Tom Drane grabs AFT Singles lead at Senoia Short Track TechTricks365

2025 American Flat Track

Senoia Short Track

Images by Tim Lester

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AFT Singles

The Senoia Short Track properly set the stage for the season ahead, delivering a showdown featuring preseason title favourites Chase Saathoff and Tom Drane – but it took the entire day and a portion of the Main to arrive at that inevitability.

The front row was held down by just two riders – Aidan RoosEvans and Tyler Raggio – after heat race winners Dalton Gauthier and Bradon Pfanders were unable to participate after colliding while running first and second in the AFT Singles 1st Impressions Challenge.

RoosEvans and Raggio shot off into the lead and took full advantage of their turn in the spotlight, at least until Drane and Saathoff finally came good when it mattered the most.

Saathoff utilised a high line to work his way from Row 3 and into the lead less than two minutes into the Main. Aussie Drane forced his way through to prevent his rival from executing his planned escape. The Estenson Racing star then spent the remainder of the race showing the Rick Ware Racing ace his front wheel, but he could never quite make the inside angle stick.

Saathoff took the checkered flag by 0.312 seconds over Drane to earn his first career Short Track win and become just the fifth rider in AFT Singles history to complete the class Grand Slam.

Chase Saathoff

“I struggled all day long out here, and I told (Crew Chief) Bryan (Bigelow) before that Main Event, ‘Dude, I might be on the third row, but if you fix the problems that I’m having, it’s a guaranteed win.’ And I never think like that; I’m very humble about that type of stuff, but I definitely let the dog off the leash in the Main.”

Despite falling short of his bid to win, Drane took his ninth consecutive podium, most ever in the class.

Completing a podium stacked three deep with significance was Evan Renshaw, who sailed his way from 12th to third thanks to an adventurous high line to secure his first-career pro podium.

Meanwhile, RoosEvans equaled his career best AFT Singles finish in fourth, matching the result he claimed here one year ago.

Trevor Brunner took fifth, followed by Declan Bender, who impressed mightily in last-minute substitute duty filling in for Chad Cose.

Jared Lowe, Raggio, Evan Kelleher, and Hunter Bauer rounded out the top ten.

Drane now leads the championship with 54 points, followed by Senoia winner Saathoff. Kopp continues to hold down third at 46 despite making his roadracing debut in Texas.

AFT Singles Results

AFT Singles Standings – Top 20

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AFT SuperTwins

History was made in Saturday night’s Yamaha Senoia Short Track when Briar Bauman hustled the Harley-Davidson XG750R to its maiden Mission AFT SuperTwins victory.

Bauman twice teased that possibility earlier this month at the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track double season opener, but he still somehow managed to pull it off in stunning fashion at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia.

In fact, Bauman appeared out of sorts prior to the Main Event, finishing an uncharacteristic fifth in his heat race, while title leader Dallas Daniels and fast qualifier Jarod VanDerKooi stole away the pre-race the momentum.

But as it played out, the Main delivered non-stop drama that actually started prior the race itself. VanDerKooi went from pole position to the back of the grid – along with Brandon Price, Henry Wiles, and Billy Ross – after arriving late to the staging area.

That development resulted in a frantic opening several laps in which Daniels, Brandon Robinson, and Davis Fisher ran three wide in their clash for the lead, followed closely by an on-form James Ott… and soon enough, a charging VanDerKooi.

Right around the time the race hit the halfway point, Robinson took command. And then with three minutes to go, Bauman made his move. Lurking just behind the leaders to that point, the two-time Grand National Champion snaked his way up to second before making a strike for first with less than two laps remaining.

Robinson reactively countered but Bauman was better positioned and reasserted his claim. All the while, Daniels was in their immediate wake, desperately seeking a way around both Harleys at Yamaha’s home round.

Ultimately, Bauman edged Robinson at the stripe to take the XG750R – which originally debuted back in 2016 – to its first-ever premier class victory with an emphatic 1-2 finish.

Briar Bauman

“It’s so much, right? It means the world to me, to my Rick Ware Racing/Parts Plus/Latus Motors team. It means so much to Dave (Zanotti) and Michelle (Disalvo) and everyone behind us. I struggled in our heat race pretty badly, but the whole group came together and said, ‘Hey, what do we need to do to make this thing better?’ This means so much to me, and it means so much to my family. And, like I said, I have a phenomenal team.”

Daniels came up 0.028 seconds short of breaking up the Harley first and second but still managed to up his record-breaking podium streak to 16 in the attempt. Fisher finished fourth another half-second behind Daniels, while VanDerKooi ended his blitz up through the field in fifth.

Trent Lowe continued his rather seamless transition to Mission AFT SuperTwins competition and the Honda Transalp with a fine sixth only two seconds removed from the win.

Ott followed him home in seventh with Dan Bromley, Price, and Max Whale completing the top ten.

Daniels continues to lead the early-season championship chase but only by a single point over Bauman (62-61). Robinson and Fisher are tied for third at 44.

AFT SuperTwins Results

AFT SuperTwins Standings – Top 20

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Next Up:

The world’s premier dirt track motorcycle racing series continues its run of six consecutive Short Tracks to open the 2025 season on Saturday, April 26, with its return to scenic Ventura, California, for the Ventura Short Track at Ventura Raceway.