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ROUND 8 / MAY 27, 2023 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK I PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK P98 from a couple minor mistakes on the previous lap, sat third but still in good position to exploit a double draft—that is—until a lapper entered the picture at an inopportune moment. Instead, the day's second- career win went to Turner Racing Honda's Trent Lowe, who jumped on Drane on the penultimate lap and put his head down en route to the win. Lowe's triumph also foiled the hopes of his teammate, Chase Saathoff, who was gunning for a maiden victory of his own. The second-year pro finished 0.089 seconds back of that long-await - ed achievement and fractionally ahead of Drane and the Aussie's teammate, Trevor Brunner, who was fourth. That said, Saathoff continues to roll, his Red Mile runner-up be - Mile, too, even if the lead-up to the race suggested something else entirely. Fresh from his maiden Pro- gressive AFT victory at the Sac- ramento Mile, Estenson Racing's Tom Drane—a diminutive Austra- lian with an extensive road racing background—seemed a good bet to quickly secure a second win. In the race's early stages, he threatened to walk away at the front. And even after being absorbed back into the pack, the teenager was able to blast back up the front at will, making him a nearly impossible rider to beat to the line. Of course, as the Parts Unlim - ited AFT Singles class is wont to do, extenuating circumstances saw a nine-rider pack charge into the race's final two corners. Drane, still fighting to recover 95 JD BEACH 4TH SUPERTWINS The hopes of Estenson Racing Yamaha's JD Beach to secure his first-career Mile win were significantly damaged in his semifinal and then blown up altogether off the start of the main. That said, he kept his head down and walked away with a solid fourth- place finish. Beach said, "Today was good and bad. We started off a little slow and just chipped away at it. As the day went on, we got better and better. In the heat race, I made a little mistake and slipped the groove. That put me on the second row for the main event. I got a good jump, but I think Briar (Bau- man) missed a shift and a few of us almost ran into him. That kind of broke up the group a little bit. I got shuffled back and was right behind him. I came around the first lap in eighth and knew I had a lot of work to do. I picked my way through the pack, got up to Briar, but I just couldn't get by him and make it stick. We came home with a fourth, which is definitely not what I want. But we got some points, and we'll go on to the next one." MYOWNRACE Trent Lowe pounced near the end of the race and came away with the Singles victory.