AMA Flat Track: Cycle News.com's Larry Lawrence Talks With 2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees

2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees can be seen talking in the pits while being filmed by the Lucas Oil Motorsports MavTV crew during round 4 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile I event on May 27.  Crew chief Brent Armbruster works on the fleet of #9 Rogers Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Saddlemen/Lucas Oil-sponsored XR750s in preparation for the day's events at the Illinois State Fairgrounds running of the Memorial Day Weekend classic during the fan walk, which is hosted by AMA Pro Flat Track at each and every event on the series' calendar.

Mees wrapped up his title a little over two months ago at the season-ending round at the Pomona Half-Mile after battling it out again with 2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson and Sammy Halbert, the three riders who have dominated the competition in The Rolling Thunder Show for the last four seasons, and for what should most likely be several seasons to come.

The Rogers Racing team and Mees announced shortly after the season-ending round that crew chief Armbruster would be leaving the team (to crew for the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team with rider Henry Wiles) and that 7-Time AMA Grand National Championship-winning tuner and master XR wrench spinner Kenny Tolbert would be coming on-board to helm the mechanical efforts for the team's mounts in the upcoming 2013 season.

Round 14 of the 2010 AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season found the Rogers Lake Racing crew going about applying the finishing touches on rider Jared Mees' #1 Rogers Lake Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Rockysonline.com/Lucas Oil-sponsored XR750 at the Springfield Mile II on September 5.  Mees can be seen talking with crew chief Brent Armbruster and team owner Craig Rogers during a break in the on-track action at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

The 2009 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins Series Championship will again get to have the #1 plate adorn his mount for the upcoming 2013 season after winning the overall championship this season over runner-up Sammy Halbert and 3rd-place finisher and defending 2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson.

From 2006-2009 the series championships were awarded to each of the Singles and Twins Series contenders and Mees won the final 'separate' Twins Championship in the '09 season based on his overall finish in the split championship battle, without winning a single event in the series.  In each of the following seasons, the #1 plate was worn by each series' champion at each of the Singles and Twins Series events on the schedule.  From the 2010 season on, AMA Pro Flat Track again combined the overall championships while still recognizing each series' accomplishment with a ceremonial #1 plate and trophy to go along with it, but only one person thusly will wear that special #1 plate for the full season.

Mees consistency won him the overall championship (and the Singles title as well) during the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season, while still winning the Hagerstown Half-Mile round in early July, his only win of the 2012 season after winning a series' leading five events and finishing runner-up to Johnson in the 2011 season.

Check out what the champ has been up to since wrapping up the crown at the Pomona Half-Mile on October 13 as Larry Lawrence interviews Jammin' Jared in the season wrap-up issue of Cycle News below.  Mees talks about, among other things, departing crew chief Brent Armbruster and new crew chief Kenny Tolbert, his close friendship and association with team owner Craig Rogers, and whether or not he will choose to campaign a Kawasaki (or other brand) in the upcoming 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season's mile events.


Thanks again to my close friend and traveling companion Larry Lawrence for another out-of-the-park interview with 2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees, featured in the year-end issue #50 of Cycle News:

http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20121218#pg71

AMA Flat Track: MavTV Set to Broadcast Knoxville Half-Mile on December 13

The three men who have dominated the last three seasons in the AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com series stand atop the box after the running of the Springfield Mile I  on May 29, 2011.  Jared Mees had just won his first-ever mile event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on the #9 Rogers Lake Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Lucas Oil/Saddlemen-sponsored XR750 over Jake Johnson and Sammy Halbert. 

In the shot above from that great day, AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone talks with 3rd-place finisher Slammin' Sammy as runner-up Jersey Jake and event winner Jammin' Jared discuss what really happened out their after 25-laps and Mees' tuner, Brent Armbruster, looks after the team's winning mount.

While Halbert would take the overall wins category for the last two seasons, Johnson and Mees would end up snaring the title in the '11 and '12 seasons, respectively, over the hard-charging Washington State resident.  Johnson added to his '10 title, while Mees took the overall honors this season in a year that saw more and rejuvenated innovations in The Rolling Thunder Show, which is expected to gain even more steam for the upcoming 2013 year.

Rumor has it that the 2013 schedule may include, again, a couple of previously-visited venues that weren't on the schedule in '12, and it was announced on Facebook today that the Pomona season-ending round will be making their official announcement soon as to when their event will take place next year.  And as has been the case for the last two years AMA Pro Flat Track is expected to announce the 2013 schedule sometime in the next 12-14 days +/-.

MavTV and AMA Pro Flat Track announced today that round 11 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Knoxville Half-Mile will be broadcast next Thursday, December 13.  See what the official press release has to say below and get your DVRs set as we all await the release of the new schedule and get ready to welcome Santa Claus into our homes in just 18 more days.

Tune-In Alert: Knoxville Half-Mile Airs December 13th on MAVTV

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (December 6, 2012) - AMA Pro Flat Track's racing action from Knoxville Raceway will be aired next Thursday (December 13) evening at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.   How to catch the action:   Find out how to get MAVTV by going to http://mavtv.com/get-mavtv.html   MAVTV is available nationwide on: Dish Network - 361 Please check your local listings for a channel line-up to find MAVTV. Search Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour or Motorsports Hour if you don't see the program listed.                                Jared Mees on the #9 Rogers Racing XR leads Brad Baker on the #12 Dodge Bros. XR during the running of round 11 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Knoxville Half-Mile.  MavTV will air the race on Thursday, December 13, 2012.  AMA Pro Flat Track photo by Dave Hoenig.     Stay connected with AMA Pro Flat Track at www.twitter.com/AMAProFlatTrack and www.facebook.com/AMAProFlatTrackSeries.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

AMA Flat Track: Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Announces Signing of New Crew Chief Brent Armbruster for 2013 AMA Grand National Twins Series Championship Season

The Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team has announced that AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship-winning tuner and crew chief Brent Armbruster will be joining their team effective immediately for the upcoming 2013 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season for the series' and team's Twins Series Championship assault.

A long-time member of the AMA Pro Flat Track fraternity hailing from the Clio, MI. area, tuner and master wrench spinner Armbruster had been involved with the Rogers Racing team that led 2012 AMA Grand National Champion Jared Mees to the title this past season.  Armbruster also tuned the machine that took Mees to his first win at Springfield in May '11 and to five wins during the 2011 season, and has been involved with flat track racing for several decades now.

Speaking with team co-owner Dave Lloyd this morning, Lloyd noted the great effort that has been put in by departing crew chief, Dave Gamble, over the course of the last few seasons.  "Dave has done a great job in heading up our efforts over the course of the last few seasons, and we wish him the very best in his endeavors going forward.  We're looking forward to a new chapter in our history with Brent coming on board, as Mike and I have known him since around 1987 when we were novices getting started in the sport."

After losing three engines this year and missing the set-up and the Nationals at two rounds this season (Hagerstown and Knoxville), the team still pulled out three top-10s (Santa Rosa 6th-place, Tucson 8th-place, Pomona 7th-place) and two top-5 results (Lima 2nd-place, Indy 4th-place) for their hard-earned efforts, and are looking to improve dramatically on the season as a whole.

In the shot above the team is shown getting ready for the first practice session of the Twins Series season at round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile I event on May 27. 

As rider Henry Wiles gets ready to head out for practice on the team's #17 LBM/Foremost Insurance Group/Ramspur Winery/Motorcyclist Magazine-sponsored Italian 'L' twin, he can be seen on the right talking with Dave Gamble and Dave Lloyd, while brother and co-owner Mike Lloyd can be seen talking with 2000 AMA Grand National Champion Joe Kopp (far left, seated).  Kopp was the team's rider during the 2010 season which saw him get them their first-ever win in the series on the team's potent Ducati 'L' twin mount at the Arizona Mile I round in Prescott in May '10.

Brent Armbruster is shown with Jared Mees and the #9 Rogers Racing/Blue Springs H-D/Saddlemen/National Cycle-backed XR750 just before the riders hit the track for the Dash for Cash event at the Springfield Mile I round on May 27, 2012.  2-Time AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson is shown ready for battle on the #1 Zanotti Racing XR just beside Armbruster.

According to team co-owner Dave Lloyd, Armbruster will be taking possession of the team's big red twins and doing all of the prep-work at his home in Michigan and then transporting the team's rig and bikes to each event for the 2013 season, which should free-up more time for the LBM brothers to concentrate on the daily runnings of the team and dealing with sponsors, "and should help travel to-and-from each event for Brent and Henry" noted Dave Lloyd, since they both live close to one another.

Michiganite Armbruster should be a great addition to the team for the coming year and his vast knowledge of bike prep and turning wrenches will be another plus for the team.  Under Armbruster-prepped mounts, Mees only suffered from a small handful of mechanical failures in the last few seasons, which finally translated into a Grand National Championship this year for the fellow-Michigan resident and Rogers Racing team.

Team co-owners Mike (left) and Dave Lloyd (right) help crew chief Dave Gamble finish with some final settings on the #17 Foremost Insurance/Ramspur Winery/ENI USA/Motorcyclist Magazine-sponsored Ducati just prior to the running of round 5 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile oval.  The team suffered it's first engine loss at the first Twins Series event at Springfield, and put them in the hole right from the start of the year.  With Armbruster coming in to help out immediately going forward, this should help in terms of freeing up time for the Lloyds to concentrate on sponsorship and team operations.

"We're further ahead today then we were at this time last year in getting sponsorship situated for next year," commented Dave this morning from his new home just outside of the Evansville, IN. area, "and we have a lot of the same folks coming back as we move into the new season, and Ramspur Winery is stepping up their involvement for 2013, while Foremost Insurance will also be involved again as they were this year and the last few seasons with the team.

"You're never done with bringing in sponsorship in racing, but we're looking forward to the new season with a new fresh face in the team to help us reach our goal of winning another Twins Series event," continued Lloyd.  "Brent and I have known one another for almost three decades and are looking forward to working together moving forward."

This is great news for one of the hardest working and most professional looking and run teams in The Rolling Thunder Show, and helps to guarantee that they will be back again for the 2013 season to again battle it out with the other greats in the best racing series on wheels in the world.

Congrats to the LBM crew and to Brent Armbruster for this great news and we can't wait until the first Twins Series event of the 2013 season to see them all in action together!

Press release courtesy of the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Twins Series Championship team.

Columbus, Ohio -- October 27, 2012

Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, Inc. (LBM) is proud to announce that multi-time Grand National Championship and AMA Pro Racing Tuner of the Year, Brent Armbruster will be joining the team effective immediately.

“Our entire team and sponsors are extremely excited to have Brent join our efforts,” exclaimed team co-owner David Lloyd.  “I have known Brent for almost three decades. His personality, work ethic, race craft and attention to detail will be a big step forward for the team.”

“I am really excited about a fresh start in 2013 and working with the LBM team and Henry Wiles.  I have known David and Michael Lloyd since we first raced Amateur Nationals when we were 14 years old.

"I have a lot of respect for what the Lloyd Brothers team has done in the past and their efforts to build the sport,” said Armbruster.  “Henry is a great rider and his record speaks for itself.  I am really looking forward to excellent finishes next season as the team challenges for the overall championship” continued Armbruster.

To learn more about Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, Inc. log on to www.lloydbrothersmotorsports.com 

or Lloyd Brothers Motorsports on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lloyd-Brothers-Motorsports/167527649947476?fref=ts