Drane just misses Ventura ST podium as Whale claims sixth in SuperTwins

2025 American Flat Track

Ventura Short Track

Images by Tim Lester

AFT Singles – Ventura Short Track

Making his professional debut at the Ventura Short Track, Kage Tadman came in with the admirable goal of simply making the Main Event. Remarkably, the 17-year-old Californian managed to accomplish that goal by setting the pace in qualifying, winning his heat, taking top honours in AFT Singles 1st Impressions Challenge, and then dominating the Main Event.

Chase Saathoff carried the momentum of his first-career Short Track win into Ventura Raceway, and did everything in his power to prevent Tadman from pulling off the stunner.

The RWR ace combated Tadman’s wide and wild line with a more controlled and conservative inside tour of the beach-side circuit. That strategy allowed Saathoff to make the occasional inroad, but Tadman’s sheer pace ultimately proved too much as the rookie pulled to a near one-second margin of victory to open his career with a perfect 100% winning percentage.

Kage Tadman

“It all starts in practice. I felt really good in practice. I knew there were a few things we needed to work on to get a little bit quicker. After practice, qualifying rolled around and we did super well there, and then heats, dash, and especially the Main… this is a dream night. I would never have thought this could have happened in my rookie debut.”

Tarren Santero made it two Californians on the podium in third. Santero, who was in need of a strong result after getting his ‘25 campaign off to a slower-than-anticipated start, worked his way past and then shook free of points-leader Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) to grab his second career AFT Singles top three.

And thus the Australian’s record-setting podium streak came to an end at nine with his fourth-place finish. However, it was good enough to maintain his place atop the championship order, albeit by a slim two-point margin over rival Saathoff (68-66).

Trevor Brunner completed the top five after battling with the hungry Jared Lowe and Aidan RoosEvans. Justin Anselmi, Evan Renshaw, and Reece Pottorf completed the top ten.

Earlier in the evening, Madicela Rodriguez held off  a charging Emma Gottsch to secure her first-career Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Main Event victory. Taia Little grabbed the final spot on the podium.

AFT Singles Results

AFT Singles Standings – Top 20

AFT SuperTwins – Ventura Short Track

It took the Harley-Davidson XG750R more than eight Progressive American Flat Track seasons, to at last earn its maiden Mission AFT SuperTwins victory. It took just one more race to get its second.

Both wins came courtesy of two-time Grand National Champion Briar Bauman, who was again in spectacular form at Ventura Raceway en route to a second consecutive victory.

While Bauman ended the night in glory, the spotlight panned back and forth throughout the day. Dallas Daniels held the upper hand for the bulk of the event with his stiffest challenge arguably coming from Suzuki-mounted Dan Bromley, who actually came out on top of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.

Meanwhile, the likes of Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650), Logan McGrane, and James Ott jockeyed for podium positions in the early going of the Main after Daniels took the holeshot, but the genuine shape of the race would quickly be made evident.

Despite demonstrating largely pedestrian speed in the lead-up to the Main, once there Bauman pounced on Daniels in the opening handful of laps. While the Estenson Racing star attempted to work out a way in which to counter, he also had to contend with the charging Jarod VanDerKooi, who powered his way into third where he set his sights past Daniels and on Bauman.

A red flag provided both Daniels and VanDerKooi with a second chance at corralling Bauman, but neither were able to take advantage. Little changed after the restart, and the checkered flag eventually saw Bauman sail by with a 0.881-second margin of victory, while Daniels came out on top of a seesawing fight with VanDerKooi for second.

Brandon Robinson found his way into contention as he so often does to claim fourth, while Bromley closed out a standout day with a top-five Main Event showing.

Whale was also rewarded with a strong sixth, while Davis Fisher, Ott, Trent Lowe and McGrane rounded out the top ten.

Bauman’s back-to-back victories not only put him level with Daniels in terms of wins on the season, it also catapulted him past the preseason title rival favourite in the early-season championship chase (84-81).

Briar Bauman

“I’m just proud of everyone on this Rick Ware Racing team. We’re just digging on this thing. I don’t know if it’s a renaissance or a fairy tale, but we’re just doing our thing. I’m still so green on the bike – and when I show up and qualify ninth or tenth or whatever it was – it’s tough to think (that we’re the championship favourite). We’re still putting one foot in front of the other, and Dallas has an incredible motorcycle and he’s an incredible racer. He’s got an insane team, and right now I think he’s going to win this championship. He’s heir to the throne, but I have worn the crown a few times, and I’m going to do my job and try to get it back.”

AFT SuperTwins Results

AFT SuperTwins Standings – Top 20

Next Up:

The dirt track motorcycle racing series closes out its back-to-back West Coast swing with next week’s visit to Chico, California, for the Silver Dollar Short Track at Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday, May 3.