Mees Broke a Long Drought to Win that Year’s Race
In this week’s Throwback we dial it back 12 years to see Jared Mees (9) gets a flawless launch on his Rogers Racing Harley-Davidson XR750, leading a stacked field including Stevie Bonsey (80), Sammy Halbert (7), Brad Baker (1), Briar Bauman (14), Henry Wiles (17) and others off the line at the 2014 Lima National. Determined to break a seven-year winless streak at the iconic cushion track, Mees’ persistence paid off. Mid-race leader Halbert suffered a heartbreaking blown engine, opening the door for Mees. The Kenny Tolbert-tuned XR proved reliable and fast and Mees capitalized beautifully, checking Lima off his to-do list by taking a commanding 2.663-second victory over Brandon Robinson and Bryan Smith.
Fast forward to today, and Mees’ connection to the historic venue has come full circle. This coming Friday and Saturday, the highly anticipated Lima National Doubleheader returns to the Allen County Fairgrounds in Ohio—only this time, the multi-time champion isn’t racing; he’s promoting the entire event along with wife Nichole.
You can read about this race and much more by subscribing to the Cycle News Archive issues
