champion Kody Kopp and
Estenson Racing's Tom Drane
after they pulled clear in last
year's Peoria TT before a pair of
red flags stripped them of their
would-be victories.
The fact that they'd combined
for eight of 10 wins this season
didn't hurt, nor did their shared
motivation to become just the
fourth rider in Parts Unlimited
AFT Singles history to claim a
Grand Slam of victories across
all four disciplines in the class.
And those odds continued to
lean in their favor throughout
the day, with the two running 1-2
in qualifying and winning their
respective heats.
However, Illinois native Chase
Saathoff had other ideas, com
-
ing into Peoria riding high after
out of
it, now 23 points behind
(192) with some favorable ven-
ues still to come.
Mission Foods/Zanotti
Rac-
ing's Trevor Brunner strength-
ened the standing of his Rookie
of
the Year bid over GOMR's De-
clan Bender, taking a sixth-place
finish
to his rivals' ninth. Third
rookie Max Whale powered the
Latus Motors Harley-Davidson
to seventh, equaling his best
result of the season. Meanwhile,
Rackley Racing's Davis Fisher
(eighth) and RVR/Schaeffer's
Motorsports' Cameron Smith
(10th) completed the top 10.
AFT SINGLES
With no prior TT winners in the
field, pre-race-favorite status
fell to double defending class
rounds, if not the remainder of
the season, that's a de facto lead
for the reigning champion, albeit
not as large of one as might have
been expected.
Behind Mees, JMC Motor-
sports/Fairway Ford's Jarod
Vanderkooi
earned his fourth
consecutive Peoria TT top five
in fourth. But more relevant to
Mees' bigger picture concerns
was a position further back
where Brandon Robinson out-
performed his one-time reputa-
tion as a TT dilettante to score a
first-career
Peoria top five.
That showing kept the Mis-
sion Roof Systems pilot within
14
points of Mees (215-201),
setting up a genuine title fight
over the series' final five events.
Bauman, too, is not completely
ROUND 11 / JULY 28, 2024
PEORIA MOTORCYCLE CLUB / PEORIA, ILLINOIS
FLAT TRACK I AMA/PROGRESSIVE AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP
P70
Chase Saathoff
(88) leads Tom
Drane (59) and
Kody Kopp (1) in
the Singles final.
