point down, I had to be battling
for a win. We just had a bad
weekend when we couldn't. It's a
bummer for sure, but we've got
to be proud of what we accom-
plished and build on it."
Consider it a hard but impor-
tant lesson for a rider who just
so happens to be a quick study.
It would come as no surprise if
Daniels, who just assembled one
of the strongest seasons of the
past two decades, takes another
big leap in 2024.
A handful of B-plots wrapped
at Springfield as well. Mission
picked up the pace on Sunday
and only narrowly missed out on
the box in fourth. Still, even then,
he was more than five seconds
back of the fight for first.
"The whole weekend was a
little bit of a struggle," Daniels
said Sunday. "For whatever
reason, I just struggled really bad
at this track. I'm not sure why.
We made big headway today.
Yesterday we weren't even close,
and today I was in a battle for a
podium. But that's obviously not
what I want, I want to be battling
for the win. And coming in one
VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P79
of time before he gets his first and
quickly stacks wins from there, 2023
will be remembered as a long list of
near misses for the talented rider.
Still, Saathoff has maintained his
perspective throughout. He said,
"Pretty solid day. Won the [Al Lamb's
Dallas Honda] Challenge and P2 in
the main. Pretty good season overall.
Wish I didn't have that mechanical at
Lima, but we always have next sea-
son. I'm really stoked with the team
and the effort they put in this season.
I'm ready for 2024."
216 DECLAN BENDER
6TH-7TH SINGLES
Killer Bee Racing/Luczak Racing
Declan Bender came on strong at the
tail end of his rookie season, earning
his first career top 10 in the fourth-to-
last race of the year, and then adding
two more in the double finale. The
late push was good enough to put
him over the top and secure Rookie
of the Year honors. He said, "Not
quite how we wanted to end up in the
main, but finishing sixth and seventh
as a privateer is not so bad, especial-
ly at a Mile. I was hoping for a little
bit more, but overall, good day. It's
been a long season, and it started off
rough. We were 22 points behind in
the standings for Rookie of the Year,
and it went downhill from there until
Sacramento, where we really started
to pick it up. It's a great way to end
the season."
MYOWNRACE
Sunday's winner
Bauman leads Mees
during the final race
of the season.
