| July 30, 2024
In another universe, Dallas Daniels scored a huge victory in front of his home fans at Peoria to keep his perfect season’s podium record intact while firing up the coronation proceedings for his first Grand National Championship in earnest. But in the universe in which we occupy, Daniels was unable to participate at Peoria, a championship-leading-sized absence forced about after the emerging superstar broke his femur training for the all-important final-stretch run.
Briar Bauman (3) had time to enjoy taking the checkered flag out in front at the Peoria TT.
By Chris Martin | Photos by Tim Lester
While a crushing blow for Daniels and Estenson Racing Yamaha alike after the young master had worked his way into a powerful position in the Mission AFT SuperTwins title fight, the team was not left completely toothless at Peoria.
In fact, they were able to recruit the best possible one-off substitute rider this or any other universe had to offer: JD Beach, who ranks among the sport’s all-time greatest TT riders and was the winner of the previous three Peoria TTs.
However, even while racing in the series full-time and earning eight of the most recent 10 TT victories, Beach occasionally found himself pushed to the brink by two-time Grand National Champion Briar Bauman, particularly in Peoria, where Bauman had finished second to him three years running and beaten him straight up in 2019.
JD Beach filled in for the injured Dallas Daniels. Despite not having ridden flat track all year, the TT ace placed second in the final.
How much rust Beach would need to shake off after spending the entire 2024 season focused on his MotoAmerica Superbike endeavors and still be able to hope to get the better of his rival was an open question.
That question was answered decisively about three minutes into Sunday’s main event: far more than he could hope to shed in a single day.
“Briar just rode a great race,” Beach said. “I’m going to use the excuse until the day I die that he only beat me because I haven’t been racing on these things all year, but he rode a great race. He broke that gap, and really, there was nothing I could do with it. From that point on, I just wanted to get back here up on the box and give the team a podium for letting me ride this bike. It was a hard race; this track was difficult today. But I just got to thank the team for letting me do this race. I really enjoyed it, and we’ll see where we go from here.”
Jared Mees (1) started off strong but ended up finishing third. The flat track legend still seeks his first win at the Peoria TT.
Nine-time Grand National Champion Jared Mees, whose chances to secure an unprecedented 10th premier-class crown improved substantially in the wake of Daniels’ misfortune, had plenty of motivation to win himself. A seven-time runner-up at the historic race, Mees had never stood atop the podium at Peoria, one of the very few of the sport’s major milestones he’d yet to accomplish.
And with all eyes on Beach and Bauman, Mees stormed into the lead off the line and held it for the opening lap, even after blasting up onto the grass banking in the run to the jump. But the factory Indian ace couldn’t hold off Bauman’s Rick Ware Racing KTM for long, with his old rival striking early on the second lap and then putting his head down at the front.
Beach was desperate to work his way around as well, lest Bauman escape. It took him a few circulations before he managed to overhaul the champ, and once he did, Bauman had pulled several tenths at the front, not exactly ideal but still a manageable day’s work.
However, even with only the carrot of Bauman’s rear wheel in front of him, Beach’s position became less and less ideal, and the gap more and more unmanageable as the laps stacked.
While he lost a small bit of ground on Jared Mees, who inherited the inside track to the title following Dallas Daniels’ injury, it was only a small bit of ground thanks to a career-best fifth place for Brandon Robinson.
Three minutes in, Bauman had more than a second in hand. The lead was up to two seconds less than a minute later. It increased to over three by the race’s halfway point, and expanded beyond eight seconds as the race reached its conclusion—at least until Bauman coasted onto the start-finish-line straight for the final time and wheelied his way past the checkered flag to seal a 4.569-second margin of victory.
Bauman said, “I got a good start, passed Jared, and took off. The bike was super good today. I wish we could find a little more consistency because I suck on the ovals, but we’re going to take this where we can get it.
“Beating JD today, you want it to count, but I don’t think it does. He hasn’t been on a flat track bike all year, so I could tell he was a little bit uncomfortable.”
In fact, it says plenty about Beach’s TT brilliance that a flat track victory fresh from the pavement seemed even semi-realistic. As it was, a runner-up result in these circumstances is still a rather remarkable achievement.
Mees held on for third to move to within a single point of Daniels in the title fight, 216-215. With Daniels certain to miss multiple rounds, if not the remainder of the season, that’s a de facto lead for the reigning champion, albeit not as large of one as might have been expected.
Bauman, Beach and Mees made up the Peoria TT SuperTwins podium.
Behind Mees, JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford’s Jarod Vanderkooi earned his fourth consecutive Peoria TT top five in fourth. But more relevant to Mees’ bigger picture concerns was a position further back where Brandon Robinson outperformed his one-time reputation as a TT dilettante to score a first-career Peoria top five.
That showing kept the Mission Roof Systems pilot within 14 points of Mees (215-201), setting up a genuine title fight over the series’ final five events. Bauman, too, is not completely out of it, now 23 points behind (192) with some favorable venues still to come.
Mission Foods/Zanotti Racing’s Trevor Brunner strengthened the standing of his Rookie of the Year bid over GOMR’s Declan Bender, taking a sixth-place finish to his rivals’ ninth. Third rookie Max Whale powered the Latus Motors Harley-Davidson to seventh, equaling his best result of the season. Meanwhile, Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher (eighth) and RVR/Schaeffer’s Motorsports’ Cameron Smith (10th) completed the top 10.
Chase Saathoff (88) leads Tom Drane (59) and Kody Kopp (1) in the Singles final.
AFT Singles
With no prior TT winners in the field, pre-race-favorite status fell to double defending class champion Kody Kopp and Estenson Racing’s Tom Drane after they pulled clear in last year’s Peoria TT before a pair of red flags stripped them of their would-be victories.
The fact that they’d combined for eight of 10 wins this season didn’t hurt, nor did their shared motivation to become just the fourth rider in Parts Unlimited AFT Singles history to claim a Grand Slam of victories across all four disciplines in the class.
And those odds continued to lean in their favor throughout the day, with the two running 1-2 in qualifying and winning their respective heats.
However, Illinois native Chase Saathoff had other ideas, coming into Peoria riding high after winning the DuQuoin Mile in what he hoped would prove the first leg of a home-state double.
Saathoff held off the defending champ Kopp to take his third Singles win of the year.
The JPG Motorsports pilot showed plenty of aggression early to overhaul Drane despite a sliding and bucking machine underneath him. Once in front, he continued to charge, opening a half-second advantage over Kopp and Drane.
However, that lead was struck down the same way Kopp’s and Drane’s had been a year prior, with a red flag resetting the order following a crash on the part of Vinson Construction’s Hunter Bauer.
Back underway, Saathoff left the door open, and Kopp stepped through. The Rick Ware Racing hero then stretched open a lead of his own until a bobble brought Saathoff and Drane right back into the strike zone.
Given another opportunity, Saathoff ran it up the inside of Kopp with less than a minute remaining and held the position to the checkered flag, followed by Kopp in second and Drane in third.
“We had a good line there in turns one and two that was killer, but I just couldn’t figure out three and four,” said Kopp. “I kept slipping wide, slipping wide, and then one time Chase was there. He rode great. I pushed him hard those last three laps. I’d lose a bunch on this end and gain it all back going up the jump. It’s cool when it’s us three on the podium every round. We’re swapping positions every round, and it’s been a fun year.”
2023 Nicky Hayden AMA Flat Track Horizon Award winner Evan Renshaw placed fifth in Singles.
Vinson Construction-backed Tarren Santero matched his best career result in fourth with Turner Honda rookie Evan Renshaw next in line, establishing his own new high-water mark in fifth.
The victory marked Saathoff’s second in a row and third on the season, equaling Drane for second most in the class this year. Kopp continues to lead the way with five wins, but that gap is not nearly so pronounced following three consecutive runner-up finishes as it was when he had taken five wins in the season’s opening eight races.
Still, that trio of second-place results has moved Kopp that much closer to a record third Parts Unlimited AFT Singles crown. He now leads the chase by 28 points over Saathoff (246-218) and 40 over Drane (206) with time running short on the efforts to usurp the throne.
American Flat Track now heads to the Black Hills Harley-Davidson Black Hills Half-Mile for a doubleheader presented by The City of Sturgis at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Tuesday, August 6.
SuperTwins (Top 10)
- Briar Bauman (KTM) 25 Laps
- JD Beach (Yam) 4.569
- Jared Mees (Ind) 7866
- Jarod Vanderkooi (Ind) 8.736
- Brandon Robinson (Ind) 24.630
- Trevor Brunner (Ind) 25.774
- Max Whale (H-D) 26.158
- Davis Fisher (Ind) 24 Laps
- Declan Bender (Ind) 9.784
- Cameron Smith (KTM) 20.357
Singles (Top 10)
- Chase Saathoff (Hon) 20 Laps
- Kody Kopp (KTM) 0.393
- Tom Drane (Yam) 0.933
- Tarren Santero (Hon) 7.686
- Evan Renshaw (Hon) 8.963
- Jared Lowe (Hon) 9.149
- Trent Lowe (Hon) 10.622
- James Ott (Hus) 13.564
- Tyler Raggio (KTM) 17.936
- Travis Petton (KTM) 18.633
