AMA Press Release:
The desert heat had no effect on Stevie Bonsey as he shredded the competition during Saturday night’s AMA Pro Grand National Championship main event at the Tucson International Raceway. Bonsey took the checkered flag by over a full second and recorded his best performance of the season. It’s been five years since AMA Pro Flat Track has held an event in Tucson, Arizona but the high-octane racing action made it worth the wait.
“I came out and did it in front of the Arizona fans here tonight,” said Bonsey. “My first victory was in California and luckily my second one came here in front of you guys. From start to finish, I felt good the whole race and I have to thank my guys for giving me this great opportunity.”
Bonsey was the pole sitter and clearly had the fastest bike of the night. Sixth-place finisher and defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson got the hole-shot out of the gate but that lead lasted less than a full lap as Bonsey went a little lower on the groove off turn four and reclaimed the lead…and never looked back.
Bryan Smith was alone in second place for the majority of the race but saw his comfortable 1.56-second lead over Sammy Halbert diminish on the final lap. Fortunately for Smith, he was able to hold off Halbert on the final run up the front-stretch to claim an impressive second-place finish.
The bright side for Halbert is that he edged fourth place finisher and current GNC combined points leader Jared Mees to close the gap between them with one final race remaining.
Tucson Half-Mile GNC Twins Results:
1 80 Steven Bonsey Goodwin Racing Harley-Davidson
2 42 Bryan Smith Crosley Radio Howerton Motorsports Harley-Davidson
3 7 Sammy Halbert South East Harley Harley-Davidson
4 9 Jared Mees Rogers racing Harley-Davidson
5 12 Brad Baker Dodge Bros Racing Harley-Davidson
6 1 Jake Johnson Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson
7 27 Robert Pearson Memphis Shades Harley-Davidson
8 17 Henry Wiles Foremost Insurance Ducati
9 73 Doug Lawrence R&J Racing Harley-Davidson
10 20 Matt Weidman Scotts PowersportsKawasaki
11 2 Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. Screaming Eagle Harley Davidson Harley-Davidson
12 44 Brandon Robinson Werner ·Springsteen Kawasaki
13 91 Michael Martin Bonneville Performance Triumph
14 69 Jethro Halbert USC Racing Kawasaki
15 98 Kayl Kolkman Wieblers H-D Harley-Davidson
16 11K Kevin Anderson Goodwin Racing Harley-Davidson
17 49 Chad Cose C.R.C. Racing Kawasaki
18 55K Duke Erickson Prairie Technology Harley-Davidson
AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles
All season long, the AMA Pro Pro Singles have excelled under the shadows cast by the twin-cylinder engines, and this week was no exception. Shayna Texter won her third race of the season and was sharp right from the get-go.
“I have a lot of fans here and I want to give a shout out to them,” said Texter. “I also want to thank my team and sponsors; this was a big win for us.”
Texter started from pole and when she surrendered the lead to Rodney Spencer Jr. on lap 12, it looked as if she was going to fall short of the victory. However, on the last turn of the final lap, justice was served as the young phenom ripped the lead right back from Spencer Jr. just in time to capture the checkered flag by a slim .131 second margin.
Spencer Jr. continued to stay hot as this race made for his second consecutive runner-up finish. Jason Isennock also impressed as he closed out the podium in what proved to be an intense battle for the third spot. AMA Pro Singles points leader Stephen Vanderkuur and Ryan Kearns rounded out the top five riders, respectively.
Tucson Half-Mile Pro Singles Race Results:
1 25A Shayna Texter DFW Honda Honda CRF450R
2 74Z Rodney Spencer Jr. 831 Pinnit GP Sports Honda CRF450R
3 18M Wyatt Maguire Kirland Racing Pro 1 Racing Heads Yamaha YZ 450F
4 10J Stephen Vanderkuur Parkinson Brothers Racing Honda CRF450R
5 99Y Ryan Kearns SM Racing Spy Honda CRF450R
6 55A Jake Shoemaker Montgomeryville Cycle Center Honda CRF450R
7 66Y Dominic Colindres Weirbach Racing Honda CRF450R
8 30S Jason Isennock Highs Dairy Stores Honda CRF450R
9 41P Dustin Cassidy Cassidy Racing WKR Kawasaki KX450F
10 23Z James Monaco Mack Daddy Racing Honda CRF450R
11 23Y Ryan Foster Baywide Glass Hacienda Pools Honda CRF450R
12 44E Nick Armstrong Southland Racing Suzuki RMZ 450
13 21L Cole Anderson Diesel Minnesota Honda CRF450R
14 93L Aaron Colton Speed & Strength Honda CRF450R
15 95Z Austin Scaggs RGR ·DC-10 Axo Honda CRF450R
16 90M Wyatt Anderson Colbert Power Sports Suzuki RMZ 450
17 96B Cody Johncox Weirbach Race Team Honda CRF450R
18 81Z Sam Knox Stockton Moto Honda CRF450R
19 28Z Zachery Lenhof APF Motorcycle Salvage Honda CRF450R
Next Up:
AMA Pro Flat Track heads to Pomona, Calif. for the AMA Pro Flat Track Finals scheduled for October 13, 2012 at the LA County Fairplex.
For more information: www.amaproracing.com
