Once again, American Flat Track Mile specialists—Bryan Smith and Shayna Texter—stole the glory in spectacular fashion. In the AFT Twins class, Smith crossed the line by a scant .025 of a second over rival Jared Mees on the Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing Indian Scout, with Smith's Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by All State teammate Brad Baker another .05 of a second adrift. Similarly, it was another close win for Texter in the AFT Singles class. It was a big win for both riders, keeping their winning momentum rolling and extending their lead in the championship.
But for defending Grand National Champion Bryan Smith, not only was it a personal record—his seventh-consecutive win at Cal Expo—it was a win that meant something to him personally.
“Seven’s pretty cool,” Smith said. “It was like a half way through my cool down lap, I’m like, ‘oh yeah!’ I was just pumped to win a race. To think about seven in a row is special. This place is definitely special to me.”
It was also special to be able to dedicate the race win to friend and race hero Nicky Hayden, who was critically injured in a bicycle accident earlier this week in Italy. "We're all thinking about Nicky Hayden," Smith said. "That one's for him. Get well, buddy, we'll be seeing ya."
As for Richie Morris Racing’s Texter, it was another win to cement her resurgence. It was a hard fought win as well. Texter had to make up for a mistake on the start and chase down Ben Evans Honda’s Kevin Stollings and Ron Ayers Honda’s Tristan Avery. In the end it was a close battle with Avery and Stollings crossing the line in third.
“Yeah, I definitely didn’t make it easy on myself getting a bad start,” Texter said. “I was struggling all day with starts but I knew it was fifteen laps and I had to run fifteen good laps. I got a little nervous when the five to go came out. Stollings was just railing the corners and hitting his marks perfect. I just tried to do everything a little bit harder and a little bit faster and try and get a touch of his draft just to be able to get that drive. Finally I hooked onto him, got it, and then Avery came out. But I was able to play my cards right and come on to win.”
