The roar of partiers at the Sturgis Rally was joined Tuesday night by the roar of AFT SuperTwins bikes at the Black Hills Half-Mile event in Rapid City, South Dakota. With points leader Dallas Daniels out of action after suffering a leg fracture in testing, the rest of the field was gunning for the top spot on the podium.
The top three riders at the Black Hills event were Indian Motorcycle’s Jared Mees (1 point behind Daniels) and Brandon Robinson, along with KTM’s Briar Bauman, who took victory at the previous race at the Peoria TT.
But it was Daniels’ replacement rider, JD Beach, who took the surprise victory in Rapid City, scampering away at the green flag and never headed during the race. Mees offered the biggest challenge to Beach, but he had to settle for the runner-up position to earn his fifth consecutive podium finish and the series points lead. Robinson finished in 3rd place, earning enough points to vault him to 2nd place in the championship title fight, 17 points behind Mees.
The AFT crews have a short break in the action, resuming on Sunday at the new Sturgis TT round that will take place on the streets of downtown Sturgis. It should be a barn-burner!
AFT Sturgis Double-Header Preview
More information in the AFT press release below, including results from the AFT Singles class.
Beach, Drane Complete Estenson Racing Black Hills Half-Mile Sweep
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 6, 2024) – Consider the rust sufficiently shaken off. In just his second race back, super sub JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) claimed a hugely impressive victory on Tuesday night in Rapid City, South Dakota, winning the Black Hills Harley-Davidson Black Hills Half-Mile presented by The City of Sturgis, Round 12 of the Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
Beach blasted into the lead at the green light of the Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event at Black Hills Speedway, followed closely by full-time Grand National Championship contenders Jared Mees (No. 1 Rogers Racing/SDI Racing/Indian Motorcycle FTR750), Briar Bauman (No. 3 Rick Ware Racing/KTM/Parts Plus KTM 790 Duke), and Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), along with the day’s fastest rider in qualifying, Chad Cose (No. 49 Indian Motorcycle of Oklahoma City/G&G Racing Indian FTR750).
Robinson found an outside line to his liking and used it to rip around Cose, Bauman, and Mees in rapid succession. However, his attempt to do so for first tipped the leader off, and Beach promptly used the same line himself to secure his position at the front.
Mees stuck with the low line and made it work well enough to counter Robinson and then take the fight to Beach. Beach again adapted, running high in Turns 1-2 and low in Turns 3-4, a combination that gradually broke the challenge of the nine-time series king.
Beach’s victory was his first-ever Half-Mile triumph, moving him to within just a Mile victory of the elusive old-school Grand Slam. His performance also makes him a good bet to sweep Progressive AFT’s 84th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally doubleheader, as he comes armed with a skillset that seems perfectly suited for Sunday’s race in the Streets of Downtown Sturgis.
Beach said, “A goal of mine since I was a kid was to get a Grand Slam; I’ve got a Superbike win, I’ve got a Short Track win, I’ve got a TT win, and now I’ve got the Half-Mile. I can’t thank the team enough. We chipped away at it all day long. In the race, I knew I was going to stick to the bottom until someone tried to go around the outside of me. I saw Brandon go up top so I did too and I saw Jared going to the bottom in 3 and 4, so I was going up top, down low, up top, down low. It was working so good. To get this win is just amazing.”
Mees kept Beach honest to the checkered flag and was rewarded with his fifth consecutive podium. Tuesday’s second was more than enough to push him past the injured Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) and put Mees at the head of the Mission AFT SuperTwins title fight for the first time all season long.
Robinson was unable to keep up his early heroics, eventually dropping to nearly five seconds back of the win. However, that still kept him on the podium and firmly in the championship fight, where he now ranks second, 17 points back of Mees (236-219).
Rookies Declan Bender (No. 70 GOMR/BriggsAuto.com/Martin Trucking Indian FTR750) and Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Mission Foods/Zanotti Racing Indian FTR750) continued their impressive second halves, claiming career-best results of fourth and fifth, respectively.
Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Ohio Indian FTR750) was fractionally behind the up-and-coming duo in sixth, while Cose closed out his head-turning day in seventh.
Brandon Price (No. 92 Memphis Shades/Sody Ent/OTBR Yamaha MT-07) came home eighth, Bauman ended his fade down the order in ninth, and Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) rounded out the top 10.
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) was in imperious form while notching up the fourth victory of his 2024 Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER campaign.
The Australian got away in second, one spot behind defending champion and current points leader Kody Kopp (No. 1 Rick Ware Racing/Parts Plus KTM 450 SX-F),but wasted little time in deposing his highly decorated rival for the lead.
Meanwhile, Chase Saathoff (No. 88 JPG Motorsports Honda CRF450R) – winner of the most recent two races coming into Rapid City – dropped to fifth from pole off the line. Once in third, he found the fight harder than did Drane to move through on Kopp and claim second, the champ rebuffing multiple attempts by Saathoff to squeak by up the inside.
That constant pressure finally worked in Saathoff’s favor, however, as Kopp eventually made a mistake in defense of the position. Saathoff pounced the moment Kopp ran slightly off line, allowing him to turn his attention to the escaping Drane.
But even with clear air ahead of him, the JPG Motorsports pilot could do nothing but watch the Estenson Racing runner continue to clear off at the front. Drane ultimately claimed a 1.999-second margin of victory over Saathoff with Kopp another 1.601 seconds back in third.
“We’ve just been working our butts off all day, trying to learn different things throughout the day,” Drane said. “We finally found a setting that really worked for us and were able to use it out there. I just couldn’t have done it without my whole Estenson Racing Monster Energy team, who put in all this hard work to get us back on the top step.”
Behind the lead trio, Tyler Raggio (No. 55 Raggio Racing/Sluggo Racing KTM 450 SX-F) worked his way past veteran frontrunners James Ott (No. 19 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) and Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) to secure a career-best finish of fourth.
Tarren Santero (No. 75 Vinson Construction/P&M Motorcycles Honda CRF450R) rounded out a strong day with a run to seventh, with Evan Renshaw (No. 265 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Jared Lowe (No. 63 BigR/Little Debbie Racing Honda CRF450R), and Travis Petton IV (No. 82 ECG Racing/A.M Ortega KTM 450 SX-F) completing the top ten.
While Drane and Saathoff continued to inch their way closer in the championship hunt with each successive win, Kopp is still well and firmly in control. He continues to lead by a full race haul of 25 points with 264 to Saathoff’s 239. Drane is eight points further adrift at 231, while Lowe is a distant fourth, now nearly 100 points back of Kopp at 168. Earlier, Taia Little (No. 11 Royal Enfield INT650) fought her way to a second victory of the season at the conclusion of a four-rider scrap at the front of the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. (BTR) Main Event.
Next Up
In just five days, Progressive American Flat Track will take to the Streets of Downtown Sturgis for the Arrowhead Brass Sturgis TT presented by Rick Ware Racing & The CAT Rental Store on Sunday, August 11. Attendance is free of charge.
For those who can’t catch the action from the circuit, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of the on-track action, from the first practice to the victory podium.
FOX Sports coverage of the Black Hills Harley-Davidson Black Hills Half-Mile presented by The City of Sturgis, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, August 11, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT).
For more information, visit the Progressive AFT website.
