ROUND 16 / AUGUST 12, 2023
CASTLE ROCK RACE PARK / CASTLE ROCK, WASHINGTON
FLAT TRACK I PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK, SANCTIONED BY AMA PRO RACING
P86
evening he had in mind, the
result is far from a disaster,
thanks to the championship
groundwork he'd previously laid.
This is still very much Kopp's
championship to lose; he now
needs only accumulate 15 more
points in Springfield (the equiva
-
lent of a single fifth or the pair-
ing of a 12th and 13th) to hold
onto
his number-one plate.
But with Kopp struggling
by his sky-high standards, the
spotlight was free to shine else
-
where. And what it illuminated
was a race-long,
wheel-to-wheel
freight train at the front.
Estenson Racing's Trevor
Brunner won the sprint to the
first turn—and, as a result,
ultimately, the race. He was
hounded throughout by a hungry
Dalton Gauthier on the D&D
AFT SINGLES
Everything was set up in dream
fashion for defending Parts
Unlimited AFT Singles champion
Kody Kopp. The Castle Rock TT
represented a chance to lock
up the championship, tie the
Singles season wins record, and
earn his first career TT win, all in
front of a partisan crowd at his
home track.
Instead, it played out more
akin to a nightmare. Kopp
was never in serious conten
-
tion throughout the day, as he
qualified
10th fastest, failed to
advance through his heat, didn't
even win the LCQ, and then ran
outside the top 10 for over half
the main event before finally
making his way up to an even
-
tual 10th-place result.
While clearly not the sort
of
Martin Trucking Indian to fourth,
followed by Rackley Racing's
Davis Fisher, who grew up rac-
ing at Castle Rock.
As
did the sixth-place fin-
isher, Martin Trucking/Castrol's
Sammy
Halbert, who proved
that, even in semi-retirement,
he's still got some of the mojo
that previously saw him win
three Grand National Champion-
ships at the venue.
Mission Roof Systems' Bran-
don Robinson, Lewis, and Fish-
er's Rackley Racing teammate,
Ben Lowe, finished seventh
through ninth, respectively, while
home track hero Scooter Vernon
rounded out the top 10 on the
Hovey Racing/Stace Richmand-
backed KTM.
Trevor Brunner (21) leads
Dalton Gauthier (79) early in
the Singles main. Brunner
went on to win for his
second time this season.
