Bryan Smith and Chris Carr ran this close all night. Smith edged out Carr on the final lap to give Kawasaki its first AMA Grand National Twins victory. (Larry Lawrence photo)
A near capacity crowded watched Bryan Smith edged out Chris Carr to win the 2010 Lucas Oil Indy Mile aboard the Bill Werner-tuned Monster Energy Kawasaki Versys-based 650cc vertical twin. The victory was a milestone in AMA Grand National racing, marking the first time a Kawasaki has won a Grand National Twins event.
“It feels great to give Kawasaki its first Twins victory,” Smith said. “And winning after such a tough battle with Chris [Carr] makes even more special. Bill Werner has been working to make this bike competitive for a couple of years and I’m glad for him that we finally broke through after coming so close a couple of times before.”
The 25-lap final turned into a two-rider battle late with Smith and Carr trading the lead several laps. In the end Smith’s Kawasaki had just enough speed to hold off a draft move by Carr.
The margin of victory for Smith was 0.139 seconds. Kenny Coolbeth took third, a little over two seconds back from the leaders.
Joe Kopp finished sixth on a Ducati and that was good enough to hold onto the lead in the AMA Pro K&N GNC presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com standings with 221 points to Sammy Halbert’s 209 and Jake Johnson with 207.
AMA SuperBike regular Larry Pegram made the field and finished 12th on his Ducati.
It was a special evening at the Indy Mile. American MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden, who won the world championship in 2006, did several laps around the historic track. The former Grand National racer received a warm welcome from the knowledgeable Indy flat track crowd. When Hayden pulled in after his laps of honor, Ducati announced Hayden was re-signing with the Italian company to race MotoGP for two more years.
The Grand Nationals travel to Springfield, Illinois, next weekend for the Labor Day weekend doubleheader.
Results of the Lucas Oil Indy Mile
1. Bryan Smith, Kawasaki
2. Chris Carr, Harley-Davidson
3. Kenny Coolbeth Jr.. Harley-Davidson
4. Jake Johnson, Harley-Davidson
5. Sammy Halbert, Harley-Davidson
6. Joe Kopp, Ducati
7. PJ Jacobsen, Harley-Davidson
8. Jared Mees, Harley-Davidson
9. Matt Weidman, Harley-Davidson
10. Willie McCoy, Harley-Davidson
11. J R Schnabel, Jr., Harley-Davidson
12. Larry Pegram, Ducati
13. Luke Gough, Harley-Davidson
14. Brandan Bergen, Harley-Davidson
15. Robert Pearson, Harley-Davidson
16. Shawn Baer, Triumph
17. Steve Murray, Harley-Davidson
18. Jethro Halbert, Harley-Davidson
19. Steven Bonsey, Harley-Davidson
Rider Files 
WooHoo! Good job Bill and Bryan!
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Bryan told me at Peoria that he would make history and win Indy… He proved that he was the perfect choice for that Kawi.
BTP
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