Kenny Coolbeth,Jr and Zanotti Racing after working hard all winter are off to a great start in 2014 at Round 2 of the Grand National AMA Pro Flat Track season at Daytona.
Kenny took the flag by over four seconds lapping many riders. Coolbeth passed Jake Johnson on lap five and never looked back. He just kept opening the gap until he had a 2.5 second lead at the halfway mark.
Even in defeat, Johnson's second place finish had to be a refreshing rebound for him after his lackluster 10th place performance in the season opener last night. Salinas, California's Stevie Bonsey (Zanotti Racing/Honda) started second on the grid and reverted back a spot as he finished third to round out the night's podium
Graham, Washington's Sammy Halbert (Fredericktown Yamaha/Yamaha) put together another impressive performance Friday night with a fourth place finish. The 26-year-old appears to be in great health this season as he is two-for-two in top-five performances to begin 2014.
Oxford, Pennsylvania's Brandon Robinson (USC Kawasaki/Kawasaki) undoubtedly had one of the fastest bikes in Friday night's main event. After crashing on lap two and being forced to start from the back of the pack, Robinson maneuvered his way through traffic on his way to a fifth-place finish.
The AMA Pro Singles main event was an 18-lap shootout for the checkered flag and it was Aurora, Indiana's Brandon Wilhelm (Wilhelm Racing/Honda), starting from sixth on the grid, who came away with the win in what developed into an absolute thriller.
"I can't believe this is happening right now," said an ecstatic Wilhelm. "It feels so good. The track was a little slick but it wasn't bad. I just had to work the throttle a little bit and it worked in my favor. I've never felt anything like this before, it's truly an amazing feeling."
Wilhelm got the holeshot and was cruising to his first win of the season before two riders went down and forced the red flags to fly. The staggered start meant that Wilhelm's more than a second lead would be diminished and he'd have to really fight if he wanted to earn the victory. Wilhelm did just that, as he slammed the throttle and earned the first win of his career.
The story of the night was the strength of the underdog. As impressive as Wilhelm's victory was after starting from sixth on the grid, Warren, Oregon's Davis Fisher (TJ Burnett Farms/Honda) knifed his way to an impressive second-place finish after starting in the ninth position. If that isn't intriguing enough, third-place finisher Justin Jones (Jones Racing/Honda) came all the way back from 11th on the grid to round out the podium after passing Ryan Wells (KTM/KTM) on lap 15.
Bucyrus, Ohio's J.R. Addison (Parkinson Bros Racing/Honda) and last night's AMA Pro Singles main event winner and Albion, N.Y product Ryan Wells put together a solid performance to close out the top-five.
Consider this a completely new AMA Flat Track race fan communication vehicle. Existing fans will be able to catch up on their favorite racer's season accomplishments, meet the rest of their racing team and learn some of their racing and tuning secrets. New fans will be able to learn about the roots of the competition, the classes, the sanctioning bodies and race promoters, as well as how to take the first steps into the race arena themselves.
