For the first time since the opening week of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season some four months earlier, the series saw the version of Dallas Daniels that was widely expected to dominate this year’s Grand National Championship fight.
By Chris Martin | Photography by Tim Lester
While Daniels has been consistently strong at a historic level (21 consecutive podiums and counting), the whole domination aspect had been largely missing.
Well, not exactly missing so much as co-opted by his primary title rival, two-time Mission AFT SuperTwins Champion Briar Bauman. While the Estenson Racing Yamaha star stopped the bleeding by finally getting back in the wins column a week earlier in Lima, there was no denying the simple fact that, if not for encountering clutch issues with his Rick Ware Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R, Bauman would have arrived at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds just one victory shy of tying Ricky Graham’s all-time win streak record of six in a row.
But as the season hit its midpoint, Daniels managed to recalibrate the outlook heading into the second half with a convincing triumph in Du Quoin. Of course, since it was at “Magic Mile,” that convincing triumph was measured in a margin of just over three-hundredths of a second rather than three-plus seconds, as might be the case elsewhere.
Fabled for its ultra-high-speed and ultra-close racing, Saturday night’s main event at the Du Quoin Mile eventually took shape as a five-way shootout involving Daniels, Bauman, veteran Mile ace Brandon Robinson on the Mission Roof Systems Harley, fast-rising rookie James Ott on the G&G Racing Yamaha, and Daniels’ fellow “Fast Boy from Illinois,” Declan Bender, on the OTBR Yamaha.
Up-and-comers Ott and Bender used a blend of lightweight, fast bikes and boundless ambition to constantly push forward to the front.
While Bauman had leveraged some precise and creative cornering to fight his way back up to the lead on multiple occasions, a shortfall in sheer straight-line speed ultimately shuffled him back from first to fifth. That put him into a separate battle with fellow Harley pilot Robinson for “‘best of the rest” honors despite being just fractions of a second behind the developing fight for the win.
While Ott and Bender threw everything they had at a potential maiden professional victory, Daniels was calm, confident and calculated in working the final laps.
While Ott ran around the outside of Daniels to claim the lead exiting turn two for the final time, Daniels responded by diving back up the inside entering turn three and then holding strong at the front to the checkered flag, winning by 0.037 of a second.
For Ott, the near-miss was still a career achievement, marking his first career premier-class podium finish.
Meanwhile, Bender got his first Progressive AFT podium of any kind, just 0.129 of a second removed from the win. Stacked atop his eye-opening performance in his OTBR debut a week earlier at Lima, it appears the team made the right decision indeed when forced to find a replacement for Brandon Price, who stepped away from racing due to medical reasons.
Bauman, meanwhile, was held off by Robinson, further exacerbating the championship damage incurred as a result of his rival’s victory.
The fifth represented Bauman’s first result worse than second all season long. And due to Daniels’ constant presence near the front, all that excellent work has left the two virtually tied at the head of the standings.
Bauman still leads the title fight as a result of the tiebreaker advantage (three seconds to two for Daniels), but both riders now understand just how perfect they will likely need to be over the season’s second half in order to defeat the other and assume Jared Mees’ vacated throne.
“What a roller coaster of a race,” Daniels said. “I got a good start, and I was out front putting down good laps. But you know, a breakaway on a Mile would be super crazy. So, I kind of knew that wasn’t going to happen. And then when the guys came by, I shuffled back to like fourth or fifth, and I kind of just chilled there for a little bit.
“I made my way back to the front, and that last lap went exactly [to] plan, which, on a Mile, shoot, it seems like it never goes to plan, especially for me. But it went great. My team had me a great running horse, and it was handling great. We were making strides all day. It seemed like we’ve been struggling a little bit in the morning, but I had this quiet confidence all day for whatever reason. I just kind of knew we’d figure it out, and we did. It was a great main event.
“First Grand National I’ve ever won in my home state, so that’s cool. Winning the Magic Mile—that’s even cooler. So, yeah, it’s a big thanks to the team. We won this race.”
Ott was psyched to get his first premier-class podium despite falling just 0.037 of a second short of a maiden victory. He said, “It feels freaking excellent. These guys do it out of their van. They build everything at home in their shop in their backyard, and shout out to G&G Racing—John and LJ Gronek—they do so much for us. And the bikes are stout. They’re underestimated, but they’re good bikes. I gotta thank my whole family and everybody who helps me out. I feel blessed to be up here as always.”
Meanwhile, it was a second consecutive down weekend for Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher, who had been so good in the opening five races of the season in his transition from Indian to KTM. Fisher struggled with the bike all day but seemed to finally have things clicking for the main, where he raced forward from his back-row, LCQ-earned, grid position to become the sixth man in a six-rider lead pack.
Unfortunately, that became the aforementioned five-rider lead pack when Fisher was forced to pull out due to mechanical issues approximately five minutes into the contest.
Dalton Gauthier inherited sixth on the Racing Unlimited/Parts Bros/D&D Cycles Kawasaki Ninja 650, finishing just ahead of Fastrack Racing’s Jarod VanDerKooi and American Honda-backed Trent Lowe.
Memphis Shades/Corbin/Vinson’s Dan Bromley finished ninth on the GSX-8S, 0.072 of a second ahead of Moto Anatomy X Royal Enfield’s Max Whale in 10th.
AFT SINGLES
The AFT Singles contest was a battle that pitted Estenson Racing’s Tom Drane up against the entire field—and Tom Drane won.
While the Australian had an obvious pace advantage throughout the day, the all-important draft allowed the big pack of contenders to gang up and prevent him from executing an escape plan.
That also created countless opportunities for close calls and the rare bit of contact, which only further fueled the already intense rivalry between Drane and his chief title rival, RWR’s Chase Saathoff.
Their showdown nearly ended in disaster when Drane’s handlebars were touched by Saathoff’s boot on the corner exit, and then the two took exception with one another for how the final half lap played out in ultra-close fashion.
Like teammate Daniels, Drane largely controlled the race despite the results showing a margin of just two-hundredths of a second separating him from Saathoff at the flag.
Following a cool-down lap that saw angry gestures shared between Drane and Saathoff, Drane chose his words carefully, even though the adrenaline was still clearly pumping.
He said, “I just wanted to get out there straight to the front and do everything I could to win that one, because that was dangerous coming off the last corner doing that. It is what it is, and I guess I just have to put my head down and do what I did and come out on top.”
“I thought I set myself up good [on the final lap],” Saathoff said. “But it seems to me that Tom Drane doesn’t know how to go in a straight line sometimes. But that’s okay: we’re going to look past it and move on to the next one.”
Turner Racing Honda’s Trevor Brunner finished third. Meanwhile, Vinson Construction/Reel Medics’ Hunter Bauer, 1st Impressions Racing’s Evan Renshaw, Hannum’s H-D’s Bradon Pfanders, Renshaw’s teammate Chad Cose, and Mission Roof Systems Tarren Santero came home fourth through eighth, respectively, with even eighth-placed Santero only 0.342 of a second back of race-winner Drane.
Now riding a three-race win streak, Drane has taken hold of the AFT Singles title race. He is 20 points up on Saathoff (153-133) while Brunner is third at 114.CN
2025 AMA American Flat Track Round 8 Results
SuperTwins (Top 10)
- Dallas Daniels (Yam) 25 Laps
- James Ott (Yam) 0.037
- Declan Bender (Yam) 0.129
- Brandon Robinson (H-D) 0.492
- Briar Bauman (H-D) 1.315
- Dalton Gauthier (Kaw) 4.319
- Jarod VanDerKooi (KTM) 4.810
- Trent Lowe (Hon) 5.116
- Dan Bromley (Suz) 11.564
- Max Whale (RE) 11.636
Singles (Top 10)
- Tom Drane (Yam) 18 Laps
- Chase Saathoff (Hon) 0.020
- Trevor Brunner (Hon) 0.150
- Hunter Bauer (Yam) 0.209
- Evan Renshaw (Hus) 0.236
- Bradon Pfanders (KTM) 0.252
- Chad Cose (Hus) 0.327
- Tarren Santero (Hon) 0.342
- Jared Lawe (Hon) 4.571
- Tyler Raggio (KTM) 4.621
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