The 2020 AFT series finally got underway at the Volusia Speedway Park at Barberville, near Daytona, Florida, with Friday 17th and Saturday 18th July double header rounds one and two of a theoretically planned nine-event/18-round championship season.
The event saw a debut for the newly renamed AFT Premier Class - SuperTwins presented by Vance & Hines - and the return to form of five-time Grand National Champion Jared Mees (No. 9 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) taking the win in both races and bringing up the 49th and 50th Premier Class victories of his American Flat Track career.
In the first race, 2019 Champion Briar Bauman took second, with Sammy Halbert third, Bronson Bauman fourth and Brandon Price fifth. The Indian Motorcycle 'Wrecking Crew' took first, second and fourth, with the FTR750 taking all of the first six spots - the top finishing Harley was Dalton Gauthier on the Harley-Davidson, Vance & Hines' XG750R with Jarod Vanderkooi bringing the second XG750R home in 8th, Davis Fisher ninth on another FTR750 and JD Beach 10th on the Yamaha MT-07.
In the second Volusia SuperTwins Half-Mile, Briar Bauman was second to Mees, with Brandon Robinson third, Sammy Halbert fourth and Davis Fisher fifth. The FTR750 took the first nine spots, with JD Beach on the Yamaha MT-07 in 10th and the three Harley XG750Rs in 11th, 12th and 13th place.
In the first of the two AFT Singles races, Australian rising star Max Whale (No. 18 Coondoo Cattle Co./Australian Road Services Kawasaki KX450F) came away with the first victory of his AFT career following a tense multi-rider shootout in 2020s AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys opener.
Chad Cose (No. 49 Wally Brown Racing/American Suzuki RM-Z450) finished second, followed home by Henry Wiles (No. 17 RMR Honda/Honda Talon CRF450R), who kicked off his AFT Singles career with a promising podium debut.
The 2019 series runner-up Mikey Rush (No. 14 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) narrowly held on for fourth after swapping the position back and forth with Tanner Dean (No. 38 1st Impressions Race Team Honda CRF450R). The class’ all-time winningest rider, Shayna Texter (No. 52 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F), opened her championship campaign in ninth.
In the second Singles race of the weekend, 2019 rookie sensation Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) took the win as an eight-rider pack fought for the lead throughout the eight-minute regulation of the Main, with Shayna Texter (No. 52 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) scooping second, and Mikey Rush (No. 14 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) third.
In the first Production Twins race, 2019 championship class runner-up Ryan Varnes (No. 68 RVR/RoyBuilt Don’s Kawasaki Ninja 650) scooped the win in hugely entertaining fashion, storming around the outside of race-long leader James Rispoli (No. 43 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) in the contest’s final corner to steal away the checkered flag. Reigning AFT Production Twins champion Cory Texter (No. 1 G&G Racing/Roof Systems Yamaha MT-07) kicked off his title defense with a solid performance, rounding out the podium in third.
Danny Eslick (No. 64 Scott Powersports/R&D Machine Kawasaki Ninja 650) took fourth, with Ben Lowe (No. 25 Roof Systems of Dallas/Bruce Lowe Excavating Yamaha MT-07) in fifth.
In the second race, Cory Texter (No. 1 G&G Racing/Roof Systems Yamaha MT-07) took the win, ahead of James Rispoli (No. 43 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) in second, Danny Eslick (No. 64 Scott Powersports/R&D Machine Kawasaki Ninja 650) third, Ben Lowe (No. 25 Roof Systems of Dallas/Bruce Lowe Excavating Yamaha MT-07) fourth, and Morgen Mischler (No. 13 Weirbach Racing, Kawasaki USA Ninja 650) fifth.
With no racing at the Buffalo Chip or at Rapid City during Sturgis this year, there is, in theory, a six week gap to a yet to be confirmed double header in the North East of the United States on August 28 and 29, followed by the Springfield Mile, Illinois Double Header on September 5 and 6.
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