Mission AFT SuperTwins rider
Briar Bauman (3) leads Dallas
Daniels (32) and the rest of the
field at the Lima Half-Mile.
[Photo: American Flat
Track/Tim Lester]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(June 28, 2025) – Briar Bauman
(No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus
Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R)
immediately stole the initiative
back from Mission AFT
SuperTwins title rival
Dallas Daniels
(No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha
MT-07 DT) in the tense rematch
that was Saturday evening’s
Lima Half-Mile II,
Round 7 of the
2025 Progressive American Flat
Track season,
sanctioned by AMA Pro
Racing.
While the opening lap featured a
four-wide charge down the
Allen County Fairgrounds
backstretch, it wasn’t long
before Bauman blasted away at
the front. Meanwhile, Daniels
was headed in the opposite
direction, falling back to third
and looking incapable of
matching the torrid pace
required to fight for victory.
As the two-time Grand
National Champion
Bauman steadily
built up a two-second-plus
advantage in first, Daniels
eventually found his groove and
worked his way around
Brandon Robinson (No.
44 Mission Roof Systems
Harley-Davidson XG750R) to take
control of second.
Daniels continued his charge
forward, picking up a tenth here
and there on the leader,
gradually reducing that gap
until it was back under a second
with a minute remaining on the
clock.
Despite the Estenson Racing star
further ratcheting up the
pressure and closing in nearly
to within striking distance on
the final lap, Bauman stayed
steady and streaked past the
checkered flag 0.383 seconds
before his rival.
Besides taking the momentum back
from Daniels, the victory also
saw Bauman complete the
remarkable feat of securing four
Lima Half-Mile wins on four
different makes of equipment
(Kawasaki, Indian, KTM, and
Harley-Davidson).
After scoring his 30th
premier-class victory, Bauman
said, “That was a battle. Well,
it wasn’t a battle. I got clean
air, and I didn’t really want to
do that tonight. I think it was
harder to lead than it was to
follow in the second half of the
race because you could see what
the guy in front of you was
doing and maybe inch up a little
bit. Dallas did that quick. If
he would have had a few more
laps, he probably would have had
me, but he didn’t.
“Man, I was going to win last
night – I know I was – but the
clutch went out. I was pretty
bitter. I wanted to win tonight
really bad, and the Rick Ware
Racing/Parts Plus/Latus Motors
team did such a good job with
this thing.”
What figured to be a lonely ride
to third proved anything but for
Robinson. Late in the race, he
was hounded by the
Declan Bender (No. 70
Memphis Shades/Corbin/OTB Racing
Yamaha MT-07), who earlier
escaped a battle with
James Ott (No. 19 G&G
Racing Yamaha MT-07) and
Jarod VanDerKooi (No.
20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown
Racing KTM 790 Duke) to give
Robinson fits for the final spot
on the podium.
Bender momentarily fought past
into third on more than one
occasion but couldn’t quite make
the pass stick, having to accept
(a still highly impressive)
fourth in what was a memorable
debut weekend with On the Box
Racing.
Ott carried on to fifth while
VDK was dropped to seventh by
Trent Lowe (No.
48 American Honda/Progressive
Insurance Honda Transalp).
Dan Bromley
(No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson
Construction Suzuki GSX-8S),
Max Whale (No.
18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by
Royal Enfield 650), and
Davis Fisher (No. 67
Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s
BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke)
completed the top ten.
Bauman now leads Daniels 149-139
in what’s shaping up to be a
spectacular duel. Robinson is
once again up third at 102,
following a difficult weekend
for Fisher, who has dropped back
to fourth at 93.
AFT Singles presented by
KICKER
With two victories in two days,
Tom Drane (No.
59 Estenson Racing Yamaha
YZ450F) has at last unlocked the
form so many expected from him
in 2025. That’s a scary prospect
indeed for the opposition,
considering the ‘locked’ version
was already leading the
AFT Singles presented by KICKER
title chase.
On Friday, Drane built upon the
impressive 2024 Lima performance
that saw him defeat Kody Kopp
here a year ago, running strong
all day and claiming two of the
three Mission Triple
Challenge Main Events
to secure the overall victory.
He elevated his game to yet
another level on Saturday.
Before the race, chief rival
Chase Saathoff
(No. 88 RWR/Parts Plus Honda
CRF450R) said he had to get the
holeshot to have a shot. He
accomplished that goal but could
still do nothing but watch as
Drane shot through in the race’s
third corner. The Estenson
Racing pilot then proceeded to
ride off into the distance to
the tune of a 5.419-second
margin of victory.
Afterward, Drane said, “That was
a really good race. I just put
my head down from the very
start. I knew I had the pace to
do it. I just had to get a break
and get away as fast as I could.
I didn’t want to get into any
battles. I wanted to get out
front, have my clear air, and
pull away.”
Saathoff was forced to turn his
attention behind instead of
ahead just to hold down second.
That proved a stout challenge in
itself with heralded rookie
Walker Porter
(No. 100 American Honda/Mission
Foods CRF450R) scrapping for
second in the early going while
clocking the fastest lap of the
race.
Porter’s more experienced
teammate, Trevor Brunner
(No. 21 American
Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R),
then took the baton and
pressured Saathoff to the flag,
finishing just 0.184 seconds
behind in third.
Porter found himself caught up
in a spirited three-way fight
for fourth with fellow rookie
sensation Kage Tadman
(No. 288 Roof Systems/Old Oak
Ranch KTM 450 SX-F) and the
rolling Aidan RoosEvans
(No. 26 FRA Trust/ATV’s and More
Yamaha YZ450F).
Two-time winner Tadman
ultimately claimed the spot,
while Porter worked back past
RoosEvans to collect a debut
weekend top five.
Evan Renshaw
(No. 65 1st Impressions Race
Team Husqvarna FC450) fought his
way from the LCQ to seventh
while Bradon Pfanders
(No. 83 Hannum’s HD/Pfanders
Racing KTM 450 SX-F) and couple
more rookies in Ryder
Reese (No. 244 Mission
Foods/Roof Systems KTM 450 SX-F)
and Skylar Sentell
(No. 249 Hoffer
Performance/Stauffer Motors KTM
450 SX-F) provided even more
evidence that the future of the
sport is bright indeed by
finishing eighth through tenth,
respectively.
As a result of his huge weekend,
Drane now leads Saathoff by 16
points (130-114). Brunner
remains third at 98.
Next Up:
Progressive American Flat Track
will do battle at a high-speed
Mile for the first time this
season with the Memphis
Shades DuQuoin Mile, at
the DuQuoin State
Fairgrounds in DuQuoin,
Illinois, next Saturday, July 5.
Visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com/events/2025/view/du-quoin-mile-2025
to secure your tickets today.
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
https://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports
coverage of the Lima
Half-Mile I, featuring
in-depth features and thrilling
onboard cameras, will premiere
on FS1 on
Saturday, July 5,
at 9:30 a.m. ET
(6:30 a.m. PT), with the
Lima Half-Mile II
scheduled to air one week later,
on Saturday, July 12,
at 10:00 a.m. ET
(7:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on
Progressive AFT visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com.
