Blue Springs Screamin’ Eagle’s Jared Mees was fast all night at the Volunteer Speedway in Tennessee and he left the Smokey Mountains with a victory in round two of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship on Saturday night.
Mees took over the lead on lap three of the 25-lap main event and he never looked back, winning the fourth National of his young career and his first of the 2007 season.
National Cycle/Coziahr Harley-Davidson’s Johnny Murphree worked his way up to second, passing his former traveling partner Shaun Russell on lap seven. Murphree then settled into to finish second, holding off the late of American Suzuki’s Jake Johnson – the Suzuki man working his way to the final podium spot from seventh place to give Suzuki its first-ever podium in the twins class.
Russell was under constant attack and Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Screamin Eagle’s Kenny Coolbeth snatched fourth away with just two laps remaining.
Paul Lynch ended up sixth when Screamin’ Eagle Latus Harley-Davidson’s Joe Kopp suffered a flat rear tire within sight of the finish. Kopp ended up finishing 14th. Seven-time AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr got off to a good start on his Quality Checked Certified Pre-Owned Ford backed Harley-Davidson, but wasn’t able to keep pace and dropped from fourth to seventh at the finish.
American Harley-Davidson/Dick Ford/R&J Racing’s Rob Pearson and American Suzuki/Parts Unlimited’s JR Schnabel had a great race for eighth with Pearson getting the upper hand.
AJ Eslick and Bryan Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers after Kopp’s demise.
The win puts Mees into the lead in the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Twins Championship point standings by a single point over defending champion Kenny Coolbeth. Carr is eight points back with Jake Johnson holding down fourth.
