Screamin’ Eagle Factory Harley-Davidson rider Brad Baker finished the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track Championship with a convincing win in the 25-lap final at the season-ending Ramspur Winery Santa Rosa Mile at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California, September 25.
Baker, 23, of took control of the race early in the main event on the rough and sandy horse track, pulling clear of what would turn out to be a dramatic, last-lap, last-corner battle between Crosley Radio Kawasaki’s Bryan Smth and the defending series champion, Harley-Davidson of Las Vegas’ Jared Mees. Baker went on to win the race by over a straightaway.
“Great way to end this up-and-down day and season,” Baker said. “Running in the semi-final gave me a chance to try some new lines and be set up for the main.”
Behind Baker, Smith held onto second place, running nearly half a lap ahead of Mees through the first 13 laps, but Mees found some good lines as the track continued to try out, and he ate into Smith’s advantage, pulling onto the Kawasaki rider’s rear wheel with five laps to go. That set up a thrilling battle for the title in which Smith held a two-point lead coming into the race. Mees attempted to slide up underneath Smith off turn two with two laps remaining, but Smith was able to hold him off. Off the final corner, Mees passed Smith for second place, only to slip just enough to allow Smith to drive back past him and hold the spot to the finish. With that, Smith collected his first career AMA Pro Flat Track series title after finishing second in each of the three previous years.
“The last few laps were the hardest I’ve ever raced,” Smith said. “The track was extremely slippery, and my competition was closing the gap on me. I put every last drop of energy, finesse and talent into those last five laps. I can’t thank Kawasaki enough, everyone from the company that supports me, I love them!”
Mees said that he had hoped to be able to battle Smith straight-up for the title.
“That’s exactly what the crowd wanted to see,” Mees said. “It came down to the last lap, last corner and I knew he was out there getting squared up, I knew he was going to make me come right on by and he did. Hats off to the whole team. They’ve been working extremely hard. They beat us on our weak days when we had a lot of breaks and stuff. That’s what it takes. To win these things, you have to finish. They did a great job. Hats off to Bryan and the entire team. I have got to give a big shout out to my team, we worked extremely hard this year week-in and week-out.”
The Santa Rosa event was marred by the deaths of two competitors in the GNC2 class. Charlotte Kainz, 20, of West Allis, Wisconsin, and Kyle McGrane, 17, of Gap, Pennsylvania, perished in separate incidents. Both were transported to Santa Rosa Hospital. Kainz passed on Sunday after she was involved in multiple-rider crash off turn two. McGrane passed one day later after undergoing surgery for his injuries.
The event also marked the competitive debut of the factory Indian FTR750 flat track motorcycle in the premier class. Former AMA Pro Flat Track Champion Joe Kopp, 48, was tapped to ride new machine in its first competitive outing, and Kopp more or less proved the machine’s potential by earning a direct transfer to the main event in his heat race and then earning the pole position to start the main after winning the Dash For Cash. Kopp then pulled the holeshot in the main event and led the first lap. He ultimately went on to finish seventh.
“It was awesome,” Kopp said of his day. “In every main event, the top guys will step it up big-time, and there were just some other guys who were willing to try lines that I wasn’t comfortable with. The Indian is a great motorcycle, though. It’s the future of the sport for sure.”
In an interesting twist, Indian later made the official announcement that no less than Smith, Mees and Baker will all contest the series, which has been rebranded as the American Flat Track Championship in 2017, as factory-backed Indian riders. The move by Indian hearkens back to the early 1950s when the original Indian Motocycle Company sponsored a three-rider team known as the Indian Wrecking Crew, consisting of riders Bobby Hill, Bill Tuman and Ernie Beckman. Tuman, now 95, was the last rider to give the Indian brand a national flat track championship, winning the title in 1953 after Hill had won it in 1951 and 1952. Tuman was on hand at Santa Rosa to witness the return of the brand to flat track racing.
2016 AMA Pro Flat Track Championship
Ramspur Winery Santa Rosa Mile
Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Santa Rosa, California
Results: September 25, 2016
GNC1 Main
1. Brad Baker/H-D
2. Bryan Smith/Kaw
3. Jared Mees/H-D
4. Brandon Robinson/H-D
5. Henry Wiles/Kaw
6. Sammy Halbert/Duc
7. Joe Kopp/Ind
8. JR Addison/Kaw
9. Kenny Coolbeth, Jr./H-D
10. Chad Cose/Kaw
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