LIMA, Ohio — Reigning Grand National Champion Dallas Daniels scored a desperately needed victory with a flawless ride in Saturday night’s Super.com Lima Half-Mile II presented by Drag Specialties.
It was round 9 of the Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
Daniels’ third-career win at the Allen County Fairgrounds provided both his title defense and his confidence a massive boost at just the right time – a fact doubled up by the contrasting misfortune of Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Jacob Construction/Parts Plus Harley-Davidson XG750R), who had streaked his way to the top of the Mission AFT SuperTwins title standings one day earlier.
Rather, Daniels’ challenge came from Kody Kopp (No. 12 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R), who rebounded from his own bout of bad luck on Friday.
Kopp launched into second from Row 2 at the start of the Main Event and spent the majority of the subsequent ten minutes pushing Daniels from close behind, searching for a line or a move that would allow him to steal the lead the entire time.
With around a minute to go, Kopp decided he could wait no longer and took a gamble that failed to pay off. That gave the Estenson Racing star nearly a second worth of padding as the race neared its conclusion.
A tight grouping of four lappers offered the Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson rookie one final hope, but instead it sealed the deal as Daniels carved a neater path through the slower riders.
Daniels stormed past the stripe 1.583 seconds up on Kopp to claim his second win of 2026 and his first in his last six outings.
“It was a super tough Main Event,” Daniels said. “The first Lima I ever won, I just kind of ran away with it, and it was more or less easy. You don’t really have a lot of those in your career, as I’m learning. Leading the whole Lima Half-Mile is so tough. Kody has been riding so good this year, and he was riding so good yesterday… I think he would have won if he didn’t have his mechanical. I definitely wanted to answer today. I wanted to answer for a long time. It’s been a long couple rounds for the whole team. We made some good headway tonight.
“This one is tough. It’s a little bitter. It was a tough day for the whole pit area. We don’t take it lightly. We know what we’re signing up for, and it’s not easy. I want to keep all the riders who had some falls in our thoughts and dedicate this one to them.”
Meanwhile, Bauman, who came into the day with a record-tying sixth straight win in his sights, got away in third and ran right with Daniels and Kopp approximately a third of the way into the race.
At that point he dropped off the chase. He was then tracked down and overtaken by Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) just prior to half-distance and had Jeffrey Carver (No. 123 Happy Trails Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) on his tail as well.
It only got worse – much worse – from there, as Bauman was forced out of the race altogether with a mechanical issue with around two minutes left on the clock. He was ultimately credited with 14th position.
Fisher continued on to complete his double-podium weekend, while fourth went to a charging Aidan RoosEvans (No. 26 FRA Trust Advisors Harley-Davidson XG750R), who edged mentor Carver for the spot.
Chad Cose (No. 49 Parker Racing/Pro Roofing Yamaha MT-07) finished in sixth, while Ben Lowe (No. 25 Rackley Racing/Roof Systems KTM 790 Duke), Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods Honda CB750 Hornet), Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Yamaha MT-07), and Logan Mcgrane (No. 14 Schaffers MotorSports/Ryan Varnes Racing KTM 790 Duke) rounded out the top ten, respectively.
Naturally, the results had a dramatic effect on the Grand National Championship as it opened its second half. Kopp is now back in front, albeit by just a single point over Daniels (169-168).
In one fell swoop, KICKER AFT Singles king Tom Drane (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) redefined the depth of his domination over the class on multiple fronts – claiming his fifth win of the season, his fifth straight at Lima, and a record-setting 24th for his career – in a runaway performance Saturday night.
Kage Tadman (No. 28 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) challenged Drane in the Main’s opening stages, but the high-risk riding required just to keep things close proved unsustainable.
Tadman – who had crashed twice on the weekend in previous attempts to run with the Estenson Racing Yamaha ace – eventually dropped off the chase and down the order, while the effortlessly smooth Drane snaked away at the front.
Drane broke his tie with Kody Kopp for most wins in KICKER AFT Singles history with an overwhelming 4.525-second margin of victory at the track where he made his series debut in 2022.
Drane said, “I always dreamed of being the champion, and to do that last year was awesome. And now to be the winningest Singles rider is just amazing. I couldn’t have done it without my whole Estenson Racing Monster Energy Yamaha team. They backed me and believed in me the whole way.”
Drane’s longtime rival, Chase Saathoff (No. 88 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450), came home second, running down Tadman and leaving him in his roost right around the race’s halfway point.
Tadman was also overhauled by the prodigious Australian, Bodie Paige (No. 165 BS Ranch/RWR/American Honda CRF450R), who finished off his Drane-like Progressive AFT debut with his second podium in as many attempts.
Tadman’s descent ended with a respectable fourth, while Bradon Pfanders (No. 83 Memphis Shades/Corbin Seats Yamaha YZ450F) picked up his first top-five since scoring a breakthrough win at DAYTONA back in March.
Evan Kelleher (No. 31 Schaeffer’s Motorsports KTM 450 SX-F), Tarren Santero (No. 75 Roof Systems/Texas Utility Studies/Vinson Construction Honda CRF450R), Walker Porter (No. 10 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Jordan Beaulac (No. 156 Picotte Motosport/Dofralex GASGAS MC 450F), and Trevor Brunner (No. 21 KMA Racing/March Equipment Honda CRF450R) completed the race’s top ten in that order.
