Weather permitting, there are a maximum of three rounds remaining of 2021 AFT season, and it's still all to race for in at least two of the classes.
There was all kinds of controversy at the previous round, the Springfield Mile. In the Singles, Dallas Daniels was awarded a win, without crossing the finish line, when he was in a collision with Honda' Trevor Brunner, and a red flag caused the race to conclude. Daniels backed it up with another win, and leapfrogged Max Whale to the top of the standings.
The Singles #1, and undoubted dirt track phenomenon, Daniels then raced two days of AFT Production Twins, the races being held on Sunday and Monday, when Saturday was a complete wash-out. He won both those too, and the two $5000 Babe DeMay Memorial /Memphis Shades Prod Twins Dashes. Series leader and SB46 cover star, Cory Texter, didn't have the greatest results, by his recent standards, with a 7th and 4th, but his closest rival, Dan Bromley, had even worse results, so C-Tex strengthened his hold on a second Production Twins title in three seasons. It's as good as a done deal.
It was in SuperTwins where there was some serious needle. Jared Mees was accused of making an illegal swerve across the track in the run to the line on day one, when he moved into the path of those closely drafting him. Reigning champ, and series leader, Briar Bauman called Mees out for the move on the podium. Seven-time GNC champ Chris Carr agreed with Bauman's view and was unequivocal in his criticism, on his Carr of Two Wheels podcast, saying moves like that had to be nipped in the bud before someone got badly hurt.
It was just changing lines on the run to the straight that caused concern. Jeffrey Carver, among others, where using the low-to-high line, where the majority of the field were running high for whole lap. This caused heart in mouth moments when the low and high lines intersected, at high speed, on the corner exits. Carver appeared to nudge Brandon Price at close to full speed, when Price was already virtually on the outside wall.
The main for day two was very different, at the front at least. Mees broke the draft and left the pack for dead. A red flag was brought out when veteran rider Pat Buchanan slid out, unharmed. It looked like Mees would have a tougher fight, but he broke away again. His win was so comprehensive another unnamed team protested his win, doubting the legality of his crank weight. The number 9 bike passed the inspection and the protest was dismissed.
With three rounds to go, Briar Bauman leads Mees by 8pts. Bauman has never won the SacMile. Mees has, and Bauman needs to stop Mees winning both of them.
The action for all three of Progressive AFT's classes - Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle, AFT Production Twins presented by Vance & Hines and AFT Singles - will kick off at 4:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. PT) on Saturday and again at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) on Sunday.
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Photo: Scott Hunter/AFT