BLACK HILLS, S.D. (Aug. 5, 2015) - Defending Grand National Champion Jared Mees was perfect during Tuesday night's Black Hills Half-Mile. The No. 1 Las Vegas Harley-Davidson pilot opened up a 10 bike-length lead on lap one of the Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines main event and went wire-to-wire for his 16th career victory.
"I just really wanted to win one so bad," said Mees. "All I've been hearing lately is 'Hey, he hasn't won his race yet' and you know, it feels really good to get this first win off my back in 2015. How cool to do it here at the 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This track was so awesome. For Terry Rymer to bring us back and to win here tonight is just special."
Mees closed the door on the holeshot of the main event after starting from second on the grid. Though second-place finisher Kenny Coolbeth Jr. closed the gap on multiple occasions, the No. 2 Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson rider was never really a threat to beat Mees tonight, Aug. 4 at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D.
With the win, Mees extended his lead in the Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines point standings and now leads by an 18-point margin over No. 42 Crosley Radio Kawasaki rider Bryan Smith.
As much of a lock as Mees had on the one position all race, Coolbeth had an equal stronghold on second. The three-time champion rebounded nicely after a lackluster 15th-place effort last round at the Indy Mile and now sits fourth in the point standings.
The most intense battle of the evening was the fight for third place, and it was Briar Bauman, piloting the No. 14 USC/Hart Racing Kawasaki who came away with his second third-place finish of 2015.
Bauman has looked impressive all season sporting his new Hart Racing leathers and he now sits seventh in the point standings.
Stevie Bonsey put together an impressive run, as he finished fourth aboard the No. 80 Cliff Racing Harley-Davidson. It was the Californian's best effort since his Round 1 victory at Daytona and he now sits 11th in the point standings.
Finishing fifth was Sammy Halbert. The No. 7 Briggs Auto Harley-Davidson rider has been consistent all year long, having finished inside the top ten in every race so far in 2015. He currently sits third in the point standings.
GNC2
It was the Davis Fisher show in GNC2 competition on Tuesday night at Black Hills Speedway, as the No. 67M Parkinson Brothers Racing pilot took home his second win of 2015 and extended his lead in the GNC2 point standings to 16 over Dan Bromley.
"I didn't get off to a good start," said Fisher, who fell back to as far as third in the race after starting from pole position. "I kind of fell off at the beginning and was just trying to find the line I ran that I ran in the heat race. Thankfully I finally found it about halfway through. I can't thank the Parkinson Brothers enough. It's awesome to see everyone out here, big thanks to Terry Rymer for putting this race on."
Fisher was dominant all night, earning the fast qualifier, winning his heat race and eventually taking the GNC2 main event victory. It's been a hit-or-miss year for the talented rider, who has finished second or better in five of the eight races, and 13th or worse in the other three.
Trailing Gauthier with seven laps to go, Fisher passed the No. 14A Bird Hills Chopper Yamaha rider on lap eight of the 16-lap main event. Gauthier seemed to lose his momentum after forfeiting the lead, as he fell all the way back to finish an eventual seventh.
Second-place finisher and second-place points sitter, Dan Bromley, earned his second-consecutive runner-up finish in 2015. The No. 54A Bromley Brothers KTM pilot duked it out with several other GNC2 competitors on the final lap to seal the impressive finish.
Coming in third and closing out the podium was No. 94B Fat Guys Racing Honda pilot Ryan Wells, while No. 36B K.C. Cycle KTM rider Kolby Carlile and No. 24J Mike Butler Racing Honda pilot Brandon Wilhelm rounded out the top five, respectively.
