American Flat Track. Indian Motorcycle Jared Mees Takes His Second Straight Win At The OKC Mile

American Flat Track’s return visit to the OKC Mile presented by Indian Motorcycle in Oklahoma City, Okla., lived up to every bit of the hype on Saturday night June 17 at Remington Park. Despite being presented with every opportunity to ease up in the intense heat and accept a safe runner-up result to claim sole possession of the AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines championship lead, Jared Mees instead gritted his teeth and went to work aboard the No. 9 Indian Motorcycle Rogers Racing Scout FTR750.

Until that point, an imperious Brad Baker (No. 6 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) dictated the race from the front and from the start. Baker cleared off from the opening lap and systematically assembled a seemingly insurmountable lead. Behind in third, Mees found himself corralled behind reigning Grand National Champion Bryan Smith (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle Racing backed by Allstate Scout FTR750) while Baker made his escape.

Even after finally working into second, Mees could do nothing as Baker continued to pile onto his advantage. However, the leader’s prodigious speed transformed into his Achilles Heel as it inevitably propelled him into thick packets of lapped riders. Poor luck turned into mistakes which turned into tight riding on the part of Baker; for Mees, meanwhile, it served as hope and motivation. He whittled away at the lead and finally took it for himself on the penultimate lap.

Desperate to finally get a first win aboard his Indian, Baker immediately struck back, diving up the inside of Turn 1 on the final lap. However, Mees squared up the corner and weaved back under Baker on exit, pulling a gap of his own in the process. Baker continued on in second position to the flag, finishing, 0.880 seconds back at the flag.

The Indian Wrecking Crew again made good on its moniker at the OKC Mile as Smith secured the fourth Indian Motorcycle podium sweep of the 2017 season by finishing a lonely third. In fact, Indian’s nearest challenger on the evening, fourth-placed Sammy Halbert (No. 69 Estenson Logistics Yamaha FZ-07), came home more than 23 seconds behind the win and over 17 seconds off the podium. (photo @ Brian J. Nelson)

FAwards Update:
AFT Singles
McElroy Packaging Lucky 7 – #99 Kevin Stollings
Motul Move of the Race – #52 Shayna Texter
AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines
Ohlins Fastest Lap – #6 Brad Baker
McElroy Packaging Lucky 13 – #6 Brad Baker

9 Responses to “American Flat Track. Indian Motorcycle Jared Mees Takes His Second Straight Win At The OKC Mile”


  1. 1 blu dog Jun 18th, 2017 at 10:03 am

    All you can really say is wow. Hard for me to believe that the MoCo has taken this whupping, maybe just resigned to focusing on drag bikes.

  2. 2 Mdkuder Jun 19th, 2017 at 9:05 am

    Nah they just lack focus

  3. 3 Coffeebeans Jun 19th, 2017 at 9:38 am

    Only one Harley factory bike even made the final…and all three Indians LAPPED it.

    Of course, to be fair, the Indians lapped the entire field except, for four riders.

    It’s like that meme I keep seeing around on the internet, with the FTR 750, Indian really did bring a gun to a knife fight.

  4. 4 Bob Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:07 am

    I was there and I left before the A Main race because I knew the outcome. That is not good for racing when any bike is that dominant. Who wants to go to any racing event if you know what the outcome is going to be before you get there. Harley and all the other manufactures better step it up!

  5. 5 Matt W. Jun 19th, 2017 at 10:40 am

    Wow just out of the gate and already in the lead.

  6. 6 Bob Jun 19th, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    Any bike that is that dominant is bad for the sport! Why go to the races when you know who is going to win?

  7. 7 Biggles Jun 19th, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Good to see Harley Davidson finally get some real competition. The sport was stale before this year. Your right Bob who want to go when 1 manufacturer win all the time? Any Indian supporter. 😂

  8. 8 Septic the Sceptic Jun 20th, 2017 at 12:49 am

    LOL, happy to go to the races when there was only XR750’s on the line, but bring in someone else and suddenly everyone is losing their minds.

  9. 9 Hillbilly Jim Jun 20th, 2017 at 10:47 am

    In the 80’s Bubba Shobert and his bad ass Honda did the same thing.This led to new rules. I hope to see an adjustment soon for the sake of the sport, not to benefit HD.

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Cyril Huze