It was a win years in the making. Following multiple seasons in the attempt, Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) at last got his first victory aboard the Harley-Davidson XG750R in Tuesday’s Jackpine Gypsies Short Track II, Round 11 of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
And it couldn’t have come at a more fitting location, with legions of H-D faithful descending on Sturgis, South Dakota, for the 85th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club for the night’s race action.
Robinson’s triumph was the first win for any rider this season other than Mission AFT SuperTwins title contenders Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R) and Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT).
Not surprisingly, there was more to that story. Much more.
In what is almost certainly destined to rank as among the most dramatic and consequential moments of the ‘25 Grand National Championship fight, the championship rivals collided during the Main Event with Daniels taking the brunt of it.
With both pilots actively seeking a way past race leader Robinson, Bauman attempted to square up Daniels to steal away second. However, Daniels did not drift up the track the way Bauman appeared to expect. As a result, rather than run under, he ran into his adversary, dumping him in the dirt.
A red flag immediately flew, after which both riders were placed at the back of the field for the restart.
The two then battled one another as they sliced and diced their way forward. Bauman again came away better, finishing in third behind Robinson and second-place finisher Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke).
Daniels, meanwhile, saw his historic podium streak snapped at 23 when he finished in fifth position, 0.134 seconds behind fourth-place finisher Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S).
A heated Daniels promptly engaged in an animated discussion with Bauman during the cool down lap, while the RWR pilot later repeatedly expressed his apologies for the incident from the podium.
By contrast, Robinson was all smiles. The Mission Roof Systems ace – who campaigned the XG750R full time in 2017 and 2018, and for parts of 2019 – was absolutely thrilled to finally celebrate a victory with the machine.
“Hell yeah!” he said. “There were a couple heartbreaking years in ‘17 and ‘18; we got our butts whipped on these things. I always said when the rules went production(-based), the XGs were going to be really good motorcycles. It’s just awesome it’s come full circle – from the Vance & Hines Factory Harley days with Terry Vance helping me, to now with Jerry Stinchfield and the Roof Systems/Mission Foods team. I absolutely love this crew. This is awesome.”
Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke) was the last rider to get overhauled by both Bauman and Daniels and was relegated to sixth in the process. He was followed home by Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp), Henry Wiles (No. 911 DL Racing/HYMMC Yamaha MT-07), Justin Jones (No. 91 1st Impressions Race Team KTM 790 Duke), and James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07) to complete the top ten.
Bauman’s championship lead was expanded to 11 points in the clash, as he now leads Daniels 224-213. Robinson sits third at 158, followed by Fisher with 141.
AFT AdventureTrackers™
After suffering a pair of near misses in the first two races in class history, Dan Bromley (No. 62 Big Momma and Daddy Deep Pockets Suzuki V-Strom 1050) finally raced his way to the top of the AFT AdventureTrackers podium.
Bromley grabbed the holeshot and subsequently used every bit of leverage his lanky frame provided to throw the 500-pound Suzuki Dual Adventure bike underneath him around the 1/5-mile Short Track en route to a convincing victory.
Second-place went to Monday winner Jesse Janisch (No. 33 WFOracingonline.com/Öhlins Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250), who was forced to fight his way out of a huge pack tussling for second. But by the time he did, Bromley was long gone.
As a result, the two are now tied after trading 2-1 and 1-2 finishes at the Jackpine Gypsies Short Track as the four-race series hits its halfway point.
Race winner Bromley said, “I put that bad boy in low gear and just put it on the bottom. Yesterday, I led the Main Event and Jesse got by me. When he passed me, I was like, ‘How did he do that? He passed me so fast on the inside…’ And I was like, ‘Oh wait, we’ve got front brakes!’ So today I remembered to use it, and it worked out good.”
Outside of Janisch, Austin Luczak (No. 188 Memphis Shades/Black Hills Powersports Honda Africa Twin) succeeded in keeping that big group of heavy hitters corralled behind him to earn his maiden Progressive AFT podium finish.
Daytona 200 legend Danny Eslick (No. 164 Saddlemen Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250) finished fourth with the heavily decorated Henry Wiles (No. 911 Walter Bros. Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250) taking the last spot in the top five.
AFT Singles presented by KICKER
Feeling under the weather and confronted with a tight and physical racetrack, Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) was forced to dig deep on Tuesday night. And in doing so, he left his AFT Singles presented by KICKER title rivals in an even deeper hole with just five rounds remaining to determine the season’s championship.
Rookie hero Kage Tadman (No. 288 Roof Systems/Old Oak Ranch KTM 450 SX-F) jumped out to the early advantage and held down first for the opening couple of minutes. Monday winner Chase Saathoff (No. 88 RWR/Parts Plus Honda CRF450R) then stole the momentum, first slinging around the outside of Drane to grab second and then using the same line to storm past Tadman for the lead.
Saathoff threatened to shake free at that point. Drane, however, wasn’t willing to give up, diving under Tadman and then reeling in his rival at the front. The Estenson Racing star snuck under the RWR pilot with just 30 seconds left on the clock, timing the strike just as they came upon lapped traffic.
The Australian successfully maneuvered through the slower riders to score his fourth victory in the most recent six races.
Despite having very little voice with which to speak, Drane said, “That race was pretty tough at the start. I can’t thank my whole team enough for all the effort they’ve been putting in. And we’ve been training hard back home to make sure we had the pace we needed at the end of the race to come back through.”
Runner-up Saathoff finished just 0.230 seconds back, while Tadman settled into a lonely third to claim the fourth podium of his spectacular rookie season.
Chad Cose (No. 49 1st Impressions Race Team Husqvarna FC450) finished fourth, while Trevor Brunner (No. 21 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) rounded out the top five after breaking free of a huge 10-plus-rider pack late.
Following 11 of 16 races, Drane leads Saathoff 214-191. Brunner is third at 164, while Tarren Santero (No. 75 Mission Roof Systems Honda CRF450R) is the only other rider within even 100 points of Drane at 118.
Next Up:
The third Progressive AFT round in five days featured at this year’s 85th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will take place on Friday, August 8, with the Jackpine Gypsies Super TT.
Click HERE to secure your tickets today.
For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of on-track action starting with Practice & Qualifying and ending with the Victory Podium at the end of the night at https://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports coverage of the Jackpine Gypsies Short Track I, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Saturday, August 16, at 10:00 a.m. ET (7:00 a.m. PT). The Jackpine Gypsies Short Track II is set to air the following day, Sunday, August 17, at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.
