It felt so good to be traveling with the actual intent to race! I am pretty sure that this has been the longest period of time I have been off a motorcycle in the last six years or so. It was almost five weeks from the day of surgery to race day and the arm wasn’t 100% healed but I felt good enough to race. I went out to California a day early and had Anthony Demario make me a brace that went all around the forearm. He made it custom and it worked out perfectly. Thank you, Anthony. I don’t know what I would have done without him.

I was bummed out that I was sitting out the Lodi race the night before the Mile. Lodi has been pretty good to me over the years and Digger and the crew put up a purse that exceeds some of the Grand National purses. But, I thought it would be smarter to save the arm for the Mile rather than take a chance of hurting it somehow.

For the first practice, the track was a little sandy and my arm was a little sore from the pressure. But after the qualifying sessions, it was fine and we posted the 2nd fastest time, overall. I had a little help getting towed around behind the Triumph, as Mikey Martin was the fast qualifier. I was in the second heat race and got a good start, going by Sammy Halbert fast, staying in front of him the whole race until the last lap when he drafted by. My Harley was running really strong so I knew I had a good shot at getting him at the line and that’s exactly what I did, winning the heat. In the Dash, I got off the line in 3rd place and stayed there the whole time. The Kawasaki's were running strong, as they always do in the Miles.

Kenny Tolbert made a few small changes for the Main Event and we felt quite confident. Although I could have started from the front row, I picked the outside of the 2nd row as I felt it important to be on the groove. I got a good start and was running 4th, got by Sammy and was in 3rd down the back stretch. I was passed by Brad Baker and then I finally was able to shake off Brandon Robinson, starting to catch the leader, Bryan Smith, and Brad. When I caught up to them, Baker knocked Bryan off the groove and gave me the opportunity to possibly take off. Brad and I felt alone for a few laps and then Bryan came back to get us. On the last lap, Baker ran it around my outside and was really close to taking us both out of the race. I was able to settle in and get a good run and draft him at the line to get 2nd place. Man, if felt good to run such a strong Harley and to get a 2nd place my first race back. Congratulations to Bryan for another Sacramento Mile win.

I want to thank everyone out there who makes all this possible, with a special thanks to Craig Rogers and Kenny Tolbert. The track was great, we had a good fan turn out, and everyone had a good time with no accidents. For me it was a great weekend.

#1 Jammin Jared Mees