Hagerstown Results Revised

Larry Lawrence | July 28, 2009

AMA Pro Racing revised the results of Saturday’s Hagerstown (Md.) Half-Mile Grand National.

The race ended on a red/checkered flag combo when rain began to fall. Originally, Sammy Halbert was listed in second and Kenny Coolbeth in third. The new results add a lap to the original scoring and put Coolbeth in second and Halbert in third. Cory Texter was also moved ahead of Jake Mataya in 14th place.

The AMA issued a release on the event explaining  the reason for the change. It reads:

The riders had completed 18 circuits at the end of the red flag lap and the race was not to be restarted following the red flag, satisfying the requirement that results be based on rule 6.18 (d) Should a race not be restarted after a red flag, riders final positions will be determined by their race positions (not track positions) in the lap preceding the red flagged lap. Official finishing positions are therefore determined by the order at the completion of the 17th lap.

There was some confusion over fourth place as well, since Matt Weidman passed Jared Mees on the first turn on the final lap, but since that lap (lap 18) was not counted, the pass had no bearing in the final results.

The results changed the point standings, with Halbert and Mees swapping positions. Mees still leads with 77 points, but Coolbeth is now second with 70 points and Halbert third with 66.

According to Mike Kidd, Director of Flat Track, at least one, possibly more, rider(s) were prepared to protest the results, but AMA officials promised the rider(s) that the video would be reviewed Monday and results revised if deemed necessary.

The decision to change the results was made Monday after reviewing tape and a conference call between AMA Pro Racing officials. While no official would go on the record, it appears the confusion stemmed from the fact that the red and checkered came out at the same time on lap 18. Scorers on Saturday night must have decided that 18 laps were not completed, so with only 17 laps complete and a red flag, scoring rolls back one lap from the last fully completed lap and results were produced from lap 16. On Monday it was determined that, in fact, Jake Johnson had crossed the line completing 18 laps before the red flag was shown so the final results were revised.

Larry Lawrence | Archives Editor

In addition to writing our Archives section on a weekly basis, Lawrence is another who is capable of covering any event we throw his way.