(Briar Bauman (3) races by the grandstands at Silver Dollar Speedway during round five; Photo: American Flat Track/Tim Lester)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 3, 2025) – Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, will conclude its unprecedented run of six consecutive Short Tracks to open the 2025 campaign with the inaugural Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, on Saturday, June 7. 

Missouri Loves Company 

This weekend marks the Grand National Championship’s 20th visit to the “Show Me State,” although just its second in the last 20 years. 

Previous stops were hosted by Wentzville, St. Louis, Sedalia, Joplin, and Odessa, with Wheatland now set to join that list. 

An all-new racing venue known as Wheatland Raceway opened on the east side of town in 2001. Within five years, new ownership completely transformed the facility with a multi-million dollar renovation that resulted in Lucas Oil Speedway, aka, the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks.” 

Featuring a pristine 3/8-mile clay oval, a 1.2-mile offroad track, and go-kart circuit, and the drag-boat friendly Lake Lucas – and top-notch facilities and amenities to boot – Lucas Oil Speedway represents a full half of Wheatland in terms of acreage and stands as a national powerhouse on the four-wheeled dirt track racing scene. 

The addition of the world’s greatest two-wheeled dirt track racers only further cements the venue’s outstanding reputation. 

Keep It Rollin’ 

The month-plus layoff between rounds may have come as a relief to some of the Mission AFT SuperTwins pilots, but title leader Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R) would have likely preferred to keep lining up every week on end. 

The Rick Ware Racing ace carries the momentum of three consecutive victories into Lucas Oil Speedway, making his achievement of claiming the Harley-Davidson XG750R’s first premier-class victory at Senoia’s Round 3 feel almost like a distant memory. 

Prior to the start of the ‘25 season, among the top 15 riders on the Grand National Championship’s career win list, only Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, and Bauman achieved that distinction with zero Harley-Davidson wins on their résumés.  

The caveat for Roberts and Mann was that a substantial portion of their GNC race victories came on pavement, while for Bauman it was rising to prominence during an era of Indian dominance. 

Bauman has exited that company three quick H-D-powered wins this season. However, he now trails only Roberts in terms of most career wins among riders with no XR750 victories. 

While it still has a long way to go and an impossible mission before it to live up to the standard established by the XR, the XG750R is rolling along just fine at the moment, thank you. 

Bauman’s mastery of the bike will face a new test this weekend as they prepare to do battle on unfamiliar grounds.  

Inauguration Day 

By contrast, Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) may have welcomed the opportunity to reset and refocus. His ‘25 season has not gone poorly by any stretch of the imagination – he’s currently building upon a modern-era record of 18 consecutive podiums that has long since left every previous reunification era (2010-on) podium streak in the dust. 

However, despite that week-after-week success, the heavy preseason favorite now finds himself in a double-digit deep points hole as the Mission AFT SuperTwins title fight arrives in Missouri. 

Historically, Daniels has performed very well when the field is thrown into a new arena. Not quite to the level of former rival Jared Mees – but better than anyone else, and Mees is no longer in the picture. 

Since Daniels stepped up to the premier class in 2022, the series has visited eight all-new venues while returning to a pair of others that it hadn’t been to in decades. 

At those ten races, Mees led the way with six wins, while Daniels earned two victories. The remaining two wins were split by JD Beach and Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R). 

Meanwhile, Mees landed on the box in 90% of those outings, with Daniels was not far off at 70% (despite missing one he likely would have been favored at due to injury). Beach was third with podiums in five of the ten races, followed by Bauman at four. 

The raw numbers suggest that Bauman has not been at the same level as his elite-caliber rivals at unfamiliar venues, however, over half of the time in question was spent developing the KTM, which proved something of a weekly rollercoaster ride regardless of locale. 

Robinson, meanwhile, took two podiums in those ten races, a number equaled by Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke), another key player with a chance to step up to meet the opportunity presented by this weekend. 

Fisher… 

Absent from that list is Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke). That said, over the course of his career, Fisher has always been more likely to finish fourth, fifth, or sixth, than first, second, or third. 

Or he always was, anyway.  

However unlikely, Fisher has stepped his game up right from the jump in a transition from Indian to KTM that appeared daunting from the outside. As it stands, he’s already looking like a bigger threat on the Duke than he ever was on the FTR750. 

He comes to Lucas Oil Speedway with two podiums and four top fours in five races. Last time out, he finished second – trailing only Bauman and ranking ahead of Daniels. 

In terms of the points, he now sits third – trailing only Bauman and Daniels, and ranking ahead of Robinson, VDK, and everyone else. 

As he’s been uniformly strong at pretty much every variety of Short Track presented thus far this season, there’s little reason to think he’ll be anything but at Wheatland. 

Who else could compete for a podium this weekend? The standings point to James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07), Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650), Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp), and Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), the riders who rank sixth through ninth, respectively. 

They’ve all had their moments this season, and each one has a story supporting their efforts: Ott as a premier-class rookie, while Whale, Lowe, and Bromley have collectively shone a spotlight on the diversity of equipment currently enjoyed by the class in its first season as an all-production-based showcase. 

…Price 

Unfortunately, Brandon Price will not be in that mix. Last week, he announced that he's chosen to step away from the sport on the advice of his doctors. 

If that’s it and Price never enters another Progressive AFT event, he can look back on an impressive career in the sport with pride. 

He’s destined to go down as one of the best to have never won a premier-class Main Event. During his run, Price earned Mission AFT SuperTwins runner-up finishes in four separate seasons, while coming within a second of victory more times than that. 

Not too shabby for a premier-class career that almost never happened.  

If you’ll recall, Price, who finished second in the 2017 AFT Singles presented by KICKER championship, was leading the ‘18 title fight before suffering a catastrophic fall at the Springfield TT. 

In that crash, he was knocked unconscious, broke his scapula, bruised his lungs, lacerated his liver, and suffered a subdural hematoma that required a hole be drilled in his skull to relieve the pressure. After regaining consciousness a couple days later, doctors informed him he was unlikely to ever race again.  

Instead, he returned to action later that season, stepped up to the premier class the next year, and proceeded to give some of the greatest riders in the sport’s history serious fits with regularity. 

Well done, Brandon. 

On the bright side, Price’s absence provides an opening for another deserving rider in Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Luczak Racing Yamaha MT-07), who assumes his vacated seat at On the Box Racing. 

Bender found his form late in his first professional season in 2023, scoring three finishes of seventh or better in the final four races to steal away AFT Singles Rookie of the Year honors. 

He nearly pulled the same trick in his rookie Mission AFT SuperTwins campaign a year ago, registering six top tens over the final seven races – including a fourth at the Black Hills Half-Mile – to secure a top-ten championship ranking. 

Despite that impressive debut season, Bender was left without a ride for 2025. Credit him for staying fit and ready, as proven by a couple top tens in AFT Singles spot duty. 

Now he’s back where he belongs.  

It’s a Whole Vibe 

Fans in attendance this weekend will have an opportunity to experience all that Progressive AFT and Lucas Oil Speedway have to offer, both on the track and off.  

The Fan Party – complete with a Rider Q&A session – will run from 5:00 p.m. local time right up until opening Ceremonies at 7:00 p.m.  

A DJ will keep the energy levels high between sessions, and a fireworks display will close out the evening’s festivities. 

Additionally, spectators can enjoy on-site go-karting, the Kids Zone, the Diamond Bar, a multitude of vendors lining the midway, Jumbotron viewing, designated motorcycle parking, and a variety of food and beverage options. 

Ticket Talk 

General Admission Grandstand tickets for the Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway are just $25 (kids 12 and under free with a paid adult ticket), while Reserved Grandstand tickets are available for $40 (all ages). Students can purchase a GA Grandstand ticket for just $20 at the gate the day of the event with a valid ID. 

There are multiple options to enjoy the facility’s 21 VIP Luxury Suites, starting with an Individual Suite ticket ($99), which includes a private outdoor box seat along with access to the indoor lounge. 

Private Indoor Suites are available for groups of up to 18 ($2000) and 30 ($3000), both of which include infield group experience with a guided tour of the infield podium and start/finish line, photo op included, and early race viewing from the infield. 

Also available for purchase is the Opening Ceremonies Trackside Fan Experience ($99), which includes reserved seating, a guided tour of the infield podium and start/finish line, photo op included, and up-close viewing of Opening Ceremonies and a portion of the night’s race action. 

Finally, fans have the option to purchase the Practice Viewing Trackside Fan Experience as a $25 upgrade to a GA Grandstand or Reserved Grandstand ticket, which provides a guided tour of the infield podium and start/finish line, photo op included, and up-close viewing of a practice session. 

Visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/2025-lucas-oil-short-track-141381 to reserve your seats today. 

Gates will open for fans at 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT with Opening Ceremonies scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. 

How to Watch 

FloRacing 

For those that can’t catch the live action from the circuit, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Motorsports fans can subscribe to FloRacing to enjoy over 1,000 live motorsports events in 2025. FloSports is available by visiting https://flosports.link/aft or by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. 

FS1 

FOX Sports coverage of the Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, June 15, at 11:00 a.m. ET (8:00 a.m. PT). 

For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.