2019 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK PREVIEW
P88
Feature
ago to when Honda left the series
in 1988 after the AMA imposed
intake restrictors to level the play-
ing field. However, after winning
17 of the 18 AFT races in 2018,
Indian could not have been terribly
surprised by the AFT's actions to
help the other manufacturers be
more competitive.
Indian has a host of talented
privateer squads with riders ca-
pable of winning, such as former
factory Harley-Davidson rider
Brandon Robinson, who now
rides for Kennedy Racing and,
once again, has the expertise of
former AMA Pro Racing Tuner of
the Year Brent Armbruster in his
corner. The combination, now on
Indians, poses a formidable threat
in AFT Twins.
Henry Wiles is always a lead-
ing contender, and with seven
combined Short Track and TT Na-
tionals on the schedule this year,
that plays right into his strengths.
Remember, he was runner-up to
Mees in the championship last
year. He's likely again to ride a
combination of Indian (on the big
tracks) and Kawasaki (on the TT
and short tracks) and is still the
man to beat every year at Peoria.
Jeffrey Carver Jr., of the Roof
Systems Indian team, is men-
tioned by many experts as a rider
to watch in 2019. He was ranked
fourth in the series last season
and took a victory at the May
Springfield Mile. AFT Twins rookie
Brandon Price joins Carver as
his teammate. Both athletes are
going to ride Indian Motorcycle
FTR750 machinery.
Harley-Davidson has a factory
team again in 2019, although it
has yet to announce who its rid-
ers will be as of this writing. Re-
turning riders Sammy Halbert and
Jarod Vanderkooi are rumored
to make up the Vance & Hines-
sponsored squad.
One of the other major off-sea-
son announcements was Mo-
toAmerica Supersport road racing
champ JD Beach coming into race
AFT Twins full time on an Estenson
Racing Yamaha MT-07. The Esten-
son Yamaha MT-07 has some Ya-
maha factory development behind
it and might rival the factory Indian
FT750 and the Howerton Kawa-
saki as the trickest motorcycle on
the grid. Beach will ride double
duty by also racing MotoAmerica
Superbike on a Yamaha.
Team Owner Tim Estenson
has been following Beach for the
past few years and had Beach
(Left) Riding
an Estenson
Racing Yamaha
full-time, JD
Beach should
be a Twins
title contender
in 2019.
PHOTO: DAVE HOENIG
