Jared Mees’ Latest Race Report

Kit Palmer | July 20, 2010

The following is from J2 Motorsports for Jared Mees…

Lima OH -GNC Half Mile
Here we were in Lima, OH, a place where I have had a lot of success over the years, where I won my very first GNC race. The day didn’t start out too badly as I qualified 5th overall. I still had some work to do with getting my times equal to the top spot. The placing put me in the Heat race with Sammy Halbert and Bryan Smith. I came off 2nd to Sammy and could not match his pace, coming in 2nd in the Heat. That did put me in the Dash and on the front row for the Main Event. In the Dash I didn’t get the greatest start and had to battle Joe Kopp, ending up 4th. Still had some work to do before the Main Event, including making some changes to the bike. We lined up and got a good jump this time but faded back and was battling for the 3rd spot for a while. Went backwards to 5th but Jake Johnson got it back, so I ended up 6th. The results were disappointing because no matter what we changed on the motorcycle all day I was a 5th or 6th place guy that day.

I-96 at Lake Odessa MI – GNC Half Mile
I was pretty excited to come back to what is now a hometown track for me. Sleeping in my own bed is always nice. We had a little rain shower earlier in the day which, all in all, helped the track out a lot. We qualified really well, 2nd overall. I was in the 2nd Heat race on the pole. I came off in 2nd and ran there for a while. We had made a bad tire choice for the Heat race as I was spinning all over the place and couldn’t get any traction. I ended up 3rd, missing the Dash and also the front row of the Main.

For the Main we put on the right tire. For sure I had my work cut out for me in this race as the track was really tough to pass on. I got a good jump off the bottom of the track and was running 4th. A few laps later there was a red flag due to oil on the track. We lined back up for another complete restart. This time it wasn’t so good. I was back in about 8th or so. I was able to get around a couple of guys and get up to 6th and then another red flag as Bryan Smith went down. This time it was a staggered restart. I didn’t have the greatest position and went backwards, back to about 8th or 9th. I was able to make a few passes and got back to where I was originally–behind Chris Carr. I followed him for a while and then, on lap 22, I made my way by Chris. I was all over the back of Sammy and was trying to make a move on him as well. I got up next to him and thought I was going to take over 4th but ran out of laps before I could make the pass clean. It was a tough track to pass on. I felt like I had the best motorcycle out there and really felt good, but that is what happens sometimes, especially on a narrow groove race track.

MID-MICHIGAN SPEEDWAY – Fenwick MI.. Sprint Car Fun!!
For being in the Top Three of the Indoor Ice Racing Series this past winter… [www.icespeedway.com] — including winning two Championships–I was invited to drive a full size sprint car the day after the I-96 race (Sunday). Kirk Cheney, who also rides in the indoor ice races, owns and builds these cars at his company, Cheney Racing Engines. We got two sessions to drive the car. It was something I have never done before and it was way cool !!! I now have a lot more respect for the guys who drive these things for a living. Thank you to I.C.E. and to Kirk Cheney for making this happen.

Next GNC race is Calistoga CA. We have a couple of outlaw races we will hit in the meantime. So ‘til then, thanks as always to all you good race fans.

-Jammin’ Jared Mees

Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor

Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes every since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.