Photography By Brian J. Nelson
POMONA, CA, OCT. 11 – Bryan Smith may have won the battle tonight at the Pomona Half Mile AMA Pro Flat Track season finale, but Jared Mees won the war and scored his second Grand National Championship with a fourth-place finish. Smith dominated the night on his Villa-Esparza/Crosley Radio Kawasaki, winning his heat race, the Dash for Cash and the main, but it was not enough to make up the points deficit on his friend and championship rival Mees on the Rodgers Racing Harley-Davidson. and Mees’ fourth-place finish was enough to seal the deal.
“Bryan [Smith] did what he had to do today,” Mees said. “He had to go out there and dominate, and he did.”
And although disappointing for Smith, he took comfort in the fact that he laid it all out there and did everything he could.
“He [Mees] did what he had to do,” Smith said. “And I did what I had to do tonight. He did what he had to do this year. I don’t want to take anything away from him. It was a hard-fought year. I know I did everything I could all season long and we came up a little bit short. But everybody knows I’ll be back strong next year.”
Finishing second was Jake Johnson on the Ramspur Winery Lloyd Bros. Racing Harley-Davidson, which secured him a solid third in the championship. Joining Smith and Johnson on the podium was Factory Harley-Davidson’s Brad Baker, who passed his number-one plate back to Mees.
In fifth was Henry Wiles who carried the banner for the Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson team since both of their riders – Kenny Coolbeth Jr. and Stevie Bonsey – were sidelined from injuries suffered at the previous round in Calistoga.
Sammy Halbert made up for a bad start and tried to chase down Wiles, but ultimately had to settle for sixth. Mike Rush finished seventh ahead of privateer Jeffrey Carver Jr. on a borrowed Harley-Davidson after both of his bikes broke earlier in the day.
Rounding out the top 10 was Doug Lawrence and Robert Pearson.
In the Pro Singles Championship, it was a similar story… Davis Fisher took the win, but Kyle Johnson did what he needed to do to take home the number-one plate and that was to bring his Parkinson Brothers Honda home in second.
“It feels great,” Johnson said. “Two weeks ago [at Calistoga] definitely didn’t go as planned, didn’t get the points we wanted, lost a lot to Davis. Coming in here, we knew Davis was going to be fast, he’s been fast all season, just like we were. I knew we had to stay close, we didn’t have to beat him. I got up to second place and I had a little bit of breathing room, I wasn’t going to push, I knew we had the championship, and that’s what our goal was.”
Joining Fisher and Johnson on the podium was Jarod Vanderkooi.
2014 Pomona Half Mile
AMA Grand National Championship
Main Event Results:
1. Bryan Smith (Kawasaki)
2. Jake Johnson (Harley-Davidson)
3. Brad Baker (Harley-Davidson)
4. Jared Mees (Harley-Davidson)
5. Henry Wiles (Harley-Davidson)
6. Sammy Halbert (Harley-Davidson)
7. Mike Rush (Suzuki)
8. Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Harley-Davidson)
9. Doug Lawrence (Harley-Davidson)
10. Robert Pearson (KTM)
AMA Pro Singles
Main Event Results:
1. Davis Fisher (Honda)
2. Kyle Johnson (Honda)
3. Jarod Vanderkooi (Honda)
4. Ryan Wells (KTM)
5. Ryan Foster (Honda)
6. Jeffrey Lowery (Honda)
7. Nick Armstrong (Honda)
8. Rodney Spencer Jr. (Honda)
9. Dan Bromley (KTM)
10. James Monaco (Honda)
