While Daniels’ Friday night victory will go down as the highlight of the weekend, his third-place finish last night was no less critical to his greater efforts. The prodigious pilot again struggled with his start and never locked in on a comfortable line, but he somehow still willed his way near the front of the field. Once there, the teenager again demonstrated his late-race acumen by executing a late-race move to land on the podium in third despite several riders jockeying for the position on the race’s final lap. As a result, Daniels moved back to the front of the tight AFT Singles title fight, owning a narrow two-point margin.
Rush’s Saturday struggles closely resembled those he endured on the slick track the night before; the Californian again finished his Semi in ninth, one spot out of an automatic qualifying position. He utilized his provisional start and worked his way up from last to 13th. The precious points earned on a difficult evening saw him move up one position to fourth in the ‘21 class championship standings.
Meanwhile, Beach’s Friday improvements carried over into Saturday as hoped. After much searching, he finally found his groove aboard the #95 Yamaha MT-07 DT at mid-distance. Using that line to pick his way up the field, he finally dispatched the reigning Mission SuperTwins Champion with two laps remaining to claim the final spot in the top five.
Teammate Carlile had a tough start to the day with a technical issue in the first qualifying session, which put him at the back of the grid. He and the team kept working, and he gained ground as well as the premier-class Main Event evolved. The New Yorker opened the race in 10th and worked his way forward to an eventual eighth-place result.
A fully confident Estenson Racing squad will now carry huge hopes and equally high expectations as they travel to next weekend’s Peoria TT at the iconic Peoria Motorcycle Club in Daniels’ home state of Illinois.
