BY CHRIS MARTIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM LESTER
E
stenson Racing's Dallas
Daniels came into this
pivotal stretch of four races
in four weeks leading the Grand
National Championship but also
very much in need of a win.
He earned his placement atop
the standings in the same way
he controlled much of last year's
Mission AFT SuperTwins title
fight—via unmatched consis
-
tency—owning a perfect podium
record through the opening six
rounds of the 2024 season.
However, while he won the
season opener at Daytona, with
that consistency came the indig
-
nity of having to routinely explain
on the podium why he did not
win the next five races. Through
gritted teeth and forced smiles,
he repeatedly spoke of all the
lessons he was learning and the
improvement he and his team
were making, even if the results
didn't (entirely) yet reflect them.
With a few weeks following
round six's Silver Dollar Short
Track to prepare for the month-
long run that will no doubt play a
huge role in deciding the year's
champion, it seems as if Daniels
and company were able to exter
-
nalize the lessons learned and
put them into practice effectively.
For at least at Orange County,
the Yamaha ace was simply
unstoppable pretty much all day
long, despite slippery conditions
and a track that saw its optimal
line swerve radically from ex
-
tremes on multiple occasions
and with little warning.
That dominance lasted all the
way through to the checkered
flag, which Daniels took more
than five seconds before
runner-up Briar Bauman
on the Rick Ware Rac
-
ing KTM and nearly 10
seconds ahead of the
fight for third.
ROUND 7 / JUNE 15, 2024
ORANGE COUNTY FAIR SPEEDWAY / MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK
FLAT TRACK I PROGRESSIVE AMA AMERICAN FLAT TRACK
P94
DANIELS
DOMINATES
