Dallas Daniels Crowned 2025 Grand National Champion
Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) fulfilled his lifelong ambition of becoming Grand National Champion as a thrilling 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, came to its conclusion in the Arby's Lake Ozark Short Track presented by Arrowhead Brass at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Missouri on September 13.
Competing before packed grandstands as a featured attraction of the 19th Annual Lake of the Ozarks Bikefest, Daniels needed to finish seventh or better to lock up the title in the event of a victory on the part of his Mission AFT SuperTwins title rival, Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R).
This season marks the culmination of the first stage of Daniels' professional career. The Estenson Racing Yamaha star was widely projected as a future premier-class king as early as his amateur days, in which he became the first rider to win the Nicky Hayden AMA Horizon Award in both flat track and roadracing.
He's only continued to accumulate accomplishments since joining the pro ranks. Daniels became the first-ever two-time AFT Singles champion and followed that up by authoring a run that ranks as among the greatest first four seasons the Mission AFT SuperTwins category has ever witnessed.
In winning the 2025 crown, Daniels now stands as the seventh youngest rider to earn a first-career Grand National Championship, both as measured by age and experience. He's been a title contender throughout the entirety of his time in the class, proving himself a historically relentless and constant threat at the front of the pack, regardless of time or place.
Additionally, Daniels joins "King" Kenny Roberts (1973 & 1974) to become just the second rider to win the sport's greatest prize aboard Yamaha racebikes exclusively.
While ultimately unable to overcome Daniels' peerless consistency, Bauman closed out a spectacular season that only further enhanced the reputation of the two-time Grand National Champion. In '25, Bauman and his Rick Ware Racing team took the previously winless Harley-Davidson XG750R and won more races than any other rider this season (eight) while giving Daniels and the Estenson Racing squad all they could handle until the very end.
Daniels won the 2025 Mission AFT SuperTwins title with 313 points. Bauman ended up second with 307, followed by Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) at 217 to give Harley-Davidson a season finale 1-2 and the 2025 Mission AFT SuperTwins Manufacturer Championship.
Meanwhile, Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Tranalp) secured Mission AFT SuperTwins Rookie of the Year honors by finishing a superb fourth overall with 186 points.
AFT Singles presented by KICKER
While Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) locked up the 2025 AFT Singles presented by KICKER title two rounds early, there was still much in play at the '25 finale. But even with the remainder of the field seeking both personal milestones and momentum to carry into the offseason, Drane continued to own the spotlight.
Drane's season finale victory closed out his historic '25 campaign with a record-tying eighth win on the season, equaling the previous best marks of Dallas Daniels and Kody Kopp. It also represented his 19th-career win in the class, tying him with Shayna Texter-Bauman for second all-time.
His victory also sealed the 2025 AFT Singles Manufacturer crown for Yamaha.
Build. Train. Race.
Royal Enfield's Build. Train. Race. (BTR) program, which serves to highlight, celebrate, and encourage the involvement of women in flat track racing, closed out its 2025 season with a double finale at Lake Ozark Short Track.
Main Event 1 saw Madicela Rodriguez (No. 113 Royal Enfield/Parts Unlimited) fend off Taia Little (No. 11 Royal Enfield/Parts Unlimited) by a narrow 0.009 seconds at the checkered flag with Emma Gottsch (No. 5 Royal Enfield/Parts Unlimited) less than a second in arrears in third.
Little got her revenge in Main Event 2, shaking loose to win ahead of Gottsch and Rodriguez and secure the 2025 BTR championship.
