Reigning Grand National Champion Dallas Daniels earned that title because he is perhaps the most rock-solid competitor the premier class has ever seen. The Estenson Racing Yamaha star has authored podium streaks that have demolished historic runs of the past, and on the rare occasions when he does not grace the victory circle, there’s typically a significant story explaining the absence.
Current Mission AFT SuperTwins points leader Kody Kopp earned that position by being, at least in the early stages of his premier-class career, even more rock-solid than Daniels. The Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson ace came out of the gates with two firsts and backed them up with a trio of seconds.
But the time when rock-solid is good enough may be nearing its end. “Spectacular” seems to be required at this point to prevent two-time Grand National Champion Briar Bauman from seizing control of the 2026 Mission AFT SuperTwins Championship fight.
The latest battleground of their evolving title clash was Budds Creek. A long-time motocross mecca, the facility hosted the inaugural ThrottleFest, a four-day music and moto festival that helped expand the venue’s two-wheeled horizons to also include endurocross, hare scrambles, amateur flat track, pit bike racing, stunting and more.
At the heart of the festival was Progressive American Flat Track, and that portion was headlined by the looming showdown involving Daniels, Kopp and Bauman.
Bauman came in on the strength of two consecutive dominant outings in California that qualified as spectacular. In Ventura and Chico, the Rick Ware Racing pilot led every lap at the former, and every lap save the opening circuit at the latter, running away at the front both times out aboard his Harley-Davidson XG750R.
Daniels and Kopp came to Maryland hoping to relegate that powerful performance to a limited home-state bump for Bauman, a prospect seemingly even more plausible with the calendar’s shift from Short Tracks to Half Miles.
Instead, Bauman only gained additional momentum with the transition out East and to a bigger track.
On a track where the lines converged, making overtakes increasingly challenging as the day wore on, polesitter Daniels had his chance to reclaim momentum by beating second qualifier Bauman in the drag race to the opening corner.
That didn’t happen. The two powered off the line and into turn one side by side, but Bauman ultimately muscled his way out front, which also allowed Pro Roofing/Parker Racing’s Chad Cose to slip ahead of Daniels.
That effectively ended the drama for the win. Running in clear air, Bauman disappeared at the front and upped his streak of one-sided victories to three.
It was a missed opportunity for Daniels, who likely had the raw speed to challenge Bauman. Instead, he spent most of the contest trying to figure out how to overtake Cose for second.
Once through, Bauman was already more than three seconds ahead. A late push by Daniels, combined with a difficult run of lappers, narrowed the gap to just over two seconds at the flag, but the win was never really in doubt.
Kopp, meanwhile, was ever so slightly off his game on the day. It’s a serious credit to a rookie when an off day is qualifying fifth quick and finishing two-tenths off the podium in fourth.
However, the championship advantage is now on significantly shakier ground. Bauman, who trailed Kopp by 26 points and Daniels by 22 after the first three races, has narrowed those gaps to just nine and two, respectively.
Something is going to have to change in a hurry to prevent that change from being the one atop the leaderboards.
Unsurprisingly, Bauman is thrilled with his team’s current state after earlier admitting that his slow start was largely his own fault and that his revamped crew, led by Bryan Bigelow, took some time to figure each other out.
“There’s something about doing it with a crew you thoroughly enjoy doing it with,” he said. “We just work at it. We weren’t the quickest all day. We were a bit off. But they turned that thing upside down. I’ll be upfront—we didn’t change a clicker on the motorcycle the last two Nationals, except for gearing. And today we threw the toolbox at that thing, and we found it. I’m just proud of my whole Rick Ware Racing team.”
For Cose, the third-place finish marked the Californian’s first premier-class podium since his breakthrough ride at the Texas Half Mile in 2018.
Kopp was followed by two more of the SuperTwins class’s bumper crop of rookies, fifth-placed Aidan RoosEvans on the FRA Trust Advisors Harley-Davidson and sixth-placed Hunter Bauer on the G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07.
Meanwhile, American Honda Turner Racing’s Trent Lowe, IFS Waste Services/D&D Cycles’ Aprilia’s Morgen Mischler, Fredericktown Yamaha’s Cameron Smith, and OTB Racing’s Declan Bender completed the top 10.
It was another day to forget for Rackley Racing KTM’s Davis Fisher, who has boasted frontrunning speed this season but largely lacked the luck to make good on it. At Budds Creek, Fisher was again forced through the LCQ and then suffered an early fall in the main that brought out the red flag. He remounted for the restart and soldiered on to 15th.
AFT Singles
Turner Racing Honda’s Kage Tadman clearly had the speed to secure his first win outside of his home state and away from a Short Track. He just had to get a start that enabled him to make use of that pace on a track that was becoming harder and harder to pass on.
His chances of scoring a fourth-career win evaporated when he was shuffled down outside the top five as the Kicker AFT Singles main event got underway. Those chances were then rekindled by an immediate red flag and complete restart.
Those prospects were again dimmed when he got away in third, but they reopened with yet another red flag and a complete restart.
The third time proved the charm for Tadman, who finally powered into the lead from pole and went on to a wire-to-wire win.
While Tadman was the beneficiary of the herky-jerky nature of the contest, 1st Impressions Husqvarna’s Chase Saathoff was its primary victim. Saathoff, who is still seeking his first win of ’26, twice grabbed the lead only to see it taken away by a red flag.
He left the line in third, the time it actually mattered, and was forced to fight his way past Tadman’s American Honda-backed teammate, Walker Porter, to move into second. His understandable frustrations may have played a role in how he did so, as he got up into Porter and sent the sophomore up the track, costing the youngster a couple more positions in the process.
While Saathoff may have had designs on doing the same to Tadman should he catch him, Roof Systems/Vinson Construction’s Tarren Santero had plans of his own.
Santero was both the victim and beneficiary of the red flags, bringing one out himself when he crashed, igniting a multi-rider incident shortly following the first restart.
Despite his fall, his back-of-the-grid starting position, and a one-lap circuit, Santero somehow blasted through the field. He stormed past Saathoff for second and nearly caught Tadman at the flag, coming from several seconds back to finish just 0.377 of a second off the win.
“We felt great all day,” Santero said. “Unfortunately, I got tangled up in a little bit of an accident early in the race, but my mechanic Charlie [Vanderlaan] busted his ass. This bike was mangled. There are still at least 10 to 15 bolts missing from it, but we just let it ride. I’m beyond stoked. I rode my ass off. I can’t give it up enough to the team and everyone who is part of it. It took an army for sure, especially tonight. The clutch was toast, and they wouldn’t let us line back up unless we got swapped out. And we turned to burn and got it all done.”
Porter rebounded to claim yet another fourth, while defending class champion Tom Drane was fifth and never really a podium factor, an unusual showing indeed for a standout rider who is a near-constant presence at the front of the field.
Despite a minor dip in form, Drane continues to lead the championship chase with 111 points. Tadman is now second with 95 points, in a tight battle for the position with Saathoff (94) and KMA Racing Yamaha’s Trevor Brunner (92).
AFT ProSport 450
The all-new AFT ProSport 450 category is fulfilling its promise even quicker than designed, with the class’s Ventura Short Track winner, Jett Katarzy, stepping up to Kicker AFT Singles duty with 1st Impressions Husqvarna at Budds Creek.
Nantz Bros Racing’s Bayne Nantz, who finished second to Katarzy in Ventura, climbed another step up the podium at ThrottleFest, claiming his first AFT ProSport 450 win with a green-light-to-checkered-flag victory.
Nantz had to hold off Silver Dollar ST winner Adam Costan-Wood to make it happen, rebuffing a last-lap pass attempt by the Turner Racing Honda prospect.
Racine Racing KTM’s Loic Nadeau finished third, followed by Hanson Racing’s Brody Hanson and Picotte Motosport’s Mateo Racine.CN
2026 AMA American Flat Track Round 6 Results
SuperTwins (Top 10)
- Briar Bauman (H-D) 29 laps
- Dallas Daniels (Yam) +2.208
- Chad Cose (Yam) +3.906
- Kody Kopp (H-D) +4.116
- Hunter Bauer (Yam) +8.016
- Aidan RoosEvans (H-D) +9.647
- Trent Lowe (Hon) +10.946
- Morgen Mischler (Apr) +12.516
- Cameron Smith (Yam) +17.477
- Declan Bender (Yam) +18.277
Singles (Top 10)
- Kage Tadman (Hon) 22 Laps
- Tarren Santero (Hon) +0.377
- Chase Saathoff (Hus) +0.595
- Walker Porter (Hon) +2.549
- Tom Drane (Yam) +2.666
- Jack Brucks (Hus) +3.523
- Ryder Reese (KTM) +4.267
- Trevor Brunner (Yam) +5.529
- Dylan Cunningham (KTM) +7.518
- Jared Lowe (Hon) +7.793
