“King Henry” wins the last (possibly) 450cc Grand National TT at the legendary Peoria Race Park; race to host GNC Twins in 2016.
Zanotti Racing Honda rider Henry Wiles came to the PMC Race Park seeking his 11th Peoria TT win in a row, and while it may have been the toughest challenge he has faced in more than a decade of dominance at the fabled Illinois racetrack, he got the job done.
In what may be the final 450cc Singles Grand National race to be held at Peoria, Wiles earned his 27the career AMA Grand National Championship win, tying the great Joe Leonard for 12th on the all-time Grand National winners list, and he became the winningest Grand National TT rider of all time, earning his 16th victory in the category to surpass Chris Carr.
But earn is the key word. Reigning AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees was the talk of the paddock after he set the fastest qualifying time of the day at 25.519 seconds aboard his Montgomeryville Cycle Center/Rogers Racing Honda. However, Wiles was right there with him, posting a 25.733. The two were the only riders to crack the 26-second barrier, setting up a potential epic battle with Wiles’ Peoria TT win streak on the line.
Mees got off to a slow start in the first 10-lap heat race, running outside the top five, although he quickly picked his way back up to third while Babe DeMay Racing Yamaha’s rookie GNC 1 campaigner Dominic Colindres ran away from the field up front, pulling out to a 1.8-second lead by the halfway point. Mees passed Mick Kirkness and then set off after Colindres with three laps to go. Mees quickly pulled to within two bike lengths of Colondres with two laps to go, and he dogged Colindres relentlessly to the checkered flag, only to come up short by less than a bike length at the finish.
“Things have been going good,” said Colindres, a former winner in the GNC 2 class. “I like the 450s, and I like TTs.”
Two-time former Grand National Champion Jake Johnson snatched the lead away from Wiles at the start of the second GNC 1 heat race, but his lead was short-lived as he low-sided in turn four and dropped to the rear of the field. That left Wiles alone up front, and he quickly pulled away from Briar Bauman with Chad Cose third and Peoria native Dustin Crow fourth. Wiles dominated the heat race by nearly a straightaway over Bauman and Cose, with Crow, Sammy Halbert and Stevie Bonsey earning direct transfers to the main event.
If Wiles was feeling any threat to his dominance by Mees, he didn’t let it show on the racetrack.
“Like I said in an interview earlier today, if you don’t feel a little pressure, coming in here, going for your 11th win in a row, then you’ve never won 10 in a row at Peoria,” Wiles said. “I want to thank Jared Mees for posing a little bit of a threat here today. He came here for a race. I did too.”
Wiles chose the third starting position from the inside, and he used it to good effect, pulling the holeshot to move into the lead with Mees right behind him while Colindres moved into third on the opening lap. Wiles and Mees gave the Peoria race crowd what it had come to see as they quickly pulled away from the pack. As the two-rider lead battle took shape, Wiles appeared to be able to get a better drive off turn two toward the jump, but Mees was able to make up the difference down the front straightaway through the first five laps.
Mees closed up on Wiles off turn two on lap seven, but the two continued to look like an accordion, playing with about one bike length between them as they built a 5-second cushion over Colindres through by lap 10. Mees was right there, ready to take advantage of any mistake Wiles might make, but Wiles was riding flawlessly as the two began to encounter lapped traffic just before the halfway point. Wiles and Mees would lap up through 10th place before lap 20.
But it was in the final five laps that Wiles was able to slip away from Mees. What began as an inch or two soon grew into five bike lengths as Wiles went on to bag his 11th consecutive Peoria TT win. Wiles would lap up through seventh place in the frantic finale.
“To me this means a lot,” Wiles said. “I kept my Peoria streak alive. Jared [Mees] was the obvious faster rider earlier on, but I worked together with my team, and we made some pretty big changes [for the main event]. We made suspension changes, jetting changes…We were playing with the bike the whole time. Between the bike being awesome and my riding, it was just amazing.”
It could also be the end, as a major format change will see 750cc twins used at the Peoria TT for the first time since the early 1980s. Wiles is a competitive twins racer, but whether or not he can keep the streak alive on the bigger bike is a question that will have to be answered next year.
“I’ve won a lot on 450s, and Jared has won a lot on twins, so it was almost more important to shut Jared out on the 450 than it was to win today. That’s just the competitor in me, and I know he thought about it, too. We all knew what as on the line for it being the last 450 race for at least a year. I’m not really disappointed with the changes that they’re making. I hope it makes the sport better, and I hope we get twice as many fans because we’ll have twice as many cylinders.”
Runner-up Mees was as game a challenger as Wiles has faced in the last 11 runs at Peoria, and although he came up short in his bid to be the last 450cc Peoria TT winner, at least for the time being, he can take solace in the fact that he has built a confortable 27-point lead in the series standings as he attempts to claim his third career AMA Grand National Championship title and defend the number one plate that he won last year.
“It was a lot of fun chasing Henry,” Mees said. “He is the number one guy that I wanted to beat, and he sits ninth in points, and I wanted to beat him that bad, you know what I mean? In the beginning of the year, I wanted to win this race in the worst way. I wanted to win this and the X Games, and we came up short.”
Mees said that getting the holeshot on what turned out to be a slick Peoria track was the biggest key, and Wiles nailed them all day long.
“He did what he had to do,” Mees said. “We’d come to some lappers, and sometimes it helped me and sometimes it hurt me. We were really equally matched, and I just needed to start in front of him and let him chase me around. I was really nervous to try different lines because what he was doing was working, and I was scared to search around and lose a little bit [of time]. I just wanted to glue myself to his tire and hope that he would make a big mistake, and he didn’t make any big ones at all. Hat’s off to Henry for winning 11 of them. That’s awesome.”
Colindres, who earned a third-place finish in his GNC 1 rookie debut at Peoria, said that landing on the podium felt awesome.
“We came out here on a bike I had never ridden, and I’ve only been here a couple times,” Colindres said. “I started out by winning the heat race, and that felt pretty good because I knew Jared was coming. I grew up watching guys like Jared. I couldn’t be more pumped.”
Former Grand National number 45 Jesse Janisch of Wisconsin won the 18-rider, 16-lap GNC 2 main event after a heated battle Davis Fisher, who took the lead away from Chanisch on lap seven. The two riders checked out on the field, only to have their race halted when Jeffery Lowery crashed over the jump on lap 10, which brought out the red flag. The restart lasted only one corner when Ryan Wells high-sided and crashed hard as the field poured into turn one. Janisch’s experience showed when he shot around Fisher on the next restart, and he held Fisher off to claim the win. Fisher was second, followed by Bronson Bauman.
Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the next stop on the AMA Grand National Championship tour. The Don Tilley Memorial Charlotte Half-Mile is scheduled to take place August 29.
2015 AMA Grand National Championship
PMC Race Park
Peoria, Illinois
Results: August 16, 2015 (Round 10 of 14)
GNC 1 Main Event (25 laps)
1. Henry Wiles-Hon
2. Jared Mees-Hon
3. Dominic Colindres-Yam
4. JD Beach-Yam
5. Briar Bauman-Hon
6. Jake Johnson-Hon
7. Mick Kirkness-Yam
8. Chad Cose-Hon
9. Sammy Halbert-Yam
10. Stevie Bonsey-Suz
11. Bryan Smith-Kaw
12. Jeffrey Carver Jr.-Kaw
13. Rob Pearson-Yam
14. Brandon Robinson-Yam
15. Dustin Crow-Hon
16. Jarod Vanderkooi-Hon
17. Mikey Martin-Hon
18. Jake Cunningham-Yam
2015 AMA Grand National Championship Series Points Standings (After 10 of 14 rounds)
1. Jared Mees-156
2. Bryan Smith-127
3. Sammy Halbert-124
4. Kenny Coolbeth Jr.-110
5. Brad Baker-100
6. Briar Bauman-99
7. Brandon Robinson-95
8. Henry Wiles-85
9. Jeffrey Carver Jr.-70
10. Rob Pearson-66
11. Stevie Bonsey-65
12. Johnny Lewis-53
13. Doug Lawrence-41
14. Jared Vanderkooi-40
Jake Shoemaker-40
16. Mikey Martin-39
Nichole Mees-39
18. Chad Cose-33
19. JD Beach-30
Willie McCoy-30
GNC 2 Main Event (16 laps)
1. Jesse Janisch-Hon
2. Davis Fisher-Hon
3. Bronson Bauman-Hon
4. Justin Jones-Hon
5. Hayden Gillim-Suz
6. Dan Bromley-KTM
7. Jace Castles-Yam
8. Ben Lowe-Hon
9. Jacob Lehman-Hon
10. Morgan Mischler-Hon
11. Kole King-Hon
12. Jamison Minor-Hon
13. Hunter Edwards-Hon
14. Cole Frederickson-Hon
15. James Monaco-Hon
16. Steven Sandoval-Hon
17. Ryan Wells-Hon
18. Jeffrey Lowery-Hon
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