AMA Pro Flat Track Daytona Short Track I Sees Briar Bauman Take 1st Grand National Win, Ryan Wells Earns Pro Singles Victory

The 2014 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season got off to a big start last night in Daytona, and 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Saddlemen Rookie of the Year Briar Bauman finally broke through the ranks for his first Grand National win in his sophomore year as an Expert ranked rider.

Aboard the #14 Rod Lake Racing Honda, Bauman took advantage of the complete restart after a red flag to jump out to an early lead and romp to the 25-lap National main win over the other 18 riders who made the show. Dash winner Sammy Halbert, in his return to Daytona after missing last season's opening rounds due to injury, did his best to keep Bauman in site and tried his best to reel him in, coming in a close second, with last year's second night breakout winner, Brandon Robinson bringing the USC Racing Kawasaki home in the 3rd-place spot and final spot on the podium.

In the shot above, Briar Bauman is shown in his pit area after the first practice session at round 7 of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship at the Peoria TT on August 11. Bauman's #14 Rod Lake Racing/Specialty Fabrication Honda CRF450R is attended to while he gets ready to take a break from the action. Bauman went on to take a 5th-place finish after leading a couple of laps and battling with Shaun Russell, Brad Baker and eventual winner Henry Wiles.

Cycle News' Larry Lawrence was on hand to document the action and filed this report.

The full set of results from last night's big event at the Daytona Short Track I can be found here, as we get ready for round 2 to hit the track today with first practice scheduled to roll out at 3:30 PM EDT.

A big congrats to Briar and the Rod Lake Racing team for taking the win last night over a stacked field of riders who put on a heckuva great show on the limestone quarter mile track!

In the AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Championship season opener, third year rider Ryan Wells took the #94B Waters Autobody KTM to the win, leading all 16 laps in the race and taking the win by just over three seconds ahead of Justin Jones and 3rd-place finisher Brandon Wilhelm.

The Waters Autobody KTM team are to be commended for taking their first win together in their second season as a team. Dave Waters and the team work their butts off and to get the win this early in the season is a testament to the time and effort they have put into their team. A big congrats all around and a tip of the helmet from Stu's Shots for a job well done!

In the shot above, Wells is shown on the #94B Waters Autobody Racing/RLJ Racing KTM 450 SX-F while battling with Dan Bromley on the #54A Bromley Brothers/KTM Racing KTM and Justin Jones on the #19B RLJ Racing/Baughner Racing Honda CRF450R during heat race #2 at the Peoria TT round of the 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Championship on August 11. Wells came out on top in this battle with Bromley and Jones finishing in that order.

And AMA Pro Flat Track and their new FansChoice.TV package are to be saluted for putting some great coverage out on the web last night. Although a few early glitches and buffering issues in the initial launch were noticed, all in all it was a fine job and the three cameras on hand showing the action did a super job of making it seem like you were right on the fence or hanging in the infield taking shots as it happened. Great job guys and thanks for making this happen!

You can also check out the press release below from AMA Pro Flat Track on the happenings from last night.

With round 2 of the season set to hit the track in just a few minutes, you can get all of the needed links to keep up with today's action in our rundown from yesterday's race preview here. Now, let's get ready to roar again as the boys and girls of The Rolling Thunder Show get ready to bring the greatest racing series on two wheels in the world back into our homes and into our hearts! Go get 'em folks and let's get ready to rumble!

Briar Bauman and Ryan Wells Each Earn Clutch AMA Pro Flat Track Round One Victories at DAYTONA Flat Track

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 13, 2014) - Round one of AMA Pro Flat Track heated up quickly on a chilly night on Thursday, March 13, 2014 at DAYTONA Flat Track. Briar Bauman (Rod Lake Racing/Honda) took it the distance as he started on the pole and finished atop the podium. Bauman's 1.951 second victory over runner-up finisher Sammy Halbert (Vans Yamaha/Yamaha) is the first Grand National win of his career.   "I don't usually tighten up during a race but when I saw those halfway flags I definitely knew I had a chance to win and felt myself tense up a little bit," said Bauman. "I'm just glad I could hold on for the full 25 laps and get some points. That's what it's all about at Daytona is to work on points. To make it all 25 and earn the win just feels awesome."         Briar Bauman on the #14 Rod Lake Racing Honda CRF450R took the first AMA Grand National win of his young career last night at the Daytona Short Track I round, leading all of the 25-lap National main after a red flag forced a complete restart of the race. AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.         To begin the race, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. (Zanotti Racing/Honda) earned the holeshot but caught a bad break when two riders went down in the back of the pack and caused the red flags to fly. After the restart, Coolbeth, Jr, wasn't as lucky as he failed to reclaim the lead for the remainder of the race, eventually crashing and finishing 17th.   Bauman took the holeshot after the restart and did nothing but increase his lead the rest of the way.   Coming in second-place was Sammy Halbert. The Dash for Cash winner had an outstanding night on the track and the Graham, Wash. product looks poised for a tremendous bounce-back year in 2014. Brandon Robinson (USC Kawasaki/Kawasaki) arguably made the best use of his restart card tonight. The Oxford, Penn. native started 11th on the grid before crawling his way to a third-place finish. Mike Rush (Cascioll Rush Racing/Honda) and 2012 Grand National Champion Jared Mees (Montgomeryville Cycle/Honda) closed out the top five.   AMA Pro Singles   In AMA Pro Singles action, Ryan Wells (KTM/KTM) came out hot right from the beginning, earning the holeshot after starting from fourth on the grid. Wells continued to build on his lead with every lap that passed and eventually the Albion, N.Y. product went on to win the race by over three full seconds.   "The first day at Daytona I usually struggle quite a bit so to come out here and get the win is huge for me," said Wells. "I knew I had to have a good start and that I would be forced to make very few mistakes if I wanted to win. I'm just glad I was able to do that and it paid off. Hopefully I'll be back up here tomorrow night; the goal is to get the sweep."   Coming in second-place was Justin Jones (Jones Racing/Honda). While Jones never really threatened Wells' lead, he solidified his runner up finish early on with a 1.203 second gap between him and third-place finisher Brandon Wilhelm (Wilhelm Racing/Honda). Rodney Spencer, Jr. (GP Sports/Honda) and Bronson Bauman (Rod Lake Racing/Honda) closed out the top five.      Next Up   Round 2 of AMA Pro Flat Track at DAYTONA Flat Track is scheduled to commence tonight, March 14, 2014, with live streaming of practice and qualifying sessions set to begin as early as 3:30 p.m. ET and opening ceremonies set to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. Fans can catch all of the live streaming coverage at FansChoice.tv.   How to Watch   FansChoice.tv will be the official home for live streaming coverage of AMA Pro Flat Track and AMA Pro Road Racing events in 2014. The site will also provide coverage of IMSA's development and single-make series, and NASCAR's touring and weekly series. About AMA Pro Flat Track   AMA Pro Flat Track is a national motorcycle racing series in North America and is considered one of the oldest forms of motorcycle racing. Sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, the Series is highly regarded as the most competitive form of dirt track racing in the world. The 2014 schedule consists of 16 rounds on the country's finest flat track courses. For more information on AMA Pro Flat Track, please visit www.amaproracing.com/ft.

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

 

AMA Pro Flat Track Reviews the Season-Opening Rounds of the J&P Cycles Pro Singles Championship

The rising stars of the AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Championship Series head into turn one at the start of their National main in round 9 of the 2012 AMA Pro Singles Championship at the Peoria TT on August 12, in the first of 12 laps around the confines of the Peoria Motorcycle Club facility.

Justin Reed on the #53L Rich King Racing KTM 450 SX-F appears to have a slight lead from the start, going on to finish in 3rd-place to round out the podium.  First-time series winner Dominic Colindres on the #66Y Weirbach Racing Honda CRF450R hugs the inside line in route to taking over the lead to take his first-ever win in the series while in his first ride for the team.

Jason Isennock on the #30S Highs Dairy Stores Honda (7th-place finish) holds it tight on the outside of Colindres, while Rodney Spencer, Jr. on the #74Z 831 Pinnit Honda (4th-place) looks to have the advantage on Nick Mataya on the #12L Shoe Racing Honda (5th-place), with Kurtis Lee on the #78J TCR Honda (14th-place) appearing to have lost his edge on the outside as the pack bunches up.

Coming on strong in the back are Jake Shoemaker on the #55A Montgomeryville Cycle Center Honda (6th-place), Dan Bromley on the #54A Bob Weirbach Race Team Honda (17th-place), and eventual 2012 AMA Pro Singles Champion Steven Vanderkuur just coming into the shot on the #10J Parkinson Brothers Racing Honda (2nd-place) as they lead the rest of the 18-rider main on a 12-lap romp in the hallowed halls of Peoria.

In it's fourth season of competition, the AMA Pro Singles Championship has turned out some spectacular talent from what is the 'feeder' series of the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship.  All of the series' first three champions (Brad Baker '09, Jeffrey Carver, Jr. '10, Mikey Martin '11) are now racing in the big show of The Rolling Thunder Show, and providing some serious competition for their fellow Expert-ranked riders in what is arguably the best racing series on two wheels in the world.

The 2013 AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles Championship season got off to another roaring start at Daytona last week, and saw two new winners in each of the two opening rounds held at the Daytona International Speedway.  And the field of talent is just as deep, if not deeper, for what is the series' fifth-full season of competition.  And the big question now is, who will try to take the crown away from Vanderkuur, or will the series see it's first two-time champion when the season wraps up in Pomona many months from now?

Read on below to see AMA Pro Flat Track's review of the season-openers and see if any of the possible future Grand National Champions finished up at the top where you may have expected them to....or not!

Johnson, Constantine Each Claim Victories in Opening Rounds of AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles Action at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (March 22, 2013) - Michigan's Kyle Johnson (Boughner Racing / Muskegon Motorcycle Gang) got off the line first in the 16 lap AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles first round main event at the DAYTONA Flat Track on March 14, 2013. However, Johnson was quickly passed by a charging Maryland product in Mike Poe (Jason Isennock / CCBC / Blevins).

 

Johnson stayed glued to Poe as he became the meat in a Maryland sandwich, with Jason Isennock, also a native of the "Old Line State," (Highs Dairy Stores / Foard Racing) right on their heels.  On lap eleven, Johnson was able to capitalize on a mistake by Poe to recapture the lead. Once obtaining the top spot, Johnson built his lead and clinched his first ever professional victory.

 

"I was just being patient and waiting for him to make a mistake," Johnson said. "Once I got up on the inside of the leader I got a good drive and took him on the straight away. I couldn't be more satisfied with the way I performed tonight. My bike was unbelievable and everything really came together when it mattered most. I reclaimed the lead late in the race and that was all I needed to close it out."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Wells on the #94B Waters Auto Body Honda appears to have the inside line ahead of Shayna Texter on the #25A Crosley Radio Honda during racing action at rounds 1 & 2 of the 2013 AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles Championship season at the Daytona Short Track last week.  The close, fast racing in the 'feeder' series for the AMA Pro Flat Track presented by J&P Cycles Grand National Championship saw two first-time winners at Daytona in Kyle Johnson and Jake Constantine and lays the groundwork for what will surely be another great season of racing for the future stars of the sport.  AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.

 

 

Final results 1-10: 1st - Kyle Johnson, 2nd - Jason Isennock, 3rd - Mike Poe, 4th - Brandon Wilhelm, 5th - Rodney Spencer Jr., 6th - Ryan Wells, 7th - Hunter Taylor, 8th - Dan Bromley, 9th - Jake Constantine, 10th - Wyatt Maguire

 

AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles - Round 2

 

Jake Constantine stormed around the outside of fellow New Yorker Ryan Wells at the start of the 16 lap AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles main event and rode to a convincing second round win on his Allphase Masonry & Chimney / Matt's Cycle Center backed Honda. Wells tried to stay close, but the lead grew to over one second by the halfway point and over two seconds by the end of the race.

 

"I can't even explain how I feel right now," said an ecstatic Constantine. "To come down here and win it all is the best feeling in the world. It feels great to be on this podium, let alone be at the top of it! This win was huge for me and my team because of how bad we struggled last night in the opener. I can't thank everyone enough for helping me out; this feeling is so surreal right now."

 

Wells maintained a solid second place position throughout the race, while Thursday night's third place finisher, Mike Poe, worked his way forward taking third place yet again after passing Wyatt Maguire (Kirkland Racing / Pro1racingheads.com) on lap 12.

 

There is a log jam at the top of the AMA Pro J&P Cycles Pro Singles point standings. Jake Constantine holds a single point lead over Mike Poe with Kyle Johnson and Ryan Wells another point back. Jason Isennock remains in fifth, seven points off the lead.

Final results 1-10: 1st - Jake Constantine, 2nd - Ryan Wells, 3rd - Mike Poe, 4th - Wyatt Maguire, 5th - Stephen Vanderkuur, 6th - Dominic Collindres, 7th - Gerit Callies, 8th - Rodney Spencer Jr., 9th - Brandon Wilhelm, 10th - Kyle Johnson
 

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

AMA Flat Track: Henry Wiles Adds to His Legend at Springfield and Takes 6th-Win at Final National Short Track

Round 12 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season gets ready to kick-off it's final Singles Series event of the year at the Springfield Short Track, as well as the final National for the foreseeable future on the Illinois State Fairgrounds Arena. 

Henry Wiles again rode like the true champion he is and took the #17 Don's Kawasaki KX450F to his 6th win in-a-row at Springfield, making it 11 wins he has bagged in his career at the little track.  Coming off the line in fourth place, it looked like early leader Brad Baker on the #12 Brothers Powersports Honda CRF450R was finally going to bag his first National main event as an Expert, but Hammerin' Hank had other ideas as he worked his way around Briar Bauman #10Z on the Rod Lake Racing USC Honda and 2-Time and defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson on the #1 Zanotti Racing Honda, and then grabbed the lead from Brad 'The Bullet' Baker with less then five laps to go to sail to another win. 

Johnson ended up in 5th-place when Mees worked his way around after a heavy battle on the #9 Rogers Racing Honda to score a 3rd-place finish, which was enough to take the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Singles Championship.  Briar Bauman brought it home in 4th, with JD Beach on the #95 USC Kawasaki taking a hard-earned 6th-place.

The overall points were shaken up some when Sammy Halbert was forced to take a provisional and only carded a 14th-place, to slip 12 points behind 2nd-place man Johnson, as Mees still holds an 11 point lead over Jake.

The series heads across the fairgrounds for tomorrow's Springfield Mile II event.

You can check out Larry Lawrence's take on the action at Springfield here at Cycle News.com:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2012/09/15/wiles-scores-at-springfield-short-track/

And here is the link to AMA Pro Flat Track's official event results:

http://results.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/ft/2012/F1261/default.aspx

AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Series winner Dan Bromley gets the interview treatment on the podium after the Springfield Short Track from AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone.  Bromley took his #54A Bromley Brothers KTM Racing-sponsored KTM 450SX-F to the front at the start and led all 16-laps in the Pro Singles final inside the Multipurpose Arena on the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  It was Bromley's first-ever win in the series in his first year of having his Pro license and he helped KTM to garner their second win in the series this season after injured rider Gerit Callies had claimed his win earlier in the season.  Wyatt Maguire and William Cato flank Bromley on the podium for their 2nd and 3rd-place runs on the night.

Mees Takes AMA Pro Grand National Singles Championship; Wiles Takes Short Track Win at Springfield Short Track

Springfield, Ill (September 15, 2012) - Saturday's AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com and Lucas Oil was an exciting kick-off to an intense weekend filled with action-packed racing. Henry Wiles (Don's Kawasaki/Kawasaki) took the checkered flag by almost a full second and gave the crowd at the Illinois State Fairgrounds everything they could have asked for. It was Wiles' third win of the year and second here in Springfield. The win boosts Wiles to a second place finish in the GNC Expert Singles point standings behind Jared Mees (Montgomeryville Racing/Honda).

"It was back and forth and just an awesome race," said Henry Wiles. "I stayed low the entire time waiting for Brad (Baker) to go wide and when he did I just pulled the trigger and it paid off. It's been a phenomenal year and I want to give a shout out to my team and all of my sponsors. I'm glad I could go out there and ride for you guys."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Wiles #17 worked his way from fourth off of the start around early leader Brad Baker, Jake Johnson #1 and Jared Mees #9 to take his 6th-win in-a-row at the final Springfield Short Track on Saturday, September 15.  AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.

 

Brad Baker (Brothers Powersports/Honda) got the holeshot off the pole and led for the first 19 laps but surrendered his lead on lap 20 when he went a little too wide off of turn 2 as Wiles slid underneath him and never looked back. Once Wiles gained the lead, he was in total control the rest of the way as he beat second place finisher Baker by a total of .940 seconds.

The night was capped off by the crowning of Jared Mees as he is this year's GNC Expert Singles champion.  "This isn't the biggest accomplishment that I'm aiming for this year, but it's definitely a big one," said Mees. "I have to pat myself on the back for this, I worked really hard on the singles this year and this is a big victory for me and my whole team. It was only a six-race season, but it was a lot of fun."

Mees rounded out the podium for an impressive third place finish. Briar Bauman (Rod Lake Racing/ Honda) and Jake Johnson (Zanotti Racing/Honda) rounded out the top five, respectively.

AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles

It was all Dan Bromley (Bromley Brothers/KTM) tonight as he claimed the holeshot on lap one and never let up. Bromley looked sharper than he has all season and made a name for himself in tonight's intense showdown as he claimed his first career AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Main Event victory.

"When I got here, I just wanted to qualify for the main event," said Bromley. "When I qualified, I just wanted to run a solid heat race. I didn't have the best starting spot in the main but I had faith in my KTM. I could feel the riders around me on the final laps and I knew I had to be perfect. Thankfully I crossed the line first and I'm so happy to get this win."

It wasn't easy for Bromley, as he was forced to surrender his enormous lead on lap nine after Ryan Wells (Five Star Steel & Fabrication/Honda) bit the dust and forced the red flags to fly and call for a staggered start. However, Bromley wasn't fazed as he claimed the holeshot for the second time tonight. For the remaining five laps, Bromley was forced to make quick decisions and critical moves in order to fend off Wyatt Maguire (Kirkland Racing/Yamaha) who tried everything to steal the lead.

Maguire's efforts weren't good enough, as Bromley slammed the throttle just a little bit harder on the final turn to fend him off by a slim margin.

William Cato (Bob Weirbach Race Team/Honda) finished closed out the podium with an impressive third place finish. Jason Isennock (High Dairy Stores/Honda) and Joe Shoemaker (Montgomeryville Cycle Center/Honda) rounded out the top 5 finishers, respectively. 

 

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