Victory for Tom Drane at Daytona Flat Track Singles after race one disaster

2024 Progressive American Flat Track Championship
Daytona I & II

Images by Kristen Lassen, Hunter Scott

Double AFT Singles champion Kody Kopp kicked off the new season in perfect fashion claiming the Daytona I win just days after joining the Rick Ware Racing outfit. The same couldn’t be said for Tom Drane who was taken out by another rider on the final lap.

While Kopp claimed the chequered flag running alone in the end, it wasn’t quite as simple as that sounds. Despite grabbing the holeshot, Kopp was actually overhauled by former class champ Dalton Gauthier before completing the first lap.

Gauthier then pulled some space at the front while Kopp had his hands full with projected title rivals Tom Drane and Chase Saathoff. But Kopp found his groove at mid-distance, putting in a charge that allowed him to reclaim the lead and power forward to secure the victory by 1.502 seconds over Gauthier.

Kody Kopp

“We just kept our heads on straight the whole offseason,” said Kopp. “I love this track, and I love Daytona. Huge shout out to Rick Ware for coming on the program a little over a week ago. We pulled it together, and we got a win tonight. Wally Brown built one heck of a KTM 450 – arguably even better than the factory bikes I might say.”

Meanwhile, the final spot on the box went to neither Drane – who crashed on the last lap and was ultimately credited in 15th – nor Saathoff. Rather, it was Trent Lowe who finished third by battling his way back through the pack after being pushed wide and well down the order in the early stages of the Main.

Saathoff finished fourth another 0.309 seconds back with Justin Jones rounding out the top five.

Tyler Raggio, James Ott, Travis Petton IV, Jared Lowe, and Logan Eisenhard finished sixth through tenth, respectively.

AFT Singles Main Result – Daytona I

Daytona II – AFT Singles

Tom Drane rebounded from his Thursday disappointment to claim a dominating win in Friday’s AFT Singles 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.

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Meanwhile, triple Daytona ST winner and double defending class champion Kody Kopp moved up from third into second after working past impressive sophomore Logan Eisenhard 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.

Tom Drane

“Daytona Short Track Day 1 started out great. Taking the win in my heat and getting pole for the main event. Unfortunately, I was taken out by another rider on the last lap. Leaving me frustrated. Went in to Day 2 refocused and was able to bring home the win in not only the heat race and the dash but also the Main event for my team. Putting the Estenson racing monster Energy Yamaha on the podium for my first ever Short track win felt amazing.”

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 and Chase Saathoff 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, Aiden RoosEvans, and James Ott running just behind in close formation.

Heralded rookie Evan Renshaw finished ninth, one spot in front of his charging Turner Honda teammate, Trent Lowe, whose early-race crash prompted the aforementioned red flag.

AFT Singles Main Result – Daytona II

AFT Singles Standings – Top 20

Mission SuperTwins – Daytona I

The opening Mission SuperTwins victory of the 2024 Progressive American Flat Track season went to Dallas Daniels in the Royal Enfield Short Track at DAYTONA I that contained far more drama than Daniels’ final 3.769-second margin of victory would seem to indicate.

For much of the night – including the opening half of the Main Event – the fans that packed the Daytona International Speedway Flat Track grandstands thought they just might just witness Sammy Halbert give the iconic Harley-Davidson XR750 its 503rd Grand National Championship race win more than five decades after its first.

In fact, Halbert topped a session in both practice and qualifying, won his heat race, and then proved victorious in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge aboard the venerable machine. He followed that up by grabbing the holeshot in the Main Event and then stretching open more than a second’s worth of padding at the front.

That advantage was further aided by the stiff fight Brandon Price provided all comers while running second despite the likes of Daniels, Brandon Robinson, and Briar Bauman all seeking a way through.

Daniels finally managed to make a pass that stuck a little over six minutes remaining on the clock and immediately went about eating up the gap to Halbert. However, what promised to be a thrilling dogfight for victory was spoiled when Halbert’s machine began to smoke heavily with half of the race still remaining.

The Estenson Racing Yamaha ace dove through to steal away first. Moments later, the black flag was (first) shown to Halbert, who continued to push for several laps before finally heeding the instruction.

Halbert’s misfortune saw Price move back up into second with Bauman third, while Daniels weaved his way through traffic out front en route to victory.

Dallas Daniels

“This track was so technical. It was nothing like last year where you could just kinda go in and get it on. What a ride for the team. We kind of struggled all day, and I was just chipping away. I started catching up to Sammy, and he started to blow up and coolant was getting in my face. (Once in front), I started looking back a lot. For some reason I got nervous, but the last five laps, I really buckled down and those were my fastest laps of the race. After Springfield, we left a little bitter. It didn’t feel good. That whole offseason we worked hard. To get three in a row at Daytona feels good. That Main Event, I had so much fun plugging away. I would prefer to get the holeshot and be out front but being able to come through and dig my way to the front felt good.”

Price held on for a most welcome runner-up finish in his all-new team’s maiden outing, while Robinson moved through on a fading Bauman to earn the final spot on the podium.

In fact, Bauman’s tumble down the order wouldn’t end there, as he was also displaced by Davis Fisher, nine-time Grand National Champion Jared Mees, and Jarod Vanderkooi before finishing seventh in the end.

Cameron Smith picked up eighth, one spot ahead of Dan Bromley, who took ninth in the new Honda-powered effort’s debut. Mission SuperTwins rookie Trevor Brunner completed the top ten.

SuperTwins Main Result – Daytona I

Daytona II – Mission SuperTwins

Brandon Robinson successfully defended his adopted home turf at Daytona II, having to overcome potential Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, history in order to do so, forced to chase down an in-form Sammy Halbert to get the win.

Halbert actually led the opening six-and-a-half minutes of the Main Event after earlier winning his heat race and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge a full 53 years, 10 months, and five days after Mert Lawwill took the iconic Harley-Davidson XR750 to its maiden win at the Cumberland Half-Mile.

Following an extended pursuit, the Mission Roof Systems pilot finally dove up the inside of Dodge Bros.-backed Halbert, who then was thrown out of his saddle after encountering a bump while off his usual line. Undeterred, Halbert nearly clawed his way back within striking distance before at last conceding the race to Robinson in its final minute.

The victory was the fourth of Robinson’s career at the DAYTONA Short Track, moving him equal with Friday adversary Halbert for most all-time at the event. Afterward, Robinson, who originally hails from Pennsylvania but now resides just fifteen minutes from the World Center of Racing, unsurprisingly professed his affection for the track.

Brandon Robinson

“This feels amazing. It feels like forever since I’ve won a race. Going winless last year really (made me angry) to be honest. I came to the Main with a chip on my shoulder. I love this place. I love Daytona. Something about this dirt – it’s the greatest dirt in the world as far as I’m concerned… This is a dream ending to the week.”

Dallas Daniels, himself the winner of the three prior premier-class showdowns at the venue, battled with Robinson and hunted Halbert over the Main’s opening half before falling into the clutches of the resurgent Briar Bauman.

The two then traded third multiple times – a melee complete with crisscrossing lines and squared-up counters – before Daniels laid claim on the spot for good. He finished a little more than a second ahead of Bauman with reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees not far behind in fifth.

Sixth went to Davis Fisher a short distance ahead of Jarod Vanderkooi in seventh. Premier-class rookies Trevor Brunner and Max Whale finished eighth and tenth, respectively, with Thursday runner-up Brandon Price sandwiched in between.

Max Whale

“Daytona ST was a blast so cool to race in the big boys class, not the best results but was a huge learning curve. Night 1 had a mechanical and night 2 ended up 10th. Look forward to learning and improving on the new bike! Can’t wait for the next one in 2 weeks time at Senoia, GA. Huge thank you goes out to my whole team and awesome sponsors for all their support.”

SuperTwins Main Result – Daytona II

SuperTwins Standings – Top 20