Parts Unlimited AFT
Singles presented by KICKER
Tom Drane (No.
59 Estenson Racing Yamaha
YZ450F) rebounded from his
Thursday disappointment to claim
a dominating win in Friday’s
Parts Unlimited AFT
Singles presented by KICKER rematch.
The young Australian ripped out
to the holeshot in the restart
that followed an early red flag
and immediately stretched out a
second-plus advantage at the
front. Meanwhile, triple Daytona
ST winner and double defending
class champion Kody Kopp
(No. 1 Rick Ware Racing/Parts
Plus KTM 450 SX-F) moved up from
third into second after working
past impressive sophomore
Logan Eisenhard
(No. 66 Hannum’s Harley-Davidson
KTM 450 SX-F) with five of the
race’s scheduled six minutes
still on the clock.
With clear air in front of him
and plenty of time to work with,
Kopp’s attempts to close the gap
saw him make minor inroads on
Drane’s advantage for a spell.
But despite the determined
effort, the Yamaha ace’s speed
and consistency ultimately won
out to the tune of a
1.951-second margin of victory
at the checkered flag.
The victory was Drane’s first in
the Short Track discipline,
after previously winning three
Miles and a Half-Mile. He said,
“This means so much to finally
get a Short Track win. I’d
struggled a lot with these, but
I just kept working and chipping
away. I put all that effort in
to try to become good (at them)
so I can fight for the title
this year.”
Eisenhard kept his head down in
search of a maiden Progressive
AFT podium and very nearly
pulled it off. However, he was
swallowed up and then pushed
aside in rapid succession by a
pair of the category’s
established stars,
Dalton Gauthier (No. 79
D&D Racing/Certified KTM 450
SX-F) and Chase
Saathoff (No. 88 JPG
Motorsports Honda CRF450R) with
just 30 seconds still on the
clock.
Gauthier then fended off
Saathoff to secure his second
podium of the young ’24 season.
Despite losing out on his podium
bid, Eisenhard did hold on to
finish inside the top five even
with Justin Jones
(No. 91 J&H Racing Husqvarna FC
450), Aiden RoosEvans
(No. 26 FRA Trust/ATV’s and More
Yamaha YZ450F), and
James Ott (No. 19 1st
Impressions Race Team Husqvarna
FC450) running just behind in
close formation.
Heralded rookie Evan
Renshaw (No. 265
American Honda/Mission Foods
CRF450R) finished ninth, one
spot in front of his charging
Turner Honda teammate,
Trent Lowe (No. 48
American Honda/Mission Foods
CRF450R), whose early-race crash
prompted the aforementioned red
flag.
In the Royal Enfield
Build. Train. Race Main,
Kenzie Luker
(No. 17 Royal Enfield/Parts
Unlimited) edged Thursday winner
Taia Little
(No. 11 Royal Enfield/Parts
Unlimited) by 0.275 seconds for
the Friday victory.
Next Up:
The 2024 Progressive American
Flat Track season will resume on
Saturday, March 23, with the
Yamaha Senoia Short
Track at Senoia Raceway
in Senoia, Georgia. To secure
your tickets today, please visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com/events/2024/view/senoia-short-track-2024.
For those that can’t catch the
live action from the circuit,
FloRacing is
the live streaming home of
Progressive AFT. Sign up now and
catch every second of on-track
action starting with Practice &
Qualifying and ending with the
Victory Podium at the end of the
night at
http://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports
coverage of the Royal
Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA I
will premiere on FS1
on Saturday, March 16,
at 9:30 a.m. ET
(6:30 a.m. PT), while the
Royal Enfield Short
Track at DAYTONA II will
air the following day,
Sunday, March 17, at
12:00 p.m. ET
(9:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on
Progressive AFT visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com.