The day or two before the start of every recent American Flat Track season, AFT has had a media day, where it commissions a photo crew to set up camp and shoot the main players in the two main classes in a studio setting.
All the televised sports series do it, mainly so shows can have drop-in graphics of riders during coverage. Any sports fan will have seen this kind of staged photo used a 1000 times. They focus on the more high-profile riders, understandably, taking more time to shoot them with their bikes and with sponsors items, like bags of Mission Foods snacks. Sideburn has access to the photos and I was trying to find a specific shot the other day when I came across a folder of headshots, that seem to cover nearly every rider who entered the Daytona race (and were able to be found during the photo slots). The series of photos captures a moment in time and it's some of the more peripheral/up and coming riders who stood out the most, because they allowed me to put more names to faces. Some were unfamiliar, but they're also less perfectly polished than the factory riders, who regular race fans all over the world are already very familiar with, helmet on or off.
Some of the riders are so fresh-faced the photos look like those from a High School yearbook, except for the logo-splattered leathers. Another thing that really jumped out was how some of the hair length and facial fur meant that a few of these riders' current style would make them fit perfectly into a Rookie class of the mid-70s. Hope you enjoy looingk at this bunch of hopefuls (and a handful of seasoned pros for balance) as much as I did. I've included some info taken from AFT's rider bios where available.
Top photo:
Name: Cole Zabala
2023 class: AFT Singles
Home state: Indiana
Year of birth: 1998
Words: Gary Inman
Photos: American Flat Track
Reece Pottorf
AFT Singles
N/A
N/A
Ben Lowe
AFT SuperTwins
Michigan
1996
Jess Reynolds
AFT Singles
Pennsylvania
2003
Michael Hill
AFT SuperTwins
Oregon
2000
Cameron Smith
AFT SuperTwins
Pennsylvania
1999
Logan Eisenhard
AFT Singles
Pennsylvania
N/A
Justin Jones
AFT Singles
New York
1996
Logan McGrane
AFT Singles
Pennsylvania
N/A
Mitchell Harvat
AFT SuperTwins
Pennsylvania
1991
Aidan Brown
AFT Singles
Kentucky
N/A
Bronson Bauman
AFT SuperTwins
California
1997
Jordan Jean
AFT Singles
Michigan
N/A
Shayna Texter-Bauman
AFT Singles
Pennsylvania
1991
Andrew Luker
AFT Singles
California
1998
Ian Wolfe
AFT Singles
N/A
N/A
Jared Lowe
AFT Singles
Indiana
2004
Damon Ream
AFT Singles
Pennsylvania
2001
Brandon Newman
AFT SuperTwins
N/A
N/A
American Flat Track returns THIS SATURDAY with the Texas Half-Mile, Devil's Bowl Speedway. Get tickets through americanflattrack.com or livestream/catch-up with fanschoice.tv