Jared Mees on his way to victory at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. (AFT photo)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees wrote the latest chapter in a career of half-mile heroes with a winning run in Saturday night’s Mission Dallas Half-Mile presented by Roof Systems at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas.
The premier class king was a quarter of an early battle for the lead in the Mission SuperTwins presented by the S&S Cycle Main Event alongside a trio of challengers on Yamaha at JD Beach, Dallas Daniels and Dan Bromley.
The opening stages of the competition proved to be a battle of extremely high and low lines. The high line initially proved to be the quick way to the top before giving way to a high risk, high reward tightrope walk at the end.
Just before halfway, Mees and Daniels took advantage of that tricky low line to break free and engage in a repeat of their Senoia shootout. Meanwhile, Beach and Bromley engaged in a five-rider battle for last spot on the podium after being caught by attacking Brandon Robinson, Davis Fisher and Briar Bauman.
Daniels made a few determined attempts to circle Mees but never got close enough to attempt a serious overtake. A small wobble from Daniels with less than a minute left gave the champion some breathing room. He was then ceded even more when his young rival broke off the attack to accept second place.
The triumph was Mees’ 34th half-mile win in his historic career and put him just one step short of Scott Parker’s all-time record.
“To be honest, this was one of the hardest races to win,” said Mees. In turn one and through turn two you had to be so sensitive in the corners. You had to get your brake mark right, get your throttle position right, and if you messed up, it messed up your entire swing. It was definitely a tough race to win.
“Hats off to my entire team. We had a little mess in Arizona but we came back pretty strong all day.”
Adding to Mees’ big night was the misfortune of Beach, who fell out of the podium fight, falling from second to fourth in the championship standings in the process.
Robinson – who wasn’t even sure he could drive in Dallas after being beaten up in practice accidents the last two laps – earned last place in the pits. Bauman worked his way around the outside and eventually climbed to fourth place, followed by Fisher in fifth place.
Bromley finished his impressive run in sixth place while positions 7-10 were filled by Jarod Vanderkooi, Bronson Bauman, Ben Lowe and Kolby Carlile.
Daniels continues to hold the championship lead after his 1-1-2-2-2 start with 113 points under his belt. Mees is now second with 96 points, while two-time champion Bauman (78) was also third ahead of Beach (76).
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
Trent Lowe can finally call himself the winner of the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by the KICKER Main Event after years of repeatedly knocking on the milestone door.
Lowe’s first Progressive AFT victory marked the headline of a race that was a monumental turnaround compared to the four that led to it.
After a slower than expected start to the season, the American Honda-backed Turner Racing Team started the day with just one podium between its talented trio of Lowe, Morgen Mischler and Chase Saathoff.
They tripled that number in a single race in Dallas after a furious fight at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. The three immediately moved forward, turning the first half of the race into a glorified poster shoot for the team, running side-by-side as the field struggled to stay behind them.
Lowe eventually shook himself free as the pack closed in on second-place Saathoff and third-place Mischler, but they ultimately held on strong to secure the podium.
Lowe said: “I’m so happy and I think the whole team is so happy – there’s going to be a party in our pit area tonight. The entire Turner Racing team pulled together. We were kind of on the fight bus early in the season but we definitely improved a lot in this case as the three of us were on the podium. I can’t thank the team enough.”
Meanwhile, the usual Championship suspects struggled mightily before finally getting good at the end. Defending Champion Kody Kopp (No.1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) finished in eighth place while Dalton Gauthier and Max Whale found themselves outside the top ten.
Kopp and Whale eventually found their groove and snaked their way up through the field, with Kopp finishing fourth, just 0.172 off the podium. Aussie Whale finished just behind his teammate, edging out Trevor Brunner to complete the top five.
Meanwhile, Gauthier mounted an attack of his own to finish seventh, while Chad Cose, Shayna Texter-Bauman and Brunner’s Estenson Racing Yamaha teammate Tom Drane rounded out the top ten.
As a result, Kopp continues to have a close title fight against Gauthier (102-98), with Whale third (86) and Brunner fourth (78). Unsurprisingly, the Turner Racing competitors have made a big push up the rankings as they now sit fifth (Saathoff – 76), sixth (Lowe – 57) and seven (Mischler – 56) and all are still very much on the hunt.
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