| December 20, 2021
The 2021 AFT SuperTwins title came down to winner-takes-all final round between Indian teammates Jared Mees and Briar Bauman. Mees takes us through his championship-winning day at the Charlotte Half-Mile.
The 2021 AFT SuperTwins title came down to winner-takes-all final round between Indian teammates Jared Mees and Briar Bauman. Cycle News Magazine interviews Mees on his championship-winning day at the Charlotte Half-Mile.
By Chris Martin | Photography by Scott Hunter and Kristen Lassen
Already a multi-time Grand National Champion, Jared Mees emerged a truly dominant figure when he spearheaded historic marque Indian Motorcycle’s full-time return to Progressive American Flat Track competition.
What followed were a pair of blowout title campaigns in 2017 and 2018, glittering with a combined 20 victories and 182-point championship margin.
There was no end to his reign in sight. So instead, it came as a blindside when former protégé Briar Bauman did just that, building his own legacy at the expense of Mees’ with back-to-back Grand National Championships of his own in 2019 and 2020.
The 2021 Mission SuperTwins season saw Mees continually tested as he attempted to complete his long climb back to the top of the dirt track world. An early-season knee injury led to some uncharacteristic—arguably embarrassing—performances. All the while, Bauman continued to click off podiums in his near automatic fashion.
The 2021 AFT SuperTwins Championship came down to the final round at the Charlotte Half-Mile. Jared Mees won back the title, which he last owned in 2018.
Nine rounds into a 16-round championship, Mees was relegated to third in the title fight. Even worse, he’d spotted Bauman a 34-point head start down-the-stretch run.
Mees then caught fire at just the right time, ripping off five of the next six victories heading into the season finale. That allowed him to claim a slight points advantage over Bauman, but the final four of those wins came on Miles, a strategic flat track discipline at which the experienced Mees had firmly established himself the modern-day maestro.
The championship, meanwhile, would be decided on a Half-Mile. And even though Mees’ résumé insists he’s one of the greatest Half-Milers in the sport’s history, Bauman had largely outperformed him in that arena over the past three seasons as their rivalry grew increasingly heated and bitter.
There was then a torturous near-month-long layoff before their title clash made all the worse by the delay of an additional day spent wasted in the rain at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Tricky conditions and a compressed scheduled awaited when they returned the following evening to determine whose factory Indian would be adorned with the number-1 plate in 2022.
So, too, did more drama than anyone could have ever imagined—or desired.
Now several weeks removed from the ’21 season finale, Mees reflected upon a wild day that would end with the crown back upon his head. He had plenty to think about before throwing a leg over his machine for the first time that night.
“Going in, we all knew that the weather was going to be iffy and crappy. We didn’t know what was going to happen, if we were going to get delayed, or postponed, or what the deal was. So that always weighs on the brain for sure, but there’s not much you can do. We can’t dictate or control the weather.
“The uncertainty was what was on everybody’s mind. One minute you hear someone say we’re coming back the next day, one minute we weren’t. I was just like, ‘What in the hell is going on?’ That part of it was always difficult.
Mees took full advantage of the Miles late in the championship.
“Beyond that, for sure, you’re always nervous going into the last race of the year in a close points battle. And of course, especially this year because it was basically, if he beat me and won the race, he was Champion, and if I beat him, I was Champion. As good as Briar is, you understand you basically have to go there and win the race.”
With no practice session as a result of the abbreviated schedule, the field jumped straight into qualifying. Mees ran second in qualifying one (19.938) and was fastest in qualifying two (19.919). Bauman was fourth (20.059) and ninth (20.182).
“I felt good right out of the gate. It’s always good to unload in a quick program like that and be toward the front. We just had to go through the motions, you know. We didn’t make any changes.”
Despite his early advantage in speed, Bauman beat Mees straight up in their semifinal match-up.
The way the championship was decided was somewhat bittersweet for Mees.
“We went out in the heat race and Briar beat us. It wasn’t like he was way faster. He just put in a couple really good laps early, and I couldn’t reel him in. I was basically the same speed as him.”
Mees then responded in the Mission Challenge [“Dash for Cash”].
“We came back before the Dash for Cash and made a few changes. I think some offsets on the front end if I remember right. Nothing too drastic. I felt better and we won.”
Prior to the main event, Mees reconvened with his team to confirm their plan of attack: “It seemed like whoever had control of the race early was going to be in the catbird seat. That was definitely on my mind going into the main event.
“We spoke about things to make the bike better with my suspension guy and my crew chief, Kenny [Tolbert], and went through the scenarios. But when it’s time to put the helmet on and go out there, it basically falls on me at that point.
“I knew the scenarios. It was pretty simple. For me it was to make sure Briar was behind me, or if he was second, and I ran third, that was good enough, too. But in my mind, I figured the only way to stop Briar from winning was by winning myself, so I knew, ‘Hey, better beat Briar.’”
Mees now has seven titles to his name, all of those titles coming scattered throughout his pro career, which started in 2005.
With the decisive race finally underway, it didn’t take long for drama to strike—twice.
“We took off and kind of diced up for a minute and got through some of the pack and there was a red flag in the very beginning. So, we lined back up and diced it up for a minute again, and he pulled out on me.
“It was kind of like the semi, where ‘Dammit, I can’t make any ground on him.’ It was difficult.
“I started changing some things up. Coming off of turn four, we were turning it and coming through this big, tacky rough section. He had a moment or two through there that was pretty big. I had the same kind of feeling: ‘Going through this area is going to make me or break me.’ I started riding around it, but it was slower, and that’s when I started to lose ground on Briar.
“We spoke about things to make the bike better with my suspension guy and my crew chief, Kenny [Tolbert], and went through the scenarios. But when it’s time to put the helmet on and go out there, it basically falls on me at that point.”
“So, I switched back to going through that section again. And right as I switched back to go through that section, Briar had a big, big moment. He drifted high on the racetrack, and I went by him.
“He was pretty much in the midst of either gathering it up or crashing when I last saw him. When the red flag came out, I figured he must have crashed. And I came around and Sammy [Halbert] is laying there, too. It wasn’t until after the main event was over that I was able to see exactly what went down.
“I’ll admit it—I was digging as deep as I could, and I know Briar knows his limits just like I know my limits. And maybe he was pushing past those limits. I’m not sure, but for me, I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got to ride through this section to maintain that speed.’ That’s why I went back to it, but I knew going down there and doing what we ended up having to do, that could bite you. That was the scary part of doing that.
“I’m sure from Briar’s point of view, he probably figured if he could just survive doing that for five more minutes, he might have been champion. He was riding over the edge, in my opinion. But we all were—we had to. That’s the way it was.”
Mees tallied seven wins in 2021, four of those coming in the last five races.
Even though Mees’ bike was static during the stoppage, his mind continued to race.
“It sucked. I could tell [Briar] was hurting by how slow he got up and the way he was walking. He went to come back out and they basically said, ‘No, you can’t,’ and then he ended up going out there anyway. I guess they checked him out, which is fine. But I knew he was hurting.
“At that point in time, it’s just like, well, you never know what’s going to happen. There were only 10 guys on the racetrack or whatever and there was definitely enough time for him to make his way to the front if he was healthy and able to. I had to keep myself together on my end and try to win the race.”
“I figured the only way to stop Briar from winning was by winning myself, so I knew, ‘Hey, better beat Briar.’”
Once the race resumed, Mees had to refocus to complete his multi-year mission, even if that meant making way for an all-new premier-class-race winner.
“We took off, and basically, I had control of the race pretty much from the restart. I was looking back and trying to make sure where Briar was or wasn’t.
“I looked back, and he wasn’t there. I had no clue he had actually pulled off. So, the whole time I’m just trying to make sure he isn’t coming up behind me and, at the same time, make sure I stay on two wheels and not do what Briar did.
“I never had any clue he pulled off the whole race, so when Davis [Fisher] started putting a lot of pressure on me, in some ways, I was like, ‘Have at it.’
“It was awesome for Davis and great to see him get his first win. He earned it. He got it, no ifs or buts about that. It was a race, and I was protecting my asset and he was going for it. It’s just how it is.”
Despite winning the prize he had trained and fought years for, Mees admits to having complicated feelings in the immediate aftermath of his triumph.
“It kind of sucked the way it all went down, to be honest. You envision it like you’re going to win the championship by passing [Bauman] on the last lap and beating him. That’s how you want to win a championship, right?
“But basically, he falls off, and at that point in time, it became mine to lose. He started far back, and he was hurt and ended up pulling off. So, it was one of those things where the ending of such a cool season—with the animosity and going back and forth—pretty much sucked.”
“All of the sudden it’s like—done.
“I had my difficulties at the beginning of the year with my injuries, which sucked too. It’s one of those things. That’s just the way it went down this year.”
The compacted schedule pushed the podium ceremony to the end of the program, which provided an impromptu opportunity for the friends-turned-great-rivals to have a shared moment.
“The celebration after the race was pretty watered down. They were running behind [schedule] with the weather and that stuff. They ran the other classes after us, so we didn’t even get to go on the podium right away. So, I’m just sitting there back in the tent with the team. Nothing I could do about it.
“Before the podium and right before Briar went to the hospital, I went over and said, ‘Good job dude.’ He was emotional and I can understand that. He was real bummed out. We had a little ‘hug out’ moment. Everything was good there.
Mees certainly didn’t come away from the AMA AFT awards banquet empty handed.
“We don’t talk nowhere near as much as we used to, that’s for sure. We used to be super, super tight. I helped him out with a lot, and we were tight. We’re still friends, I think, deep down inside. I hope he knows that if he ever needs anything, I’m only a phone call away. Right now, he’s a lot younger than me, and it’s just the way we handle some things is different.
“But for sure, I think the level of respect is high for both of us.
“And just like I told him and everybody else, the battle will continue in 2022, there’s no doubt about it. I’m looking forward to that already, and I expect Briar to be the toughest guy. Outside of injury, there should be no reason there’s not another battle coming again next season.” CN
