Progressive American Flat Track finally made its weather-delayed debut at Wheatland, Missouri’s sprawling Lucas Oil Speedway complex, aka “the Diamond of Dirt Tracks,” and gave the Midwestern auto-racing mecca a strong sampling of what they’ve been missing.
The fans in attendance were treated to a pair of main events that transformed from burgeoning blowouts to last-lap affairs, each with its own distinct conclusion.
In the premier Mission AFT SuperTwins category, Rick Ware Racing’s Briar Bauman and Estenson Yamaha’s Dallas Daniels added another chapter to their titanic Grand National Championship showdown.
By Chris Martin | Photography by Tim Lester
And for a change, both riders left feeling like they’d won.
Of course, only one of them had, Bauman, who broke into the career top 10 for premier-class victories (31) while moving into a tie for most Short Track all-time wins (nine).
In a bit of role reversal, Bauman was smooth, fast, and up front all day, while Daniels was seeking answers right up to, and including, the main event.
Bauman, who had posted the fastest time from the first practice session and won his heat by nearly two seconds, jumped out into the lead early. He then broke the pursuit of Mission Roof Systems’ Brandon Robinson to race off by his lonesome.
Daniels, meanwhile, looked very un-Daniels-like on the day, with his 21-race podium streak on perilous ground in Missouri. He was the 13th fastest in the first qualifying and only improved to ninth in the second qualifying. He was then unable to improve his main-event starting slot in his heat, finishing just fifth, which put him on row three.
While Bauman jumped out to an early advantage, Daniels completed the opening lap having made up just one position, sitting in eighth. He then locked onto the lowest possible line and started his march forward.
Soon enough he was on the back of American Honda Turner Racing’s Trent Lowe, who had set the fastest time in qualifying on the Honda Transalp, and Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher, who were arguing over third.
The three of them absorbed Robinson just before half-distance, while Bauman pushed his lead out to nearly a second and a half.
Daniels then made that bottom line work to perfection, diving under the other three riders in his group essentially all at once, although it took a bit of extra work to make it stick on Fisher.
But once he had clear air in front of him, Daniels demonstrated that he actually had pace on everyone, Bauman included, and he proceeded to gradually erase the gap to first.
Ultimately, however, more time was needed. He slashed the gap to the lead by more than a second, but Bauman still had 0.329 of a second on his side when the two streaked past the checkered flag.
Bauman said, “[Daniels] just figured it out halfway through the main event and was clicking laps. I thought I was hitting my marks, but he’s so good and this is so tight that I’m just numb to it at this point. But it was a good night. We had to do that. [Du Quoin] wasn’t very good; it was pretty embarrassing. So, I wanted to win here badly. The team brought a great bike, and we were able to do that. But it’s going to be a dogfight, man. I’m so tired, but we’ll keep at it.”
“Tonight was just about damage control,” Daniels said. “Usually that finish, right there on Briar, I would be fuming, I’d be so mad, ‘Oh man, we could have done this, caught him at the end’ game. But we started on the third row. That’s like a win tonight. Second place isn’t like a win, but on a night like tonight, it definitely is. It wasn’t looking good. So, man, I just can’t thank my whole team enough. They had that bike flipped upside down. Probably five times today, we had the front-end off the thing, we had the swingarm off the thing. We’re just like trying all this different stuff, and we just couldn’t find a happy place. And the track just kind of came to us. The way I look at it is we took a day where we should have been probably ninth or 10th, and we put it on the podium. That’s what teams like ours do.”
Fisher and Lowe both worked past Robinson, who had insult added to injury when he was forced out of the race with just over a minute remaining due to a mechanical issue.
Fisher held on to grab his third podium of the season following a pair of down weekends, while Lowe got the Turner Honda’s SuperTwins project into the top five for the first time with his fourth.
“I was definitely charging for one more position,” Lowe said, “But I’m happy with it. I mean, it’s my first season on that bike, and there are a lot of changes [from a 450]. I can’t ask for much more. Fast qualifying was good. That gave me a little confidence.”
Fastrack Racing’s Jarod VanDerKooi outdueled Du Quoin podium finishers James Ott on the G&G Racing Yamaha and Declan Bender on the OTBR Yamaha to earn the final spot in the top five.
Moto Anatomy X Royal Enfield’s Max Whale ended the night in eighth, followed by part-timer Bronson Bauman on the Mission Foods/Roof Systems-backed Yamaha MT-07 and Billy Ross aboard the Racing Unlimited/Bel Ray Kawasaki.
Bauman’s win gives him sole possession of the championship points lead, but only just, due to Daniels’ expert display of damage control. The difference is now four points, 185-181, with more than 60 points back to third-ranked Robinson at 119.
AFT SINGLES
The AFT Singles race followed a similar shape but with a twist.
In the race’s opening stages, championship leader Tom Drane slotted his Estenson Racing Yamaha in front of the Hannum’s H-D-backed KTM of Bradon Pfanders and set off at the front.
Around half-distance, Drane’s primary title rivals—RWR’s Chase Saathoff and Turner Racing Honda’s Trevor Brunner—finally fought past Pfanders to move into second and third, respectively.
At that point, the Australian had more than a second’s worth of padding at the front. Neither Brunner nor Saathoff was willing to allow the other one to lead the charge, and they engaged in a rolling dogfight that still somehow managed to reel in Drane.
They flanked him on either side with two laps to go, but the overtaking proved more difficult than the closing.
Brunner threw in one last-gasp around-the-outside attempt in the race’s final corner and improbably made it work by a scant 0.069 of a second. The win was Brunner’s first of the year and extends his career-long streak of earning at least one victory in each of his AFT Singles campaigns.
“I really struggled in the heat race after being good all day,” Saathoff said. “We made some changes going into the main. Unfortunately, we couldn’t ride in the dash [LCQ], and I clawed my way from the second row and into second. I was gaining on Tom [Drane] for a minute there. I got stagnant, and I didn’t feel myself moving forward, and then Trevor [Brunner] started poking it up under the inside of me, and I really turned it up. He was just a little bit better going into turn three and coming out of four. I wish the outcome would have been a little bit different, obviously, but I’m happy to be where I’m at right now considering where I started and how far I had to claw back up to get to the front.”
Behind, Big R Racing’s Jared Lowe weaved his way forward to steal away fourth from Pfanders, who ultimately equaled his career-best finish of fifth after leading the opening lap.
“The day actually went pretty good,” Pfanders said. “We started out strong in practice and qualifying. That was good for me because I don’t see myself as much of a qualifier. But the track took a 180-degree flip in the break before the heat races, and we just struggled to find a setup for the night show, but I’m pretty happy with the top five. We went through a little bit of a slump there in the mid-part of the season, so it feels good to put it back up front.”
FRA Trust Advisors’ Aidan RoosEvans, who had prior experience at Lucas Oil Speedway on four wheels, finished sixth, the first of a tight four-rider group that also included 1st Impressions Husqvarna’s Chad Cose, Mission Roof System’s Tarren Santero and Turner Honda’s Walker Porter.
Schaeffers MotorSports’ Evan Kelleher completed the top 10.
While it was a disappointing outcome for Drane after leading virtually the entire race, by holding onto second over third-place Saathoff, he did manage to increase his championship lead. He now leads with 172 points to Saathoff’s 149. Brunner is third at 137. CN
2025 AMA American Flat Track Round 9 Results
SuperTwins (Top 10)
- Briar Bauman (H-D) 27 Laps
- Dallas Daniels (Yam) 0.329
- Davis Fisher (KTM) 2.825
- Trent Lowe (Hon) 3.363
- Jarod VanDerKooi (KTM) 6.083
- James Ott (Yam) 6.506
- Declan Bender (Yam) 6.988
- Max Whale (RE)
- Bronson Bauman (Yam) 11.555
- Billy Ross (Kaw) 11.625
Singles (Top 10)
- Trevor Brunner (Hon) 21 Laps
- Tom Drane (Yam) 0.069
- Chase Saathoff (Hon) 0.319
- Jared Lowe (Hon) 3.430
- Bradon Pfanders (KTM) 4.300
- Aidan RoosEvans (Yam) 5.131
- Chad Cose (Hus) 5.853
- Tarren Santero (Hon) 6.218
- Walker Porter (Hon) 6.532
- Evan Kelleher (KTM) 9.164
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