Bryan Smith wins Sacramento Mile again

Bryan Smith, riding a Kawasaki, made a slingshot pass past Triumph rider Brandon Robinson as they sped to the finish line to win the 50th running of the Sacramento Mile on Saturday at Cal Expo.

Smith, who beat Robinson by just .02 seconds, won the event for the fifth consecutive year. Defending series champ Jared Mees finished third on his Harley-Davidson.

Smith called this victory the most difficult of the five he’s won.

“I didn’t know if it was going to happen tonight,” Smith said in a statement. “All the top guys had tire-wear issues and I decided to just lay back and try to preserve my tires until the end. I came around on the final lap and Brandon (Robinson) was so fast on that Triumph, but I caught his draft just in the nick of time and was able to get by him at the finish.”

There were multiple lead changes throughout the 25-lap event on Cal Expo’s 1-mile horse track.

Mikey Martin of Acampo led the first lap. Smith, Robinson, Mees and Brad Baker all led during the race.

Kenny Coolbeth, Jr., who finished fifth, leads the AMA Pro Grand National points standings by five points (67-62) over Mees after four of 16 rounds.

Former Superbike world champion Troy Bayliss crashed in the third turn during his semifinal and hit the protective air fence lining the wall on the outside of the turn. He was transported to the hospital with a possible broken right leg, according to his team.

Nick Armstrong of Norco won the GNC2 race on a Honda over Tristan Avery and Brandon Wilhelm and took over the GNC2 points lead. Davis Fisher, the points leader coming into the race, crashed and finished 17th. Fisher injured his left wrist in the fall.

This story was originally published May 31, 2015 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Bryan Smith wins Sacramento Mile again."