VOLUME 63 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2026 P103
drama for the win. Running in
clear air, Bauman disappeared
at the front and upped his streak
of one-sided victories to three.
It was a missed opportunity
for Daniels, who likely had the
raw speed to challenge Bauman.
Instead, he spent most of the
contest trying to figure out how
to overtake Cose for second.
Once through, Bauman was
already more than three seconds
ahead. A late push by Daniels,
day wore on, polesitter Dan
-
iels had his chance to reclaim
momentum
by beating second
qualifier Bauman in the drag
race to the opening corner.
That didn't happen. The two
powered off the line and into
turn one side by side, but Bau
-
man ultimately muscled his way
out
front, which also allowed Pro
Roofing/Parker Racing's Chad
Cose to slip ahead of Daniels.
That effectively ended the
a top three. He actually did well to
secure fourth, matching his career
best mark with a second consecu-
tive finish in that position. He said, "I
started out practicing well and just
felt comfortable on the bike from the
start. The team had it dialed in. We
felt good for the main. I got around
Trevor [Brunner], and that put me up
to second. I was just trying to keep
pace with my teammate and then got
kind of slammed going into turn one
and Chase and Tarren [Santero] got
around me and then just held fourth
from there."
20 JAROD VANDERKOOI
11TH SUPERTWINS
Long-time Mission AFT SuperTwins
contender Jarod VanDerKooi made
his 2026 debut, riding in place of
the injured Brandon Robinson on
the Mission Roof Systems' Harley-
Davidson. Despite the rust, "VDK"
acquitted himself quite nicely and
seemed to have sixth sewn up before
a last-lap mechanical dropped him
outside the top 10. He said, "Man, it
was awesome being back here at the
track. I was sitting at home, honestly,
content watching the races on the TV,
watching all my friends race. But be-
ing back here and just seeing them in
person, there's nothing like that. I was
just happy to be here. It was unfortu-
nate to end that way, but I felt good
with the team. We had a solid six
going, but it ended up a lap early. So,
we'll look for redemption at Williams
Grove; we're going to go there and
hope to have a good run."
MYOWNRACE
