Weather, Jeffrey Carver Upset Expectations at Charlotte
In a weekend that saw the planned double headers at the Charlotte Motor Speedway disrupted by the weather (the Saturday night Half-Mile II had to be canceled), it was privateer Jeffrey Carver Jr. (No. 23 Happy Trails Racing FTR750) who disrupted the Briar Bauman/Jared Mees show on Friday October 9 when he engaged full spoiler mode to claim his fourth-career Progressive AFT premier-class victory.
AFT Super Twins Presented by Vance & Hines
The opening half of the Main Event took shape in expected fashion, matching up Grand National Championship title rivals Jared Mees (No. 9 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750) and Briar Bauman (No. 1 Indian Motorcycle/Progressive Insurance FTR750).
Mees controlled from the front, with reigning champion and current points leader Bauman not far behind as the two left the rest of the field in their wake. However, a red flag changed the complexion of the race entirely.
The restart brought Bauman back close enough to pounce on Mees and the two proceeded to trade the lead back and forth repeatedly, with an extended series of block passes and square-up maneuvers. The factory Indian infighting opened the door for a charging Carver, who erased the gap from third, slid past Mees and Bauman, and then dropped them both as they continued their scrap for second.
Mees finally got away from Bauman’s clutches and saw a golden opportunity to take his third win in a row and put Carver between himself and his rival. He reeled back up to the leader’s rear wheel as the race entered its final two laps, but just couldn’t find any way around the hungry Carver.
Fourth-placed Brandon Robinson (No. 44 HCRR Racing/Ben Evans Racing Indian FTR750) and fifth-placed Sammy Halbert (No. 69 Coolbeth-Nila Racing Indian FTR750) completed the top five.
Dalton Gauthier brought the leading H-D/Vance & Hines XG750R home in 14th place, followed by Jarod Vanderkooi 17th and Bryan Smith 18th.
AFT Singles
The dominant Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) was crowned 2020 AFT Singles Champion on Friday 9th, the 17-year-old phenom officially putting the points race out of reach with a victorious final-lap pass.
With Henry Wiles (No. 17 RMR Honda/Honda Talon CRF450R) out of commission due to an injured back, Max Whale (No. 18 Coondoo Cattle Co./Australian Road Services Kawasaki KX450F) was the sole rider remaining with a chance at pushing Daniels’ title quest back another day. The Australian rode motivated too, leading early and battling desperately throughout.
He wasn’t alone in trying to keep Daniels off the top of the box. Cole Zabala (No. 51 Cornerstone Masonry/B&M Masonry CRF450R), Morgen Mischler (No. 13 Roof Systems DFW/Duffy Fleet Services KTM 450 SX-F) and Trent Lowe (No. 48 Roof Systems of Dallas, TX/Shoei Helmets Honda CRF450R) all threw their best efforts at the champion-in-waiting as a five-rider showdown developed in the hard-fought Main Event.
It was Mischler who eventually secured second by 0.067 seconds, with Zabala third (by 0.097 seconds), Max Whale fourth and Trent Lowe fifth.
Daniels’ championship-winning victory was his sixth in succession. As a result, he secured an unassailable 80-point advantage with three races to go.
AFT Production Twins
Cory Texter (No. 1 G&G Racing/Roof Systems Yamaha MT-07) took a huge step toward achieving his short-term goal of taking the 2020 AFT Production Twins title fight down to next weekend’s season finale with a timely victory in Charlotte.
The defending class champion sprinted into the lead at the start and never looked back, leading all 27 laps of an eight-minute plus two lap Main Event that saw Chad Cose (No. 49 Wally Brown Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) second and Ben Lowe third (Roof Systems, Bruce Lowe Excavating Yamaha MT-07).
After getting a poor launch, championship leader James Rispoli (No. 43 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) eventually managed to score fourth spot ahead of Danny Eslick (No. 64 Scott Powersports/R&D Machine Kawasaki Ninja 650).
With Indian Motorcycle having wrapped up another Manufacturer's Championship at Atlanta last weekend, the 2020 series now heads to its season finale for another double header at Daytona on October 16 & 17.
