LIMA, Ohio — Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R) quickly reclaimed the lead from Mission AFT SuperTwins title rival Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) in the tense rematch that was Saturday evening’s Lima Half-Mile II, Round 7 of the 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing.
While the first lap featured a four-wide charge down the Allen County Fairgrounds backstretch, Bauman quickly took the lead. Meanwhile, Daniels was heading in the opposite direction, falling back to third place and appearing incapable of matching the blistering pace required to fight for victory.
As two-time Grand National Champion Bauman steadily built a two-second-plus lead in first, Daniels found his groove and worked his way around Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) to take second place.
Daniels continued his charge forward, picking up tenths here and there on the leader, gradually closing the gap until it was down to less than a second with a minute remaining.
Despite the Estenson Racing star increasing the pressure and closing in on Bauman on the final lap, he remained steady and crossed the finish line 0.383 seconds ahead of his rival.
In addition to regaining momentum from Daniels, Bauman completed the remarkable feat of winning four Lima Half-Mile races on four different makes of equipment (Kawasaki, Indian, KTM, and Harley-Davidson).
After winning his 30th Premier League game, Bauman said, “That was a battle. Well, it wasn’t a battle. I got clean air, but I didn’t want to do that tonight. I believe it was more difficult to lead than to follow in the second half of the race because you could see what the guy in front of you was doing and possibly inch up a little bit. Dallas did it quickly. If he had a few more laps, he might have had me, but he didn’t.
“I knew I was going to win last night, but the clutch went out. I was quite bitter. I really wanted to win tonight, and the Rick Ware Racing/Parts Plus/Latus Motors team did an excellent job on this.”
Robinson’s seemingly lonely journey to third place turned out to be anything but that. Late in the race, he was pursued by Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Corbin/OTB Racing Yamaha MT-07), who had previously escaped a battle with James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07) and Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke) to challenge Robinson for the final podium spot.
Bender briefly fought his way past into third on several occasions but was unable to make the pass stick, forcing him to settle for (a still impressive) fourth place in what was a memorable debut weekend with On the Box Racing.
Ott remained fifth, while Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp) dropped VDK to seventh place.
Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650), and Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) finished in the top ten.
Bauman leads Daniels 149-139 in what is shaping up to be a thrilling match.
With two victories in two days, Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) has finally demonstrated the form that many expected from him in 2025. That’s a scary prospect for the opposition, especially since the ‘locked’ version is already leading the AFT Singles presented by KICKER title chase.
On Friday, Drane improved on his impressive 2024 Lima performance, defeating Kody Kopp here a year ago, running strong all day and winning two of the three Mission Triple Challenge Main Events to secure the overall victory.
He took his game to a new level on Saturday. Before the race, chief rival Chase Saathoff (No. 88 RWR/Parts Plus Honda CRF450R) stated that he needed to get the holeshot to have a chance. He accomplished his goal, but all he could do was watch as Drane sped through in the race’s third turn. The Estenson Racing pilot then rode off into the distance with a victory margin of 5.419 seconds.
Drane later said, “That was a really good race. I simply put my head down from the start. I knew I had the speed to do it. I just needed to take a break and get away as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to engage in any battles. I wanted to get out front, have some clear air, and pull away.”
To maintain second place, Saathoff was forced to focus his attention behind rather than ahead. That proved to be a formidable challenge in and of itself, with heralded rookie Walker Porter (No. 100 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) scrapping for second early on and clocking the fastest lap of the race.
Trevor Brunner (No. 21 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), Porter’s more experienced teammate, then took over and pushed Saathoff to the finish line, finishing third by 0.184 seconds.
Porter found himself in a three-way fight for fourth place with fellow rookie sensation Kage Tadman (No. 288 Roof Systems/Old Oak Ranch KTM 450 SX-F) and the rolling Aidan RoosEvans (No. 26 FRA Trust/ATV’s and More Yamaha YZ450F).
Tadman, a two-time winner, eventually took the lead, while Porter worked his way back past RoosEvans to finish in the top five for his debut weekend.
