTS%2004-24-11.html

....and from Saturday's Salinas TT here:

http://www.flattrakfotos.com/2011%20Results/RESULTS%2004-23-11.html
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AMA Pro Flat Track has the results from yesterday's Salinas Short Track Singles Expert main event here:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/results.cfm?eid=2011021116

....and here is the link to the complete event results from the Salinas Short Track:

http://results.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/ft/2011/F1116/default.aspx

....and here are the Singles Expert results from the Salinas TT on Saturday:

http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011021115

...and the complete event results from the Salinas TT on Saturday:

http://results.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/ft/2011/F1115/default.aspx
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