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August 25, 2020

Briar Bauman claims Indy Mile double victory

Images by Scott Hunter

Reigning Grand National Champion Briar Bauman added his name to the list of American Flat Track legends to win at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center with victory at Friday night’s Indy Mile I. And while it took Bauman nine seasons in American Flat Track’s premier class to finally claim his maiden Mile victory, it took just one day for him to earn a second. Bauman completed the Indianapolis double with a tactical ride to win Saturday night’s AFT SuperTwins Main Event at the Indy Mile II.

Indy Mile I – AFT SuperTwins

Bauman’s primary rival, Jared Mees, took the early advantage with teammate and brother Bronson Bauman right behind in third. But Briar Bauman broke up the impromptu Indian Wrecking Crew photo shoot when he seized control of the Main with a full nine minutes left on the clock.

Once through, Bauman who looked smooth and planted with everyone else seemingly teetering on the edge of control never looked back. Behind, Sammy Halbert not only chased down Mees and Bronson Bauman, he actually pulled clear of them in second. There simply was no catching the champ however, and Halbert was forced to accept a lonely second 2.203 seconds behind the winner.

Bronson Bauman appeared to line up Mees for a final-lap strike, but Mees countered, narrowly holding on for the final spot on the box by 0.021 seconds.

Briar Bauman’s triumph snapped Mees’ streak of Mile wins, which included all six on last year’s slate. Mees still holds a two-point advantage in the standings however, after opening the season with a double victory at the Volusia Half-Mile.

Brandon Price picked up the final spot in the top five. Jeffrey Carver Jr., Davis Fisher, Dalton Gauthier, and Robert Pearson completed the top ten.

Indy Mile II – AFT SuperTwins

Saturday’s rematch at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center took on a different shape, as Jared Mees was determined to prevent the reigning Grand National Champion from executing another early escape.

Lap after lap, Mees would dive back into the lead on corner entrance. Doing so not only kept Bauman corralled behind him, it also put him under threat with both Bryan Smith and Brandon Robinson running in close contention.

After taking and losing the lead on numerous occasions early, Bauman switched up tactics and spent the bulk of the second half of the race just waiting in third, leaving the Mile-proven virtuosos of Mees and Smith to exercise a well-known mutual rivalry.

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After Mees had secured a solid lead ahead of a still-determined Smith, Bauman seized the opportunity to make the high line work to his advantage, powering past both to rip open a multiple bike-length lead. Mees did his best to respond on the final lap but couldn’t quite muster enough pace to reel Bauman back to within striking distance. Bauman took the checkered flag with 1.147 seconds in hand over Mees, while Smith earned Harley’s first Mile podium since the .

Briar Bauman

“It’s pretty crazy. Honestly, I had both Jared’s and Bryan’s posters on my wall when I was growing up. I watched them every chance I could. Getting to race with them is a little bit surreal… The racing was clean and fast and the track was gnarly. All-in-all, it’s a dream come true.”

Robinson lost touch with the leaders with around three minutes to go but had built up just enough space to hold off a charging Sammy Halbert for fourth. Bronson Bauman, Jeffrey Carver Jr., Brandon Price, Robert Pearson and Jarod Vanderkooi completed the top ten.

Bauman’s twin victories move him ahead of Mees in what’s promising to be a season-long heavyweight title fight, 90-87. Halbert is a distant third with 66 points to his credit.

AFT SuperTwins Standings – Top 10

Indy Mile I – AFT Singles

Second-year pro Brandon Kitchen outfoxed the most experienced riders in the AFT Singles class with a dramatic final-lap upset victory. Kitchen spent almost the entire race as a fairly anonymous member of the second pack, while veteran riders Henry Wiles and Mikey Rush did battle at the front.

Although Wiles and Rush held a solid advantage over the rest of the field for much of the race, they were joined late by the newest member of the RMR/American Honda family, Michael Inderbitzin.

Inderbitzen made it a three-rider affair with two minutes remaining on the clock and immediately started trading haymakers with Wiles and Rush. He dove into the lead entering Turn 1 on the final lap in hopes of taking the win in his first attempt on RMR machinery.

However, Kitchen reeled in the group just in time to grab the draft as the last lap got underway. He then somehow proceeded to leap from fourth place to first as the group slid into Turn 3 and then got a stellar launch off of Turn 4 as he raced to the checkered flag.

That exit proved just strong enough to hold off Wiles, who came up 0.019 seconds short of drafting back past at the stripe. Rush finished third, a scant 0.083 seconds off the winner himself. Inderbitzen came home fourth, another 0.041 seconds back. Former class champ Ryan Wells rounded out the top five.

Indy Mile II – AFT Singles

Henry Wiles earned his first victory since transitioning to the AFT Singles class following one of the most entertaining races in recent memory. As many as ten riders still held a shot at the win as the clock showed 0:00, setting up an epic final two laps to decide the race.

No matter how massive the pack, Wiles ran near the front throughout, swapping the lead on countless occasions with the previous night’s surprise winner, Brandon Kitchen, former teammate Cole Zabala and prodigy Dallas Daniels.

Long-time AFT Singles standouts Shayna Texter and Ryan Wells emerged late, both flashing the potential to steal the win away in the same fashion that Kitchen had the night before.  But as the final lap played out, it became increasingly obvious the race would come down to a final straight shootout between Wiles and Zabala.

Wiles worked hard to open up a small advantage through Turns 1, 2 and 3 but appeared vulnerable after making a slight bobble while exiting 4. Zabala pulled right up behind Wiles and then swung out of his draft with the checkered flag in sight. While he managed to speed up alongside his opponent’s bike, he didn’t have quite enough steam to complete the winning maneuver.

Henry Wiles

“We had some guys up there in the mix in the Main Event we hadn’t really seen all day. Cole was riding the wheels off his bike. I’m really happy to see him up here on the podium. The guys at RMR and American Honda have been giving us a good effort, and it showed up tonight. Everybody had been saying I’m kind of a big boy and genetically at a disadvantage, but we got it done tonight. I’m really stoked that I could come through.”

Despite narrowly missing out on the win, Zabala’s eye-opening effort still qualifies as a breakthrough performance; it not only marked his first career AFT podium, but his first-ever top-five in the series. Texter finished third, with Daniels, Wells and Kitchen taking fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

After an unfortunate mechanical, title hopeful Mikey Rush finished an uncharacteristic 15th. As a result, Wiles now leads Kitchen 68-65 with Texter jumping up to third with 58 points.

Australia’s Max Whale finished 11th but figures a strong fourth on the championship points table.

AFT Singles Standings – Top 10

Indy Mile I – AFT Production Twins

After logging support-class podium finishes for years, Ben Lowe finally broke through to claim his maiden American Flat Track victory in Friday evening’s AFT Production Twins Main Event.

Lowe put himself at the front of a five-rider pack early and continued to press from there as that group slowly whittled down over the course of the ten-minute plus two-lap shootout. The Michigan native overhauled pre-race favorite Chad Cose in the race’s opening stages before falling into a back-and-forth tilt with Nick Armstrong.

Unfortunately, Armstrong’s hopes of securing his first win since standing atop the GNC2 podium at the 2015 Indy Mile ended in disappointment due to a mechanical issue with less than two minutes on the clock. Lowe’s career-first victory wasn’t assured quite yet, however, as a streaking James Rispoli was still on his case.

Rispoli, who was the fastest qualifier, was forced to use a provisional after his bike failed while leading his Semi. Despite starting dead last, the former roadracing superstar made up serious ground in a hurry with a brave exploitation of the high line on the opening lap, climbing from 17th to fourth in a matter of three corners.

After Cose slipped off the groove and dropped several bike lengths back, Rispoli spent the bulk of the race in third, sitting just inches behind the lead.

While Lowe worked up a late advantage, Rispoli made one final push on the final lap but came up 0.524 seconds short of taking his first dirt track win in over a decade. Cose rounded out the podium in third.

Indy Mile II – AFT Production Twins

James Rispoli got a second chance to end his run of AFT Production Twins second-place finishes. He responded by winning by more than 12 seconds in an absolute show of force. “The Rocket” had been knocking on the door ever since returning to dirt track in 2019 after assembling a national championship-winning road racing career. He notched up four podiums a year ago, and opened his 2020 campaign with three consecutive runner-up finishes.

Rispoli established himself as the heavy favorite on Saturday night, topping both qualifying sessions and running away with his Semi. Despite the lofty expectations set by his pace, he was quickly swallowed up and shuffled back to fourth as the Main Event got underway.

The race was completely reset, however, following a Michael Inderbitzin crash. And this time around, Rispoli stole the holeshot and quickly erased any aspirations of victory his rivals might have entertained as he disappeared into the distance. Rispoli was consistently a full second per lap better than the rest of the field, ultimately taking the checkered flag with a massive 12.396-second margin of victory. The win was Rispoli’s first in American Flat Track competition in more than a decade.

James Rispoli

“I’m so stoked! I’m so fired up, I lost my voice on the cooldown lap. It’s been so long since I won… I’ve got to thank George Latus for putting the team together, ProBEAM, all the guys on the team for just getting through the grind, and Vance & Hines for giving us a rocketship. I don’t know if I’ve ever had this big of a lead in my entire career. That’s what we want to do — we want to stamp our authority. They say it’s hard but when everything is flowing it’s easy. I’m just pumped!”

The race for second was considerably less predictable with as many as six riders in contention for the position deep into the contest. Friday winner Ben Lowe and 2015 GNC2 Indy victor Nick Armstrong resumed last night’s intense scrap as they repeatedly went side-by-side angling for the spot.

At least they did until both riders found themselves outclassed by reigning class champion Cory Texter, who sailed past and then eked out a gap on the final lap to finish as the race’s runner-up. Armstrong held on for third to score his first AFT podium result since the aforementioned ‘15 Indy win. Chad Cose came home fourth, edging Lowe at the stripe by 0.019 seconds.

Texter’s late-race flurry helped minimise the championship damage, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Rispoli from taking a commanding lead of the early-season title fight. Rispoli now leads with 85 points to Texter’s 76 while Lowe sits third with 68.

AFT Production Twins Standings – Top 10

Round Two – Loretta Lynn’s Ranch

Rainy conditions defined the second of back-to-back visits to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch to open the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, resulting in a wild afternoon of racing at the MotoSport.com Loretta Lynn’s 2 National. Riders were presented with incredibly challenging track conditions, and as a result the action from the second round of the season was unpredictable across both classes. In the end it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne who prevailed with his second straight 450 Class victory, while GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin made his long awaited return to the top step of the podium in the 250 Class.

450 Report

The 450 Class was greeted with a muddy track and sunny skies for its first moto. As the field stormed out the start gate it was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia who captured the MotoSport.com Holeshot and sprinted out to a comfortable lead early on. Behind him, JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Fredrik Noren settled into second, with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Broc Tickle in third.

Barcia, one of the most savvy riders in the mud, continued to pull away from the field, soon establishing an insurmountable margin of more than 20 seconds within a matter of a few laps. Behind him the battle for position jockeyed between several riders. Noren crashed and lost several positions, leaving Tickle to battle Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and the Team Honda HRC duo of Chase Sexton and Christian Craig. A determined Tomac was able to sustain his forward progress and eventually made the pass on Tickle for second. Several laps later Tickle lost his hold of third to Craig.

As Barcia continued to ride in a class of his own out front, things behind them got interesting in the closing moments of the moto. Craig encountered misfortune and dropped out of podium contention, which appeared to all but ensure a runner-up finish for Tomac.

However, the reigning series champion’s bike lost pace in the closing laps and caused him to lose several positions before eventually coming to a stop on the final lap. Barcia took the win by 48 seconds over his teammate Tickle, who brought home a second-place finish, while Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo made a late charge to finish third. Noren followed in fourth, while Osborne rounded out the top five. Tomac ended up with a ninth-place finish.

The best track and weather conditions of the day highlighted the final 450 Class moto. When the gate dropped it was the Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports Suzuki of Max Anstie who charged to the MotoSport.com Holeshot ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin. The Frenchman was able to get by the Brit for the lead, but Anstie responded to reclaim the top spot. Behind them, Tomac made contact with his teammate, Cianciarulo, and went down in the first turn, which forced him to start at the rear of the field. In his search for the overall win, Barcia began the moto in sixth, but later crashed and dropped deep in the running order.

The lead duo was able to build a gap over the rest of the field, with Anstie enjoying a multi-second advantage on Musquin. Cianciarulo gave chase from third, and positioned himself with an opportunity to claim the overall in doing so. As the race wore on, the intrigue of the moto ramped up as Osborne started to make a move to the front. The points leader was able to close in on Cianciarulo for third and make an aggressive pass for the position. From there, Osborne continued his charge and tracked down Musquin for second. After making the pass on the KTM rider, Osborne had Anstie within sight and dropped the hammer in pursuit of the lead. Anstie responded initially, but when a lapped rider crashed in front of him and briefly halted his momentum it opened the door for Osborne to get by and seize control of the moto.

As things changed dramatically at the front of the field, the same could be said for both Barcia and Tomac as well. Both riders encountered misfortune and were ultimately unable to finish the moto, ending their days on a sour note.

Despite some occasional smoke coming from the exhaust pipe of his Husqvarna, Osborne never wavered and was able to hold off a charge from Musquin on the final lap to take the moto win by 2.2 seconds to cap off one of the wildest days of his career. Anstie capitalized on his stellar start to bring home a first career moto podium in third.

Osborne’s win moved him to the top of the overall classification (5-1) for his second straight victory. Cianciarulo earned his first career 450 Class podium finish in second (3-5), while Musquin’s late push helped him round out the overall podium in third (8-2). After winning the first moto Barcia finished seventh overall (1-32), while Tomac carded the worst finish of his career in 16th (9-24).

“Man, what a day. To be the points leader and miss a practice like we did earlier in the day, it’s just crazy,” said Osborne, who needed to join the slower qualifying group after his bike failed to start in his scheduled session. “I couldn’t have done this without my team today. I know it’s cliche, but they did everything they could to keep me and my teammates out there with a shot to make things happen. I wasn’t necessarily looking to win, but stacking points was on my radar today. I had to fight hard and battle back to finish fifth in that first moto, and then we were able to come away with a win in moto two. I’m so grateful to be up here.”

Osborne extended his lead atop the 450 Class standings to 19 points over Musquin, who moved into second. Barcia now sits third, 29 points out of the lead, while Tomac dropped to seventh and sits 40 points behind Osborne.

Marvin Musquin – 8-2

“I’m pumped to be back on the podium for the second race, it’s been a while. The conditions were tough, so it was my goal to be up front battling and I was able to do that in the second moto. I would have liked to be more consistent in both motos but that’s racing, everybody was having issues and crashing. Also, you have to save the bike and my bike was running well today, I had no issues.”

450 Round Two Results

450 Championship Points

250

A storm cell brought a surge of rain to the track just prior to the start of the first 250 Class moto, so riders took off at the drop of the gate unsure of what conditions they’d be facing. As the field rounded through the first two corners it was Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Shane McElrath who emerged with the MotoSport.com Holeshot just ahead of JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Alex Martin. The Suzuki rider was able to make the pass for the lead, but he hit a soft spot on the track shortly thereafter and went down. That allowed McElrath to reassume the lead, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire in second and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo in third.

After a near crash McElrath stalled his Yamaha while leading, which allowed McAdoo to take over the top spot with Hampshire in tow. Jeremy Martin then moved up to third, while Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis, the class point leader, slotted into fourth. Out front, Hampshire was able to take advantage of a wide line by McAdoo to move into the lead. Behind them, Ferrandis and Martin battled for third, with Ferrandis taking the spot.

The Frenchman continued his charge forward and was able to track down McAdoo to make the pass for second. He then set his sights on Hampshire for the lead, with the Husqvarna rider hindered after being forced to remove his goggles. As the race wore on, the track became more challenging and it ultimately forced Ferrandis to tip over. Soon after, the point leader got rid of his goggles and came into the pits for a new pair. With the clean goggles Ferrandis was able to put on a charge to catch Hampshire, and got within a few bike lengths of the lead with just two laps to go. However, Hampshire dug deep and withstood the challenge to take his first moto win of the season over Ferrandis by nearly 10 seconds. Martin followed in third, with McAdoo fourth and GEICO Honda rookie Carson Mumford in fifth.

Light rainfall greeted the 250 Class field for Moto 2 as well and when the gate dropped it was once again McElrath and Alex Martin racing to the MotoSport.com Holeshot, with McElrath sweeping the day’s accolades. Unfortunately for McElrath, his time out front was short lived as he bobbled in a corner and handed the lead to Martin, with his brother Jeremy following in second as McElrath dropped to third.

With such difficult track conditions the field quickly spread out, which allowed Alex Martin to establish a comfortable lead over his brother. From there the attention shifted towards the battle for the overall classification, as Ferrandis was mired outside the top 10 and Hampshire outside the top 20 to begin the moto. While the Martin brothers strengthened their hold of the top two positions on the track, McAdoo made the move around McElrath for third. Further back, both Ferrandis and Hampshire were putting on a charge through the running order, with both riders eventually finding their way into the top 10 after the halfway point of the moto.

While Alex Martin appeared to have the moto fully in hand, smoke and steam began to come out of Jeremy’s Honda, which forced the former champion into conservation mode. The same could be said for Ferrandis and Hampshire, who each experienced similar issues with their own motorcycles. Ferrandis was able to battle all the way up to fourth in the waning laps, while Hampshire got up to seventh before his bike stopped running.

Alex Martin stayed out of trouble and carried on to capture his first moto win for Joe Gibbs Racing by more than a minute, while Jeremy made it a Martin Brothers 1-2 in second. McElrath edged out Ferrandis for third.

The late drama weighed heavily on the battle for the overall win, with Jeremy Martin’s runner-up finish enough to put him atop the overall classification (3-2), a mere two points ahead of Ferrandis (2-4). Alex Martin’s moto win vaulted him to third overall (7-1), while opening moto winner Hampshire ended up sixth overall (1-18).

“Honestly, the track was gnarly. It rained again on the start line and I thought, ‘Oh boy here we go.’ Fortunately, it held off and I got a good start,” said Jeremy Martin, who captured his first win since the 2018 season when he suffered a major back injury that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2019 racing season. “The track was in good shape [considering the rain] and we were able to make passes around people, which helped. That was a nail biter [at the end]. My GEICO Honda was smoking, but thankfully the engine is bulletproof. I did all I could to save it and I’m just so relieved it made it [to the finish]. I didn’t expect to get my first win [since coming back from injury] so soon, but we’re definitely going to celebrate.”

Ferrandis’ podium effort helped him retain his hold of the point lead, where he currently has a six-point advantage over Martin. Alex Martin moved into third, 19 points out of the lead.

After both qualifying in the top ten the Lawrence brothers ended up having a weekend to forget. Problems saw Hunter Lawrence finish in 40th two laps down in the opening moto and did not start the second bout. Younger brother Jett fared a little better but had his own dramas in the muddy conditions, carding 30-31 finishes. That means of course that neither added to their championship points tally.  Jett had small tumbles in both motos which saw the radiator protection get damaged in both incidents which caused his machine to overheat in both instances.

250 Round Two Results

250 Championship Points

WA MX – Hendley Park

Regan Duffy dominated the WA Motocross season opener at Byford on the weekend from Dean Porter. The teenager took a perfect three from three in MX1 and then did the same in MX2!

MX1 Results

MX2 Results

Coolum MX Club – Round 2

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MX1 Results

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Pro Results

GNCC Racing Calendar Update

Snowshoe Mountain Resort, the location of the 10th round of the GNCC Racing Series, has notified the GNCC Racing Series that due to COVID19 concerns, it will not be able to host the Snowshoe GNCC scheduled for September 26/27. Accordingly, the September 26/27 GNCC Race has been moved to Millfield, Ohio for the Burr Oaks GNCC. This is the same location as the John Penton GNCC previously held on June 27/28.

Updated 2020 GNCC Calendar

All events will be conducted in compliance with face covering guidelines as locally appropriate and required and social distancing when possible.

2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Calendar