Speaking of Beach, he had
a fitting finale, finishing fourth
and sixth in a season in which
he was generally in the mix, but
just a tick removed from victory
contention (save, of course, at
the TTs where he furthered his
case for GOAT consideration).
SINGLES
Red Bull KTM's Kody Kopp
couldn't have possibly scripted
it any better. He entered Spring-
field with contrasting statuses
Roof Systems' Brandon
Rob-
inson ran up front on Saturday
and
came away with his fourth
podium of the season in third.
However, any hopes he had of
ending the year as the highest-
ranked independent Indian were
squashed by Rackley Racing's
Davis Fisher, who earned his
second podium of the season
on Sunday to finish the season
ranked fifth, trailing only Mees,
Daniels, JD Beach and Bauman
in the standings.
ROUNDS 17-18 / SEPTEMBER 2-3, 2023
ILLINOIS STATE FAIRGROUNDS / SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
FLAT TRACK I AMA/PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
P80
as both the reigning champion
and dominant points leader, but
also a glorified whipping boy
when it came to the Miles.
Kopp could have taken it easy
at a track where he was the
underdog and scooped up his
second straight Parts Unlimited
AFT Singles title quite comfort
-
ably.
But he had
unfinished busi-
ness. Not only was there a
second
title to be had, but Kopp
had taken aim at Dallas Dan-
iels' single-season wins record
of
eight after falling one short
of the mark in 2022. Addition-
ally, he and his team viewed
their
Mile shortcomings as
an opportunity to prove their
quality, regardless of whatever
horsepower and height/weight
disadvantages they'd previously
encountered.
Saturday's race played out
primarily as a duel within a
larger melee as Estenson Rac
-
ing's Tom Drane and Turning
Racing
Honda's Chase Saathoff
traded haymakers at the front
of a six-rider pack. Kopp stalked
them both throughout, however,
occasionally testing his ability to
slot up to second or first when
he could.
The final lap saw Saathoff
drive past Drane for the lead in
turn two, only for his maneuver
to be countered by the Aussie
in turn three. But Kopp followed
the Yamaha ace through and
pulled out of the draft at the last
possible moment to capture
his second championship, first
career-Mile win, and a piece of
the single-season wins mark in
one fell (0.010-seconds) swoop.
Dallas Daniels (32)
needed a pair of wins to
take the championship
but he didn't show up
with his best stuff.
