It was thought that fully a third of the 18-rider Daytona TT main would be made up of factory Harley-Davidson or Indian riders, but only two riders from each team made the final. Indian’s Brad Baker was out early, crashing in his Heat race and getting hit by another rider while down. Baker was sent to the hospital to be checked out and get a CT scan. He was released and back at the track before the show was over. No word yet on if he’ll be required to enter the sanctioning body’s concussion protocol and be tested before racing in the next round.
On the Harley side, it was Brandon Robinson missing the main after having a chain break in his Semi.
In the final the factory Indians of Jared Mees and Bryan Smith went 1-2. Harley’s Jake Johnson was fourth and his teammate Kenny Coolbeth, Jr. was credited with 15th after his bike broke just past halfway with his was running 12th.
Was that a jump, or was the track just glad to see you?
Fans and a few riders were a bit critical of the thing that was generously called a jump on the Daytona TT track. Riders often barely got their machines off the ground over the hump and the fastest riders flew for maybe 15 feet distance-wise.
TT specialist Henry Wiles laughed when asked about the jump and said, “My kid takes bigger jumps than that on his Strider bike! I’m serious.”
