DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(March 21, 2026)
– Reigning Mission AFT
SuperTwins king Dallas
Daniels (No. 1 Estenson
Racing Yamaha MT-07)
successfully defended
Yamaha’s home turf to
complete a clean sweep of
victories for the brand in
Saturday night’s Yamaha
Atlanta Short Track, Round 3
of the 2026 Progressive
American Flat Track season,
sanctioned by AMA Pro
Racing.
Daniels entered the event
saddled both with the
pressure of a pair of
second-place finishes in the
DAYTONA double opener and a
winless prior record
at Senoia Raceway. Amping it
up further was the fact that
even though he earned pole
position, his Yamaha MT-07
was flanked on the front row
by a trio of threatening
Harley-Davidson XG750Rs
piloted by two-time Grand
National Champion Briar
Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Jacob
Construction/Parts Plus
Harley-Davidson XG750R),
rookie sensation Kody
Kopp (No. 12 Latus Motors
Racing Harley-Davidson
XG750R), and perennial
podium presence Brandon
Robinson (No. 44 Mission
Roof Systems Harley-Davidson
XG750R).
However, the knowledge that
Bauman and Robinson beat him
in Senoia, Georgia, to go
1-2 a year ago, and that
class newcomer Kopp twice
outclassed him in DAYTONA,
was still not enough to
rattle the unshakeable
Daniels.
The champ blasted into the
lead from the start and
spent the following eight
minutes and two laps
brushing off Kopp’s
continual attempts to goad
him into even a minor bobble
in hopes of identifying a
way past. Instead, Daniels
locked down on the low line
and never put a wheel
wrong.
Kopp eased up late to
stretch the difference to a
deceptive 0.988 seconds. The
victory was Yamaha’s first
premier-class win at its
home track and topped off an
evening that earlier saw it
claim its first and second
triumphs in any class at the
venue.
“It was a tough race,”
Daniels said. “We never
stopped working all day, and
I felt Kody right there the
whole Main Event. I needed
to keep my head down because
I felt like my first half of
the race was so strong. The
track was so slippery, it
was hard to hit your
marks. I’m so pumped. This
place has been nagging
at me. I’ve had so many
great battles here but just
kept losing out, getting
seconds and thirds.
“I want to give this one
up to Yamaha. I wanted to
win this one for them. We
went up to the headquarters
and to the plant this week,
and everybody is so invested
in this. It’s not just us –
it’s everyone in a blue
shirt. They want to see us
win, and this one is for
them.”
Meanwhile, while Kopp could
not break Daniels, his
performance further
solidified the early
indications that he has the
potential to emerge a
full-blown title threat in
his rookie campaign.
Bauman – who guided the
XG750R to its first-ever
Mission AFT SuperTwins win
in Senoia a year ago –
returned to the box in
Georgia, but only following
a hugely entertaining scrap
with Davis Fisher (No. 67
Rackley Racing/Bob
Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM
790 Duke).
Fisher reeled in Bauman by
way of a hooked-up high
line, ultimately passing the
RWR pilot at half-distance.
Bauman adjusted his lines in
turn, and the two then
engaged in a back-and-forth
tilt to the checkered flag.
Behind them, Robinson not
only made it three Harleys
in the top five,
rookie Aidan RoosEvans (No.
26 FRA Trust Advisors
Harley-Davidson XG750R) made
it four in the top six to
close out a very strong
showing for the brand on a
night that Yamaha largely
owned the spotlight.
Brandon Price (No. 92
Memphis Shades/Vinson
Construction Yamaha MT-07)
finished in seventh, a mere
0.078 seconds adrift of
RoosEvans, while Trent
Lowe (No. 48 American
Honda/Mission Foods Honda
CB750 Hornet), Dalton
Gauthier (No. 79 Parts
Bros/D&D Cycles/Fairway Ford
Aprilia Tuareg 660),
and Henry Wiles (No. 911 J&M
Logging/Ray C’s
Harley-Davidson Kawasaki
Ninja 650) combined to push
the number of brands inside
the top ten to six.
Kopp’s DAYTONA double
triumph keeps him ahead of
Daniels in the early-season
points race (65-61) with
third-ranked Fisher some 22
points back of first.
KICKER AFT Singles
What figured to be a
showdown between
reigning KICKER AFT
Singles champion Tom
Drane (No. 1 Estenson Racing
Yamaha YZ450F) and the
on-form Walker Porter (No.
10 American Honda/Mission
Foods CRF450R) turned into a
masterclass courtesy of
veteran ace Trevor
Brunner (No. 21 KMA
Racing/March Equipment
Yamaha YZ450F).
While
Porter accomplished his initial goal
of beating Drane to
the holeshot, Brunner
slipped in behind and
hounded his less experienced
adversary.
Brunner made his move with
just over four minutes to
go, throwing his Yamaha
underneath Porter’s Honda to
grab hold of the lead.
Porter was soon further
victimized by a freight
train consisting of Justin
Jones (No. 91 Fairway Ford
Chevy GMC Yamaha
YZ450F), Chase Saathoff (No.
88 1st Impressions Race Team
Husqvarna FC450), and Drane,
falling from first to fifth
in a matter of just over a
minute.
While Jones creeped forward
and Saathoff actively sought
for an advantageous line in
third, Brunner stayed strong
and consistent at the
front en route to a
0.721-second margin of
victory.
The win was the ninth of
Brunner’s career and
furthers his remarkable
streak of winning at least
one Main Event in each of
his six career KICKER AFT
Singles campaigns.
“It was just incredible,
“Brunner said. “As soon as I
pulled off after that heat
race, I looked at my
mechanic, Jerimiah (Duffy),
and said, ‘I know exactly
what to do – this is shaping
up to be exactly like my
home track, Lawrenceburg
Motorcycle Speedway.’ I put
in that setup I ran every
Friday night since I was
three years old, and lo and
behold, it worked.”
Dark horse Jones held on to
hand Yamaha a popular 1-2
with a huge contingent of
the brand’s employees in
attendance, while Saathoff
backed up last year’s Senoia
win with another podium at
the track.
Drane’s fourth saw his
record-smashing podium
streak snapped at 14.
However, it was still good
enough to keep him in the
championship lead by six
points over Brunner (56-50)
and nine over Saathoff
(47).
Porter, meanwhile, lost one
additional position late,
getting dropped to sixth by
teammate Kage Tadman (No. 28
American Honda/Mission Foods
CRF450R).
Tarren Santero (No. 75 Roof
Systems/Vinson Construction
Honda
CRF450R), Bradon Pfanders (No.
83 Memphis Shades/Corbin
Seats Yamaha YZ450F), Jared
Lowe (No. 63 Big R
Racing/Vinson Construction
Honda CRF450R), and Jordan
Jean (No. 56 Ray C's Harley
Davidson Yamaha YZ450F)
completed the top ten.
AFT ProSport 450
Sam Drane (No. 7 Estenson
Racing Yamaha YZ450F) made
it two-for-two in Road to
AFT Amateur
Invitationals with a
walk-away win in the
evening’s AFT ProSport 450
Main Event.
Similar to his performance
at the DAYTONA opener, Drane
did so despite not winning
the previous day’s
AMA-sanctioned Mission Foods
CTR Showcase Event. In fact,
he didn’t even finish on the
box on Friday, but it was a
completely different story
on Saturday.
Drane rocketed off the start
and left a
field jam-packed with future
stars in his
wake, ultimately taking the
checkered flag with a
2.385-second margin of
victory. In doing so,
he actually took the honors
of delivering Yamaha its
first Main Event race win at
its home track.
Fellow Australian Jake
Paige (No. 55 Paige Racing
GASGAS MC 450F) fought his
way up to second with
DAYTONA runner-up Ryder
Bitz-Hay (No. 14 Bitz-Hay
Racing KTM 450 SX-F)
rounding out the podium.
Cody Mishey (No. 26 Team
Mishey Racing Honda
CRF450R) executed a late
pass to take fourth away
from Jett Katarzy (No. 17
1st Impressions Husqvarna
FC450) as the two completed
the top five.
Next Up
Progressive American Flat
Track will head out to the
Pacific Coast on Saturday,
April 25, for stunning views
and spectacular racing at
the Ventura Short Track.
Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2026-ventura-short-track-168769 to
purchase your tickets
today.
How to Watch
FloRacing
For those that can’t catch
the live action at the
track, FloRacing is the live
streaming home of
Progressive American Flat
Track. Motorsports fans can
subscribe to FloRacing to
enjoy over 1,000 live
motorsports events
in 2026. FloSports is
available by visiting https://flosports.link/AFT2026 or
by downloading the FloSports
app on iOS, Android, Apple
TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and
Chromecast.
FS1
FOX Sports coverage of the
Yamaha Short Track,
featuring in-depth features
and thrilling onboard
cameras, will premiere on
FS1 on Sunday, March 29, at
12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m.
PT). The full listing of
American Flat Track’s
television premieres can be
found at https://www.americanflattrack.com/events-foxsports.
