SINGLES
The early-season exploits of
Morgen Mischler and the subse-
quent domination of Kody Kopp
made it easy to overlook Trevor
Brunner, the rider who was
signed to fill the seat of gradu-
ated double-champ Daniels at
Estenson Racing Yamaha.
Brunner helped that cause
along, more often making
headlines for an overly ambitious
move than an overly impressive
result. That's in the past now, as
Brunner once again looks like
the rising star who doubled last
year's Sacramento Mile on a
Turner Racing Honda.
The best evidence that Brun-
ner has effectively harnessed
his natural aggression and is
now able to make good use of it
came by way of an around-the-
outside pass on Kopp to take
the lead early in Saturday's main.
Once through, Brunner
sailed off into the sunset to
score his fifth podium in his
last six attempts after scoring
none over the season's open-
ing seven rounds.
Kopp's Red Bull KTM Factory
Racing teammate, Max Whale,
held off Vance & Hines Husqvar-
na's Brandon Kitchen for
second by just 0.003 seconds
with Mission Foods Al Lamb's
Honda's Trent Lowe fractionally
behind in fourth.
Kopp finished fifth, his aura
of invincibility all but exorcized
after four straight finishes off
the podium. Still, it's pretty
much academic at this point, as
his tremendous first half allowed
him to stack up a massive
48-point lead, which he'd likely
be able to coast to the title if he
so choses.
The fight for second is an-
other matter, however. Sec-
ond-ranked Morgen Mischler
had to charge his way to sev-
enth from the back row after
suffering a mechanical prob-
lem in his Semi. As a result,
Brunner, '19 champ Dalton
ROUND 13 / AUGUST 20, 2022
CAL EXPO / SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
P96
FLAT TRACK I PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK
Trevor Brunner (second from the left)
got into an early lead in the Singles
main and never looked back.
