VOL. 56 ISSUE 10 MARCH 12, 2019 P93
she finished third in AFT Singles
earning three wins along the
way, including at the physically
challenging cushion of the Lima
Half-Mile.
Chad Cose was one of the
leading riders in AFT Twins last
year, and now he's racing AFT
Singles with backing from Suzuki.
Suzuki currently offers the most
substantial financial contingency
commitment of any manufacturer
to date for the upcoming season.
This generous offering influenced
Cose's decision to commit to rac-
ing aboard a Suzuki RM-Z450.
American Honda is back in flat
track racing by way of support
for the Richie Morris Racing
(RMR) team with Mikey Rush
and Cameron Smith. RMR Hon-
da's Rush is an accomplished
veteran, a two-time Daytona
winner with more than a decade
of professional experience in
both the AFT Twins and AFT
Singles divisions under his belt.
Smith finished 13th in the series
in 2018 and earned six top-10
finishes including a best finish of
fifth at the Minnesota Mile.
Estenson/Yamaha is going to
be another top AFT Singles entry
with Ryan Wells and talented
up-and-comer Dallas Daniels.
Wells brings with him a wealth
of experience including multiple
wins in the class and the 2016
Singles title.
Roof Systems Yamaha is
another talent-packed team with
riders Jesse Janisch, Trent Lowe
and Oliver Brindley. Janisch won
Peoria and had four podiums last
year. The team's Yamaha motor-
cycles are going to be wrenched
on by 2017 Tuner of the Year
Andrew Butler.
Of course, there's Jeff Ward
and Ryan Sipes racing select
rounds. The 57-year-old Ward
is a seven-time AMA Motocross
Champion, AMA Supermoto
Champion, IndyCar and NAS-
CAR racer, Motorcycle Hall
of Famer and one of the most
versatile and successful com-
petitors in the world of motors-
ports. It was a stunner to hear
he was coming back to race AFT
Singles at select rounds, mostly
TT, on KTM 450 SX-F machinery
with support from a fellow racer
and Moto Anatomy riding-school
owner Johnny Lewis. He'll also
have backing from Blackmore
Ranch, KTM, Troy Lee Designs,
Malcolm Smith Motorcycles, The
W Training Facility and Monster
Energy.
"Most folks probably don't
know this," Ward said, "but I
started racing flat track and TTs
as a youngster, and then gradu-
ally moved to motocross, so I've
got some pretty deep flat-track
roots. I've been riding lately at
the Blackmore Ranch flat track
facility in Southern California and
enjoying it. I also watched all the
AFT races on TV in 2018, and
I got to thinking, 'Let's try this.'
And here we are!"
As for Sipes, he is a standout
in motocross, supercross and
off-road competition. Last year
spent some of the off-season
training with legendary fitness
trainer Aldon Baker and riding
with motocross/supercross
standouts Marvin Musquin and
Cooper Webb in Florida. So Tex-
ter should be stronger than ever
coming into 2019. Last season,
