Five races in, the 2026 Grand National Championship appears to have taken shape. This is now an active three-rider war, with the trio of contenders claiming nearly equal odds to ultimately wrest the crown away from the others.
Despite giving his title rivals a head start with a disappointing Daytona double-opener and a decent yet uninspiring ride in Georgia, two-time Mission AFT SuperTwins Champion Briar Bauman has established himself as a genuine threat for the number one plate with a twin showcase of superiority in his native state.
The Rick Ware Racing star announced his arrival as a contender in last week’s Memphis Shades Ventura Short Track and then underlined the strength of his candidacy with a second demonstration of domination in the Cresco CAT Rentals Silver Dollar Short Track.
By Chris Martin | Photography by Tim Lester
AFT SuperTwins
At Silver Dollar Speedway, Bauman powered past points leader Kody Kopp and reigning SuperTwins Champion Dallas Daniels in a single exaggerated maneuver less than 30 seconds into the main event.
From that point forward, the race for the win was waged by the Harley-mounted duo of Bauman and Kopp on the timing sheets as much as on the track. The experienced Bauman stretched his advantage over rookie Kopp to more than two seconds before Kopp trimmed it back to just over a second with two minutes to go.
Bauman wicked it back up at that point, however, slashing his way through lappers as he worked his way to a final victory margin of greater than 2.5 seconds.
After Senoia, Bauman admitted that it was taking longer than he’d anticipated to gel with his new crew, led by Bryan Bigelow, especially as they tried to implement more radical setup changes to the XG750R.
But with another month to regroup and get the bike back where they needed it, Bauman is once again showing why he’s widely considered the most talented rider in the field at the moment, not to mention the same title fighter who twice took down Jared Mees in his prime, even with equal machinery.
Even with his resurgence, however, Bauman still has an uphill climb ahead of him. Kopp, in particular, has already proven himself a week-in, week-out presence at the front, even as he begins to accumulate premier-class experience.
After opening his Mission AFT SuperTwins career in historic fashion with a pair of wins at Daytona, the Washingtonian has strung together three consecutive runner-up finishes in which he kept things interesting in races that would have otherwise been blowouts of eight, six and three seconds.
Despite his rookie status, Kopp is wiser to championship strategy than most, with three AFT Singles crowns to his name and the GNC-winning combo of Dave Zanotti and Michelle Disalvo behind him.
Surprisingly, the campaign that feels the shakiest at the moment is that of defending champ Dallas Daniels. While he and the powerful Estenson Racing effort that fields him will no doubt put things back in their natural order in short order, Daniels was gifted a third a week ago and then beaten to that same position by rookie Aidan RoosEvans, who made it a Harley-Davidson sweep of the podium, on Saturday.
In fact, early on, Daniels seemed in danger of being swallowed up and shuffled back to the lower half of the top 10 before he found his footing and chased after RoosEvans.
While a third and close fourth would be anything but worrying outings for just about any other rider, the Yamaha superstar had not finished off the podium, and rarely worse than second, in more than two full seasons outside of the single exception, which came last year when he was knocked off the bike by Bauman in Sturgis.
That Daniels has shown even minor signs of vulnerability in back-to-back races is notable, even if it more likely than not serves as a rallying point for the prodigious racer.
RoosEvans’ stunner also hints that Daniels isn’t just under fire from a pair of elite riders in Bauman and Kopp, but also from the phoenix-like return of Harley-Davidson, which last owned the victory circle in a similar fashion back in the halcyon days of the XR750.
“As a rider, it’s either you get a set of balls, or you don’t,” said RoosEvans. “I just had to keep going. I knew I was chattering coming in; I just didn’t want to stop. So, if I’m in third, I’m going to keep the money. So, I’ve got to do it. Derek [Arnett] busted his ass, all winter, every night. I mean, two in the morning, this guy would call me on the way home. I can’t thank that guy enough. He’s built like a damn gorilla, but man, he’ll pick up that bike and do wonders with it.”
It’s remarkable that it remains true even in the absence of Mission Roof Systems’ ace Brandon Robinson, who is currently on the mend and will remain so for some time after suffering a severe concussion during last week’s round in Ventura.
But H-D’s return to form is not the only source of danger on the horizon. Daniels was let off the hook in California due to the misfortune of Rackley Racing KTM’s Davis Fisher. Fisher had third effectively locked up in Ventura before a mechanical problem ruled him out and handed the spot over to Daniels.
And then the luckless Fisher suffered double mechanicals in his heat and the LCQ at Chico, forcing him to use his season’s sole provisional start just to gain entry at the tail end of the field. Despite being at a significant disadvantage, Fisher surged up the order with such success that he thought a double pass on Daniels and RoosEvans to snatch third was in play as he worked the final lap.
The back half of the top 10 included American Honda Turner Honda’s Trent Lowe, Fisher’s teammate Ben Lowe, Moto Anatomy X Royal Enfield’s Evan Renshaw, Dick Ford Racing Yamaha’s part-timer Bronson Bauman, and G&G Racing Yamaha’s Hunter Bauer.
Between Kopp, RoosEvans, Renshaw and Bauer, rookies not only owned two spots on the podium, but they also claimed four positions in the top 10.
But it was a veteran who stood tallest on Saturday. After claiming his 36th career premier-class victory, Briar Bauman said, “Last week, I knew we were ready. And now these guys know we are ready. I’m fired up. It’s so hard to lead on these types of racetracks. I’ve never looked back that much in my life. But Kody is so witty, and his dad is so good, and Dave Z [Zanotti] is so good. I knew they were going to find something. So I kept looking, but I finally found something good enough to get us to the win. I’m super excited for the team.”
“Troy Barber, Bryan Bigelow, and everyone involved had the bike running so well. We’ve found it. We’re back. That feels good. Look, I’m just having a good time. I’m here for the income, not the outcome. I enjoy the people I’m around, so this is very cool.”
Briar Bauman’s California double has thrust him back into the hunt, but he still sits third with 85 points to Kopp’s 103 and Daniels’ 91.
AFT Singles
1st Impressions Racing Husqvarna’s Chase Saathoff was determined to become the fifth different Singles winner in five races, doing everything he could to study, harass and set up longtime rival Tom Drane for a late pass for the win.
However, the Estenson Racing pilot is the class champion for a reason, and he withstood Saathoff’s relentless pressure to break free en route to becoming the year’s first two-race winner.
“Early on I thought I had a line,” Saathoff said. “You know, Jared [Mees] has been coaching me lately. And I figured I’d play the Jared game, just be patient with it, and hopefully wait for the bottom line to wear out. But unfortunately, I think the top line wore out quicker than the bottom, and it just didn’t work. I could have made the pass a couple of times, but I figured everybody else would have started passing with us if I did. So, I just wanted to stay patient and try to wait till the end and try not to show my cards. Still, I tried my hardest, and it feels good to be back up here. We had a rough last weekend, and I’m looking forward to keeping this ball rolling.”
The podium was a familiar one, with fellow title hopeful Trevor Brunner taking the third step on the box for KMA Racing Yamaha.
More notable was the absence of the Turner Racing Honda duo, Walker Porter and Kage Tadman, from the top three.
Porter turned heads by running with Drane and Saathoff early but could not hold off Brunner as the laps wound down. That said, he kept Roof System’s Tarren Santero at bay to earn his best-yet finish of fourth.
Teammate Tadman ended the day in a relatively quiet seventh, finishing one spot behind BigR Racing’s Jared Lowe, a result that merits mention because the young Californian swept Ventura and Silver Dollar a year ago and was aiming to do the same again this year after winning over Drane at Ventura last weekend.
Drane heads the title chase with 98 points, followed by Brunner (82), Saathoff (78) and Tadman (72).
AFT ProSport 450
The all-new AFT ProSport 450 class is at once a battleground for new rivalries and old. Designed to help springboard the sport’s top amateurs into the pro ranks by allowing them to compete before the Progressive AFT paddock and fanbase, several fresh faces are becoming familiar ones.
Those newcomers are often supported by the sport’s most powerful teams. Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane won the first two races, while 1st Impressions Husqvarna’s Jett Katarzy won last week’s race in Ventura.
Katarzy hoped to match Drane’s two-win record but was edged out by Turner Racing’s Adam Costan-Wood in a heated scrap.
Meanwhile, Colt Shafar, like Ryder Bitz-Hay and others before him, proved there’s still room for the privateer to show out in the tightly restricted class with a strong run to third. CN
2026 AMA American Flat Track Round 5 Results
AFT SuperTwins (Top 10)
- Briar Bauman (H-D) 30 Laps
- Kody Kopp (H-D) +2.614
- Aidan RoosEvans (H-D) +8.239
- Dallas Daniels (Yam) +8.510
- Davis Fisher (KTM) +8.715
- Trent Lowe (Hon) +12.733
- Ben Lowe (KTM) +13.090
- Evan Renshaw (RE) +15.942
- Bronson Bauman (Yam) +17.305
- Hunter Bauer (Yam) +17.393
AFT Singles (Top 10)
- Tom Drane (Yam) 23 Laps
- Chase Saathoff (Hus) +1.120
- Trevor Brunner (Yam) +3.038
- Walker Porter (Hon) +3.784
- Tarren Santero (Hon) +3.959
- Jared Lowe (Hon) +4.496
- Kage Tadman (Hon) +7.500
- Justin Anselmi (Yam) +7.619
- Evan Kelleher (KTM) +8.094
- Jack Brucks (Hus) +9.175
