VOL. 56 ISSUE 10 MARCH 12, 2019 P91
Last season, the veteran scored
win number 21 at the Buffalo
Chip TT, which marked not only
his first win since 2016 but also
the team's first AFT Twins win
ever. Johnson hopes to build on
the late-season momentum he
had last year and looks forward
to another year with the team in
2019, as well as campaigning
a Yamaha MT-07 for the entire
season.
Estenson Racing's youngest
rider and its longest-standing
member Kolby Carlile is joining
the two veterans on the AFT
Twins team. The "Flying To-
mato" joined Estenson Racing
midseason in 2017 and brought
home the AFT Singles title in
the team's first season. The
three-rider Estenson Racing is
undoubtedly one of the deepest
teams in the AFT series.
Former World Superbike rider
PJ Jacobsen says he is going
to participate at select events
in 2019. Jacobsen is returning
to his flat-track roots onboard
a Team Nila/Coolbeth Racing
Indian with three-time Grand
National Champion Kenny Cool-
beth as his team manager.
Bringing even more promise
to the series is KTM coming on
board this year with a factory-
backed AFT Singles effort. Their
entry can be construed as a
prelude to its participation in the
AFT Twins class soon, perhaps
as early as next year.
The AFT series is going to be
without two of its biggest stars—
Brad Baker and Kenny Coolbeth
Jr.—for the first time in 2019.
Baker, aka "The Bullet," and
the 2013 National Champion,
suffered what appears to be at
this point a career-ending spinal
cord injury sustained while com-
peting in the X Games last year.
The series is going to miss the
amazing talent and wide-open
riding style that endeared Baker
to so many. Thankfully, you are
going to see Baker at the races
still. He's returning to the Indian
team as its technical advisor and
rider coach.
It is going to be strange not
to see three-time number-one
plate holder Kenny Coolbeth Jr.
not lined up on the grid this year.
Coolbeth announced his retire-
ment at the end of 2018.
THE SINGLES
SCENE
Let's face it. Historically the
450cc motocross-based motor-
cycles raced in AFT Singles have
never rivaled the popularity of the
thundering AFT Twins. However,
by all indications, 2019 might be
the year flat-track fans sit up and
take notice of the smaller bikes.
After all, you have a full-blown
factory team competing for the
first time with Red Bull KTM
stepping in, as well as factory-
backed entries from Suzuki and
