INDIAN MOTORCYCLE’S SCOUT FTR750 SECURES SECOND CONSECUTIVE PODIUM SWEEP
Wrecking Crew Riders Jared Mees, Brad Baker & Indian Motorcycle Privateer Henry Wiles
Finish 1-2-3 at Arizona Mile
PHOENIX, AZ – Indian Motorcycle Racing continued its dominance in American Flat Track, as Wrecking Crew riders Jared Mees, Brad Baker and Indian Motorcycle privateer Henry Wiles finish 1-2-3, respectively. The Arizona Mile marked consecutive races of an all-Indian Scout FTR750 podium.
After edging out Baker in Semi 1, Mees earned the first starting position and selected the outside spot on the front line of the Main. Mees held the first-place position in to turn one and never looked back, lengthening his lead and ultimately lapping through the 11th-place rider. Wiles aligned next to Mees, while Baker strategically selected the outside starting position on the second line. Baker made several passes early to gain control of the second-place spot, while Wiles battled for the final podium position through all 20 laps.
“It was a long day on a tough track, so to be leaving the first mile of the season with a win is huge,” said Mees. “I cannot thank my team enough for continuing to have my Indian Scout FTR750 dialed in.”
Seven Indian Scout FTR750s made the Main, with all seven finishing in the top 10. Davis Fisher (Double D Performance), Robbie Pearson (R/J Performance), Chad Cose (Indian Motorcycle of OKC) and Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Roof Systems, Indian of Metro Milwaukee) finished sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
“Our factory and privateer riders continue to perform and compete at a high level,” said Gary Gray, Vice President – Racing, Technology & Service for Indian Motorcycle. “As we hit a stretch of Miles, we’re excited for Bryan Smith’s return next week in Sacramento. The ‘mile master’ will surely give the competition a run for their money.”
Indian Wrecking Crew rider Bryan Smith, who missed his second consecutive race with a broken left fibula, plans to return at the Sacramento Mile on May 19. Smith has won at Sacramento for the past seven years in a row and hopes to return to the track and extend his win streak to eight.
For more information on Indian Motorcycle Racing, backed by Allstate Insurance, the Indian Wrecking Crew and Scout FTR750, visit IndianMotorcycle.com and follow along on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. For information on purchasing a Scout FTR750, please contact [email protected].
ABOUT INDIAN MOTORCYCLE®
Indian Motorcycle is America’s First Motorcycle Company®. Founded in 1901, Indian Motorcycle has won the hearts of motorcyclists around the world and earned distinction as one of America’s most legendary and iconic brands through unrivaled racing dominance, engineering prowess and countless innovations and industry firsts. Today that heritage and passion is reignited under new brand stewardship. To learn more, please visit www.indianmotorcycle.com.
More, from a press release issued by ST52 Racing:
Texter Finishes Eighth at Phoenix in Debut of Husqvarna on One-Mile Tracks
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Racing her new Husqvarna motorcycle on a one-mile track for the first time, ST52 Racing rider Shayna Texter posted a hard-fought eighth-place finish in Saturday’s Law Tigers Arizona Mile at Turf Paradise in the American Flat Track Singles main event.
A restart with six circuits remaining in the 15-lap event racing the No. 52 ST52 Racing Husqvarna /JSC Racing FC450 saw Texter drop back to 11th, but she came charging back to take eighth at the finish.
The hard charge to the finish capped off a big night of progress for Texter. Starting fourth in her heat, she slipped to sixth at the first lap and battled back to finish third. In her semi, she started fifth and fell to eighth at the start. She broke from a pack of riders to take fifth on the second of eight laps, but was too far behind the lead quartet to mount a challenge.
“It was a matter of survival all day,” Texter admitted. “The track conditions were a little on the gnarly side, and we struggled to find the best compromise with the bike for the conditions. It was our first time ever on a mile track with our Husqvarna, so we didn’t come into the day with any notes. With the track conditions constantly changing it made it very difficult, but we kept making progress . So I was happy to come home eighth, and we’ve got a good setup now heading into the next race at Sacramento.”
The Pennsylvania rider started her own team in 2018, taking Husqvarna into AFT Singles competition for the first time. She has demonstrated the potential of the new bike in recent events on half-mile tracks – scoring back-to-back second-place finishes – and now looks to continue that success on the mile circuits.
She is now tied for fourth in the AFT Singles standings after five events, trailing the leader by 22 points.
The busy stretch of competition on six consecutive weekends continues with the Harley-Davidson Sacramento Mile presented by Cycle Gear at the Cal Expo Fair on Saturday, May 19 – the fourth straight week of action. All AFT competition is streamed live on www.fanschoice.tv.
More, from a press release issued by Estenson Racing:
Rough Day In The Desert For The Estenson Racing Squad
PHOENIX – It was a tough home race for Estenson Racing at the Arizona Mile as Jake Johnson DNF’d in the Main and Kolby Carlile in his Semi. In spite of the best efforts of American Flat Track’s track crew, riders were met with poor track conditions in the desert heat at Turf Paradise. So, although the results of the day were disappointing, Johnson and Carlile were happy to leave round five of the American Flat Track Championship healthy.
The up-and-down day saw the two-time Grand National champ finish fifth in his Heat and just make the final cut in the Semi. Unfortunately that put Johnson near the back of the pack on a racetrack where you needed to lead to have good vision. That poor vision in the dust combined with the waning light of an early-evening AFT Twins race had the veteran choosing to pull out of the race.
Still hard at work developing the Yamaha MT-07, Johnson and his crew were not really able to gain a whole lot of headway on such a slick, inconsistent track, but there were moments where Johnson saw some of the speed that he was looking for on the big tracks, so he looks forward to a better track in Sacramento.
The day wasn’t much better for the reigning AFT Singles Champion. In spite of the rough track conditions, Carlile felt good and scored a third-place finish in his Heat. It all went pear-shaped, though, in the Semi when the “Flying Tomato’s” day ended early with a mechanical. Eager to get his first win on the 2018 Yamaha YZ450F, another stroke of bad luck was disappointing. But Carlile and crew are going back to the drawing board, putting Arizona behind them, and heading to Sacramento more motivated than ever.
Jake Johnson – AFT Twins #5:
“It was tough all day. The track was not ideal. It was dusty and bad all day long, and we struggled. We kind of had some ups and downs. We kind of showed a little speed here and there. When the track had moisture in it, we were good, but the moisture only lasted two laps.
“The Main Event, I actually got a decent start. Same thing, while there was a little bit of moisture in the track I was able to kind of hang somewhere inside the top 10 for a little bit, but it just got to the point where the track was getting drier, and I was getting worse. Going into both corners, the back straightaway… I just couldn’t see anything. So I figured instead of trying to kill myself for 12th place, just to pull her in. Looking forward to a better one next week in Sacramento.”
Kolby Carlile – AFT Singles #1:
“It was a pretty treacherous racetrack, so I’m happy to leave safe and healthy. It’s disappointing that my bike didn’t make it through the whole day and that I was cut short in the Semi and wasn’t able to make the Main Event. It’s just a bummer deal, but that’s racing. We’ll figure it out and move forward.”
Catch the Calistoga Half-Mile on NBCSN, May 26 at 3:00 p.m. ET.