WEEDSPORT, N.Y. — Progressive American Flat Track legend Jared Mees was at his crushing best on Saturday night, claiming a lopsided victory in the Mission Foods New York Short Track II presented by Mad Max Indian Motorcycle at Weedsport Speedway.
The multi-time Grand National Champion went to the high line from the start and made it work to his advantage.
Brandon Robinson quickly followed suit, utilizing that same line to overtake Friday winner Sammy Halbert and move into second position.
Despite his rivals’ momentum, Halbert remained committed to the low line he took to victory the night before and gradually came under fire from above by Robinson’s Mission Roof System’s teammate, Jarod Vanderkooi, as well.
Robinson flashed the pace to offer a potential challenge to Mees at mid-distance but fell back to Halbert and Vanderkooi late after encountering brake issues. Increasing the intensity to the maximum, the three met on the race’s final lap, going side-by-side as they entered the final corner. Vanderkooi split his adversaries as they exited turn four to snatch away runner-up honors at the checkered flag, beating Robinson by a meager 0.003-second gap.
A bruised and battered Halbert was relegated to fourth despite coming home just 0.064 seconds back of second place.
Meanwhile, defending Grand National champion Briar Bauman never really found his footing. After coming together with Robinson early, Bauman tried the low, middle, and high lines to no avail. He was ultimately tracked down and passed by JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), who took the final spot in the top five in the process.
“I always have a lot of passion and heart for what I do but getting a win is always a good thing,” Mees said. “I said it earlier, going to win a Mile it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he should,’ because I’ve got a really good package for a Mile, and I’m older and really experienced. I always had really great success on these slippery, small car tracks, but the last couple years, I kind of lost touch with that and Briar has been killing us with that. So to come out here and actually win a clay Short Track, it feels really phenomenal to get that mojo back again.”
Despite Mees earning his third win of ‘21 and Bauman taking his worst result of the season in sixth, Bauman continues to lead the Mission SuperTwins points standings by a healthy 22-point margin over Mees.
Morgen Mischler earned his second-career AFT Singles victory — his first since 2018 — and did so in about the most Morgen Mischler-esque manner imaginable.
Starting from row three, Mischler ignored the deep pack of riders scraping down low and instead railed his way around the extreme high line. In just a matter of a couple short laps, Mischler was in the lead and leaving the field in his wake en route to the checkered flag.
The win came only after Mischler had stacked up an incredible 16 podiums (including six this season) between victories.
Once Mischler made it clear the high line was the fast line, several riders reconsidered their tactics. One of those riders was Brandon Kitchen, who made a late push to overhaul the likes of Dallas Daniels, Trent Lowe and Tanner Dean to finish as the race’s runner-up and secure his first podium of 2021.
Despite not getting a great start and never settling into a comfortable line, defending champ Daniels still managed to fight his way onto the box. Combined with last night’s victory, his Saturday third not only saw him get his title campaign back on track, but reclaim the championship lead.
It was several years in the making, but Cameron Smith is officially a Progressive American Flat Track Main Event winner.
Smith first showed the potential to run up front in AFT Singles competition as far back as the 2016 season, but he didn’t truly establish himself as a threat to claim the checkered flag until this season. Following a pair of ‘21 runner-ups — including last night’s near miss — Smith at last broke through with a dominant victory.
Holeshot artist Cory Texter didn’t get his usual flier of a start, which altered the completion of the race completely. With Texter running fourth early, Smith slashed past Dalton Gauthier and then tracked down leader Dan Bromley.
Smith made his move just past half-distance and did so in style; he powered around the outside of Bromley and then brushed back his opponent’s attempted counter maneuver to lock down first position. Once in front, he dropped the field en route to a 1.270-second margin of victory.
Despite being unable to stand and riding in intense pain after injuring his left ankle last night, Gauthier not only soldiered on, he worked past Bromley to improve upon his Friday third with a runner-up result on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Bromley, his slide down the order didn’t end until after the race’s final corner. Texter pulled off a last-gasp move to bump Bromley off the podium altogether after he looked to be in good shape to score a first win of ‘21 over the Main’s opening half.
Ryan Varnes held off Ben Lowe to complete the top five.