SENOIA, Ga. — In just two days of action, the Daytona double opener to the 2026 Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, created a fascinating dynamic for this year’s Grand National Championship fight as it arrives at Senoia Raceway for the Yamaha Senoia Short Track on March 21.
The collective motorcycle dirt track world was already well aware that Kody Kopp (No. 12 Latus Motors Racing Harley-Davidson XG750R) was the real deal long before he first turned a wheel in anger in Mission AFT SuperTwins competition.
But now we understand just how real.
While rookie wins are a rare commodity, the respect for Kopp’s talent and work ethic were such that victories were widely expected from him at some point this season. Few, however, could have expected the first to come so quickly.
How could they? No flat tracker in the seven-decade-plus history of the Grand National Champion had ever won in their first attempt. King Kenny Roberts – who Kopp studied under last season – along with Ricky Winsett in a true upset – had come the closest, winning in their second go.
And Kopp didn’t just do the previously undoable. He went two for two. That’s truly historic stuff.
The Latus Motors Racing team deserves a great deal of credit in the achievement, placing Kopp on a proven race-winning machine in the Harley-Davidson XG750R and teaming him with a proven championship-winning crew in Dave Zanotti and Michelle Disalvo. If there was any combination that could have come out swinging the way Kopp did as a rookie, this was it.
The question is no longer whether or not they’ll win races, but if they can make a genuine run at the championship. As convincing as his opening salvo was, that’s still a mighty tall order.
Kopp acknowledged that the gray clay of Senoia Raceway will present a very different challenge than the welcoming confines of the Daytona Flat Track where he’s now won in seven of his last eight attempts across two classes.
The Washington native admitted he hasn’t registered many testing laps on clay aboard the twin, and, as a result, this weekend should provide a truer test to his staying power.
When he first raced at Senoia Raceway in ‘23, Kopp struggled by his standards (fifth place qualifies as a struggle when you finish on the podium at a greater than 60% clip). However, he came back and won at the venue with relative ease the following season.
It’s not just the surface he’ll be dealing with, however. Expectations that were already sky high have reached escape velocity.
Dallas Daniels (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) is almost certainly less than fully satisfied with a winless Daytona opener after having dominated the track in recent seasons, but he’s probably less than heartbroken about the prospect of sharing the target that had been his alone.
But even when the spotlight shines elsewhere, Daniels is there collecting points all the while, hauling in runners-up points.
And he’ll be hugely motivated to come through in a big way on Yamaha’s home turf this weekend.
Yamaha Motor Corp. has enjoyed tremendous success in locally hosted Progressive AFT events since relocating its USA headquarters from California to the greater Atlanta area back in late 2018, having cleaned up at both Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia, and the Yamaha Super TT at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
However, Yamaha has yet to claim a victory in any class at Senoia Raceway, which is difficult to fathom considering its latter-day championship-winning ways in both Mission AFT SuperTwins and KICKER AFT Singles.
Daniels has come close on every previous occasion. He battled for top honors with the legendary Jared Mees in ‘23 and ‘24. And last year, he had a front row seat to history (more on that in a bit), crossing the line less than three tenths of a second off the win despite finishing third.
Perhaps the arrival of Kopp will provide that final bit of motivation needed to push him over the top.
He won’t be alone in defending Yamaha at its home race, with several other capable riders aboard MT-07s, including Brandon Price (No. 92 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Yamaha MT-07), Chad Cose (No. 49 Parker Racing/Pro Roofing Yamaha MT-07), and Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Yamaha MT-07).
While Kopp admitted to a small measure of doubt regarding his ability to add to his unprecedented undefeated premier-class record when the series arrives at Senoia Raceway, his mount has already demonstrated that it’s up to that task.
Last season, the Harley-Davidson XG750R broke through in spectacular fashion in Georgia. Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) controlled much of the race before getting overtaken late by the similarly armed Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Jacob Construction/Parts Plus Harley-Davidson XG750R), and the two carried on to give the bike its first-ever premier-class win with an emphatic 1-2.
Bauman and Robinson will be out to bounce back with similar performances following openers that – while far from great – probably deserve to get logged in the ‘coulda been worse’ category.
Bauman was slammed up into the wall and sent sprawling across the dirt moments after the season’s first Main got underway. Robinson, meanwhile, crashed in qualifying, suffered a bike failure in his heat, started from the back of the LCQ, and then had to avoid Bauman who was, again, sent sprawling across the dirt moments after the season’s first Main got underway.
As a result, Robinson and Bauman currently stand fifth and seventh, in the points. They didn’t expect to be there, and they certainly don’t expect to stay there.
The Daytona woes of Bauman and Robinson pale in comparison to those suffered by Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods Honda CB750 Hornet).
Lowe consistently ranked as among the very fastest riders at the opener – a promising sign for a program hoping to take that next step forward in 2026. But while the potential was there for a double podium, Thursday went from sure-fire top three to just fire (literally). And even though Friday ended with a strong fourth-placed salvage job, it came at the cost of his provisional start.
Ultimately, however, Lowe’s overall performance in the opener indicated that the team continues to be on the right track, backing up last year’s encouraging finish with a strong offseason.
Eight manufacturers were in the mix in Daytona and each one of them had their moments to shine.
Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) looked like a potential race winner on Friday, and he worked wonders to keep Daniels trapped behind him on two of three occasions.
Unfortunately for Fisher, Daniels made his way through on the last lap of the last race, which allowed the Yamaha runner to edge ahead 103-102 in the final tally. As a result, Fisher’s podium came in the form of a third as opposed to a second.
Still, not a bad way to get things rolling in 2026. And we should not forget, he was right there with Bauman, Robinson, and Daniels in Senoia a year ago, finishing in fourth only 0.865 seconds behind the win.
Meanwhile, Henry Wiles (No. 911 J&M Logging/Ray C’s Harley-Davidson Kawasaki Ninja 650) gave Kawasaki its first Mission AFT SuperTwins podium since he pulled off an identical magic trick at Daytona a year ago.
Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Parts Bros/D&D Cycles/Fairway Ford Aprilia Tuareg 660) guided the all-new and unique-looking Aprilia Tuareg 660 to a top-ten finish in its first real shakedown race.
Evan Renshaw (No. 95 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) flashed in his premier-class debut on the Royal Enfield by clocking Thursday’s third fastest lap in qualifying. He’ll also carry high hopes into Senoia – the scene of his maiden Progressive AFT podium a year ago.
And Suzuki has expanded its premier-class presence. Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Lisa Niner Racing Suzuki GSX-8S) repeatedly demonstrated the GSX-8S’s potential in 2025, and now he’s joined by Billy Ross (No. 29 Digitrace/Mission Foods/John Franklin Suzuki GSX-8S), who is already calling it his personal favorite SuperTwin racebike to date.
