PHOENIX, Ariz. (May 10, 2016) – It’s time to go racing, and for the first time ever, AMA Pro Flat Track will race at the Law Tigers AMA Pro Arizona Mile in Phoenix. The event, scheduled for May 14, will mark the first of six weekends in 2016 that both the Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines and GNC2 classes will compete on a Mile track aboard their fire-breathing twin-cylinder motorcycles.

Sammy Halbert leads the pack of Harley-Davidson GNC1 presented by Vance & Hines riders into the desert, as his tremendous start to the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track season has him sitting comfortably atop the point standings. Halbert has hit the podium in all three rounds so far, highlighted by a win at Daytona to kick off the year, and he’ll ride the No. 69 BriggsAuto.com Harley-Davidson in Phoenix with the hopes of extending his lead in the standings.

Zanotti Racing dark horse, Jake Johnson, continues to prove that he’s back and stronger than ever after taking a hiatus from the sport less than a year ago. The two-time GNC1 champion pulled out a Round 2 win at Daytona and followed that up with a fourth-place finish at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin last month, and he’ll look to pilot the No. 5 Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson to another strong finish in Phoenix.

Out of all the compelling storylines heading into the inaugural AMA Pro Flat Track race in Phoenix, the majority of eyes are expected to be on the battle between defending GNC1 champion Jared Mees and his counterpart and arch rival, Bryan Smith.

Mees, mounted on the No. 1 Las Vegas Harley-Davidson, bolstered his title defense last month when he took the COTA checkered flag for his first win of the season.

Smith will pilot the powerful No. 42 Crosley Radio Kawasaki Ninja 650 in Phoenix and, per usual, will be the odds-on favorite to earn the first Mile win of the 2016 season. The two-cylinder green machine has been the most dominating motorcycle on Mile circuits over the better part of the last decade, and with a rider as talented as Smith is at the controls, it makes for a lethal combination and presents a frightening challenge for his opponents.

Mees sits third in the GNC1 point standings, while Smith is in fifth after three rounds of action. If Smith can win at least four of the six Mile events this year, as he did in 2015, one has to think he’ll have a legitimate shot at winning his first championship.

Brandon Robinson has put together solid numbers to start the 2016 season, and he enters Round 4 sitting fourth in the standings. The Oxford, Pa., product will pilot the No. 44 Kennedy Racing Harley-Davidson in Phoenix, and it will be his first Mile event aboard the American-manufactured motorcycle since switching from Triumph last offseason.

Perhaps no GNC1 riders are as eager to get to racing in Phoenix as Kenny Coolbeth Jr. and Brad Baker. The fan favorites and typically consistent frontrunners had a weekend to forget at COTA, as both finished outside the top-15 and dropped significantly in the point standings. However, fortunately for them, the season is still young and they still have plenty of time to make up the ground they lost in Texas. Baker will ride the No. 6 Factory Harley-Davidson, and Coolbeth Jr. will pilot the No. 2 Zanotti Racing Harley-Davidson in Phoenix.

Young gun and GNC1 class rookie, Davis Fisher, will compete aboard the No. 67 Factory Harley-Davidson in Phoenix, which will be his Mile debut at the GNC1 level.

Dominic Colindres is one of three GNC1 riders entered to compete aboard a Yamaha in Phoenix. The 21-year-old finished fifth aboard the No. 66 Babe DeMay Yamaha FZ-07 at COTA and he’ll look to turn in a similar result, or perhaps an even better one, at the Law Tigers AMA Pro Arizona Mile.

Shawn Baer returns to pilot the No. 32 Schaeffers Motorsports KTM LC8 950 in Phoenix, and Jake Shoemaker will ride the No. 55 Bonneville Performance Triumph, making a total of five different manufacturers entered in the GNC1 division.

GNC2
Dalton Gauthier continues his impressive 2016 GNC2 campaign as he enters Phoenix with an 11-point lead in the standings. The championship hopeful has recorded three consecutive top-five finishes and he’ll look to stay hot in the desert during Round 4.

After recording back-to-back runner-up finishes at Daytona to start the season, Justin Jones faltered in Austin and recorded a 14th-place finish, and he currently sits second in the standings.

Other notable GNC2 competitors looking to make a name for themselves in 2016 are Ryan Wells, Dylan Morin,Kolby Carlile, Jamison Minor and Andrew Luker.

Event Entertainment
Buddy Stubbs, a Phoenix businessman whose name has been synonymous with Harley-Davidson for a half-century in the Valley of the Sun, will serve as Grand Marshal for the event. As a nod to the legendary history of the Harley-Davidson XR750, Stubbs will take his 1972 Harley-Davidson XR750 for a spin on the Mile oval at Turf Paradise during opening ceremonies, which are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time.

In addition to the bar-to-bar racing action on the race track, the Law Tigers AMA Pro Arizona Mile will also feature an open paddock walk for fans, an autograph session with the stars of the sport, and motorcycle stunt performances by Clint Ewing.

Tickets for the Law Tigers Arizona Mile start at just $39 for adults, $10 for children between the ages of 6 and 12 while kids 5 and under are free. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visitwww.arizonamile.com.

Live Streaming on FansChoice.tv

For those fans that can’t make it to Phoenix for the event, every session of the Law Tigers Arizona Mile will be live streamed free of charge and in high definition on FansChoice.tv. Fans are invited to tune in for practice and qualifying at 2:15 p.m. ET (11:15 a.m. PT), followed by the pre-race show at 4:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. PT). Opening ceremonies will lead into the heat races at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT) with the mains scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT). Watch AMA Pro Flat Track live on FansChoice.tv at http://www.fanschoice.tv/watch-live/ama/flat-track.

Source: AMA Pro Flat Track riders clash in Phoenix for Law Tigers AMA Pro Arizona Mile