Jeffrey Carver Jr. rode the race of his life to vanquish all comers, including the almost invincible Indian Wrecking Crew at the Lone Star Half Mile AFT National. He lead wire to wire in a dominating fashion from the flash of the green light and gaped his only real challenger, the new 2017 National Champ, Jared Mess. Not only did he embarrass the entire field with a stunning " I smoked your ass" performance, he did it on the old, tried and true H-D XR750. Hallelujah Brothers! We have been redeemed. Congratulations Jeffrey , your ride tonight will be remembered for ever in the hearts of the Flat Track Faithful. They say they do it big in Texas well, this is certainly one of those occasions.
Maybe this will inspire the XR contingent to get back to business with the machines they know and love but for some reason forsake in 2017. Maybe they were spooked by the Indian Shamans smoke signals and turned to alternatives in the form of Kawis and Yamahas. Dave Zanotti parked his stable of deadly fast Harleys and was the most successful of all with the Kawi/ Briar Bauman combo. Everyone else sputtered, saved with flashes of competitiveness with Sammy's inspired Yamaha rides.
This years lap times have been studied with an intense focus by all and the conclusion is that compared with lap times from the past few years , the Indians are not really that fast. In fact , statistically , XR750 are faster after all. 2018 should be the revival of the mighty XR. So, adios to boring 1-2-3 finishes from the Redskin Racers and look forward to the old guard powerhouses ( but, certainly not the Motor Co.) of Harleydome to field fire-breathing XR750 winners.
