(Briar
Bauman (3) races by the
grandstands at Silver Dollar
Speedway during round five;
Photo: American Flat Track/Tim
Lester)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(June 3, 2025) – Progressive
American Flat Track,
sanctioned by AMA Pro
Racing, will conclude
its unprecedented run of six
consecutive Short Tracks to open
the 2025 campaign with the
inaugural Short Track at
Lucas Oil Speedway in
Wheatland, Missouri, on
Saturday, June 7.
Missouri Loves Company
This weekend marks the
Grand National Championship’s
20th visit to the “Show Me
State,” although just its second
in the last 20 years.
Previous stops were hosted by
Wentzville, St. Louis, Sedalia,
Joplin, and Odessa, with
Wheatland now set to join that
list.
An all-new racing venue known as
Wheatland Raceway opened on the
east side of town in 2001.
Within five years, new ownership
completely transformed the
facility with a multi-million
dollar renovation that resulted
in Lucas Oil Speedway, aka, the
“Diamond of Dirt Tracks.”
Featuring a pristine 3/8-mile
clay oval, a 1.2-mile offroad
track, and go-kart circuit, and
the drag-boat friendly Lake
Lucas – and top-notch facilities
and amenities to boot – Lucas
Oil Speedway represents a full
half of Wheatland in terms of
acreage and stands as a national
powerhouse on the four-wheeled
dirt track racing scene.
The addition of the world’s
greatest two-wheeled dirt track
racers only further cements the
venue’s outstanding reputation.
Keep It Rollin’
The month-plus layoff between
rounds may have come as a relief
to some of the Mission
AFT SuperTwins pilots,
but title leader Briar
Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts
Plus/Latus Motors
Harley-Davidson XG750R) would
have likely preferred to keep
lining up every week on end.
The Rick Ware Racing ace carries
the momentum of three
consecutive victories into Lucas
Oil Speedway, making his
achievement of claiming the
Harley-Davidson XG750R’s first
premier-class victory at
Senoia’s Round 3 feel almost
like a distant memory.
Prior to the start of the ‘25
season, among the top 15 riders
on the Grand National
Championship’s career win list,
only Dick Mann,
Kenny Roberts,
and Bauman achieved that
distinction with zero
Harley-Davidson wins on their
résumés.
The caveat for Roberts and Mann
was that a substantial portion
of their GNC race victories came
on pavement, while for Bauman it
was rising to prominence during
an era of Indian dominance.
Bauman has exited that company
three quick H-D-powered wins
this season. However, he now
trails only Roberts in terms of
most career wins among riders
with no XR750 victories.
While it still has a long
way to go and an impossible
mission before it to live up to
the standard established by the
XR, the XG750R is rolling along
just fine at the moment, thank
you.
Bauman’s mastery of the bike
will face a new test this
weekend as they prepare to do
battle on unfamiliar grounds.
Inauguration Day
By contrast, Dallas
Daniels (No. 32
Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT)
may have welcomed the
opportunity to reset and
refocus. His ‘25 season has not
gone poorly by any stretch of
the imagination – he’s currently
building upon a modern-era
record of 18 consecutive podiums
that has long since left every
previous reunification era
(2010-on) podium streak in the
dust.
However, despite that
week-after-week success, the
heavy preseason favorite now
finds himself in a double-digit
deep points hole as the Mission
AFT SuperTwins title fight
arrives in Missouri.
Historically, Daniels has
performed very well when the
field is thrown into a new
arena. Not quite to the level of
former rival Jared Mees
– but better than anyone else,
and Mees is no longer in the
picture.
Since Daniels stepped up to the
premier class in 2022, the
series has visited eight all-new
venues while returning to a pair
of others that it hadn’t been to
in decades.
At those ten races, Mees led the
way with six wins, while Daniels
earned two victories. The
remaining two wins were split by
JD Beach and
Brandon Robinson
(No. 44 Mission Roof Systems
Harley-Davidson XG750R).
Meanwhile, Mees landed on the
box in 90% of those outings,
with Daniels was not far off at
70% (despite missing one he
likely would have been favored
at due to injury). Beach was
third with podiums in five of
the ten races, followed by
Bauman at four.
The raw numbers suggest that
Bauman has not been at the same
level as his elite-caliber
rivals at unfamiliar venues,
however, over half of the time
in question was spent developing
the KTM, which proved something
of a weekly rollercoaster ride
regardless of locale.
Robinson, meanwhile, took two
podiums in those ten races, a
number equaled by Jarod
VanDerKooi (No. 20
Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown
Racing KTM 790 Duke), another
key player with a chance to step
up to meet the opportunity
presented by this weekend.
Fisher…
Absent from that list is
Davis Fisher (No. 67
Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s
BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke). That
said, over the course of his
career, Fisher has always been
more likely to finish fourth,
fifth, or sixth, than first,
second, or third.
Or he always was,
anyway.
However unlikely, Fisher has
stepped his game up right from
the jump in a transition from
Indian to KTM that appeared
daunting from the outside. As it
stands, he’s already looking
like a bigger threat on the Duke
than he ever was on the FTR750.
He comes to Lucas Oil Speedway
with two podiums and four top
fours in five races. Last time
out, he finished second –
trailing only Bauman and ranking
ahead of Daniels.
In terms of the points, he now
sits third – trailing only
Bauman and Daniels, and ranking
ahead of Robinson, VDK, and
everyone else.
As he’s been uniformly strong at
pretty much every variety of
Short Track presented thus far
this season, there’s little
reason to think he’ll be
anything but at Wheatland.
Who else could compete for a
podium this weekend? The
standings point to James
Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing
Yamaha MT-07), Max Whale
(No. 18 Moto Anatomy X
Powered by Royal Enfield 650),
Trent Lowe (No. 48
American Honda/Progressive
Insurance Honda Transalp), and
Dan Bromley
(No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson
Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), the
riders who rank sixth through
ninth, respectively.
They’ve all had their moments
this season, and each one has a
story supporting their efforts:
Ott as a premier-class rookie,
while Whale, Lowe, and Bromley
have collectively shone a
spotlight on the diversity of
equipment currently enjoyed by
the class in its first season as
an all-production-based
showcase.
…Price
Unfortunately, Brandon
Price will not be in
that mix. Last week, he
announced that he's chosen to
step away from the sport on the
advice of his doctors.
If that’s it and Price never
enters another Progressive AFT
event, he can look back on an
impressive career in the sport
with pride.
He’s destined to go down as one
of the best to have never won a
premier-class Main Event. During
his run, Price earned Mission
AFT SuperTwins runner-up
finishes in four separate
seasons, while coming within a
second of victory more times
than that.
Not too shabby for a
premier-class career that almost
never happened.
If you’ll recall, Price, who
finished second in the 2017
AFT Singles presented by
KICKER championship,
was leading the ‘18 title fight
before suffering a catastrophic
fall at the Springfield TT.
In that crash, he was knocked
unconscious, broke his scapula,
bruised his lungs, lacerated his
liver, and suffered a subdural
hematoma that required a hole be
drilled in his skull to relieve
the pressure. After regaining
consciousness a couple days
later, doctors informed him he
was unlikely to ever race
again.
Instead, he returned to action
later that season, stepped up to
the premier class the next year,
and proceeded to give some of
the greatest riders in the
sport’s history serious fits
with regularity.
Well done, Brandon.
On the bright side, Price’s
absence provides an opening for
another deserving rider in
Declan Bender
(No. 70 Memphis Shades/Luczak
Racing Yamaha MT-07), who
assumes his vacated seat at On
the Box Racing.
Bender found his form late in
his first professional season in
2023, scoring three finishes of
seventh or better in the final
four races to steal away AFT
Singles Rookie of the Year
honors.
He nearly pulled the same trick
in his rookie Mission AFT
SuperTwins campaign a year ago,
registering six top tens over
the final seven races –
including a fourth at the Black
Hills Half-Mile – to secure a
top-ten championship ranking.
Despite that impressive debut
season, Bender was left without
a ride for 2025. Credit him for
staying fit and ready, as proven
by a couple top tens in AFT
Singles spot duty.
Now he’s back where he
belongs.
It’s a Whole Vibe
Fans in attendance this weekend
will have an opportunity to
experience all that Progressive
AFT and Lucas Oil Speedway have
to offer, both on the track and
off.
The Fan Party –
complete with a Rider
Q&A session – will run
from 5:00 p.m. local time right
up until opening Ceremonies at
7:00 p.m.
A DJ will keep the energy levels
high between sessions, and a
fireworks display will close out
the evening’s festivities.
Additionally, spectators can
enjoy on-site go-karting, the
Kids Zone, the Diamond Bar, a
multitude of vendors lining the
midway, Jumbotron viewing,
designated motorcycle parking,
and a variety of food and
beverage options.
Ticket Talk
General Admission
Grandstand tickets for
the Short Track at Lucas
Oil Speedway are just
$25 (kids 12 and under free with
a paid adult ticket), while
Reserved Grandstand
tickets are available for $40
(all ages). Students can
purchase a GA Grandstand
ticket for just $20 at the gate
the day of the event with a
valid ID.
There are multiple options to
enjoy the facility’s 21 VIP
Luxury Suites, starting with an
Individual Suite
ticket ($99), which includes a
private outdoor box seat along
with access to the indoor
lounge.
Private Indoor Suites
are available for groups of up
to 18 ($2000) and 30 ($3000),
both of which include infield
group experience with a guided
tour of the infield podium and
start/finish line, photo op
included, and early race viewing
from the infield.
Also available for purchase is
the Opening Ceremonies
Trackside Fan Experience
($99), which includes reserved
seating, a guided tour of the
infield podium and start/finish
line, photo op included, and
up-close viewing of Opening
Ceremonies and a portion of the
night’s race action.
Finally, fans have the option to
purchase the Practice
Viewing Trackside Fan Experience
as a $25 upgrade to a GA
Grandstand or Reserved
Grandstand ticket, which
provides a guided tour of the
infield podium and start/finish
line, photo op included, and
up-close viewing of a practice
session.
Visit
https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2025-lucas-oil-short-track-141381
to reserve your seats today.
Gates will open for fans at 3:00
p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT with
Opening Ceremonies scheduled to
begin at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m.
PT.
How to Watch
FloRacing
For those that can’t catch the
live action from the circuit,
FloRacing is
the live streaming home of
Progressive AFT. Motorsports
fans can subscribe to FloRacing
to enjoy over 1,000 live
motorsports events in 2025.
FloSports is available by
visiting
https://flosports.link/aft
or by downloading the FloSports
app on iOS, Android, Apple TV,
Roku, Amazon Fire and
Chromecast.
FS1
FOX Sports
coverage of the Short
Track at Lucas Oil Speedway,
featuring in-depth features and
thrilling onboard cameras, will
premiere on FS1
on Sunday, June 15,
at 11:00 a.m. ET
(8:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on
Progressive AFT visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com.
