Note: This feature was originally published in Issue 43 of Cycle News.

The red-white-and-blue Honda RS750s that terrorized dirt ovals for an era during the late 20th century had a massive impact on an entire generation of flat track fanatics. That impression has continued to loom large even more than a quarter century after the beast scored its last win, more than three decades since its final championship, and nearly 40 years after Honda pulled the plug on the factory race team built up alongside it.

Chief among those mesmerized by that mystique is Mike Turner, owner of Turner Racing. In the team’s January 2021 announcement that confirmed it would represent American Honda in AFT Singles competition, Turner reminisced about his days as a standout amateur when he looked up to the likes of Bubba Shobert, Ricky Graham, Doug Chandler, and their ilk as his personal racing heroes.

Those icons still raced in his imagination. Even when taking on the hugely important task of hunting titles for Honda in 450cc competition, Turner couldn’t not daydream about someday doing the same in Mission AFT SuperTwins.

“Since I came in and got the Honda deal, as early as ‘20 or ‘21,” Turner said, “me and Al (Lamb) started looking at bringing Honda back to Supertwins.

“But at the time, there just wasn’t a good platform as far as the motor package went. But when the Transalp came out – that 750 – we started looking at the motor specs and all that good stuff. That really got the wheels rolling.”

Lamb, a former racer himself and owner of Al Lamb’s Dallas Honda along with its associated racing efforts, took the lead, while Turner stayed connected in an advisory capacity. Lamb assembled a Who’s Who of motorsports luminaries – most prominently land-speed record holder Steve Watt, President of Maxwell Industries, and famed engine-builder Mike Lozano, the principle of Lozano Brothers Porting – to build and field an XL750-powered racebike for the 2024 Progressive American Flat Track season under the banner “Big Red SuperTwins.”

The fledgling effort expected a huge challenge and a huge challenge was what was delivered. In a losing race against time, the ‘24 offseason, preseason, and season effectively folded on top of another.

When starting from zero, playing catch-up with an all-new machine is difficult under even the best of circumstances. It’s more or less impossible when it’s a real struggle to simply show up, never mind catch up.

Lamb reflected on the insane level of difficulty encountered during the team’s inaugural season. “We built a brand-new bike, and when we showed up at Daytona, the first time the bike had ever been ridden was from the truck to tech.

“We were fighting an unknown chassis, an unknown motor, and everything else. We had a sponsor that didn't do what they were supposed to do and left us holding the bag for sixty grand, and one rider got hurt midseason and was out the whole summer. It took us to DuQuoin to even get hotrod engine parts. Prior to that it was bone stock engines.

“But we learned a lot. We kept moving up a little bit, and a little bit, and a little bit. Still, we didn't get as far as we wanted to.”

Improbably, Dan Bromley claimed a top-ten finish in the bike’s maiden race at Daytona. He would add a couple more – with a best finish of seventh coming at the Silver Dollar Short Track – before eventually stepping away from the program to do his own thing.

Teammate Morgen Mischler had an even tougher go on the bike, earning a top result of 13th in a season marred by injury.

Every rider and every team have to start somewhere. This particular effort would have preferred to start somewhere else.

Even prior to the conclusion of a trying 2024 campaign, the Big Red SuperTwins program began to look ahead. That process included recruiting AFT Singles star Trent Lowe to throw a leg over the bike at the Lake Ozark Short Track season finale.

Lowe brought with him limited prior twin-cylinder experience, consisting of a single Mission Production Twins race on a Kawasaki Ninja 650 back in 2021 along with a few local races completed on his dad’s twin when he was a young racer.

But he also came stocked with talent and a desire to step up to the premier class. That along with experience racing for both Turner and Lamb and the strong endorsement of Lozano, who wanted to put Lowe on the bike from the start.

Lowe was hesitant about making the jump up the ranks with the crew at the start of the ‘24 season, fearing what would later prove a reality. But by the end of the year, he reassessed the situation and decided to make the leap, allowing both sides to feel things out before committing to a full-scale effort together in 2025.

“I wanted them to take a year and try to develop it,” Lowe admitted. “And I knew even if I made the deal with them for 2025, it was going to be a learning year on both sides. The bike still needed a lot of development, and I had to learn how to ride in that class.

“But even as early as Lake Ozark, everyone kind of seemed like we were leaning toward working together. ‘Let's build this team up to become something really special over the next couple years.’”

Lowe’s initial foray on the bike was anything but special. He finished one lap down and in 16th position. But it was not a wasted opportunity.

“Basically, we figured out that our chassis did not work,” Lamb said. “Trent said the whole time on it, it felt like it was trying to throw him off.”

Fortunately, Lowe’s desire for an extensive offseason program mirrored that of the team. He was given a racebike to ride at home over the offseason, with which he could better familiarize himself with a twin, while recommending and implementing changes through active and ongoing communication with the squad.

“I learned a lot,” Lowe said. “I found all the weak points that we would have throughout the season. I rode it at local races while trying to develop the thing. I pretty much got beat by a lot of amateur kids and was barely even making Main Events. I have to admit – it was mentally really tough for me because even though we were developing the bike, I have a racer’s mindset.”

The bulk of Lowe’s remote work was done in conjunction with engine maestro Lozano and multi-time Grand National Champion Kenny Coolbeth, who joined the effort as Team Manager fresh from a stint working with Briar Bauman at Rick Ware Racing.

“Throughout the winter we were testing race engines, and we were finding what works, what doesn't work, and what we can do,” Lowe said. “Mike Lozano had to really work hard on engine packages to prepare us for the season. But we didn’t really get to a lot of chassis and suspension development until the race season had started.”

At the same time, Lamb approached Turner about merging their efforts for ‘25, bringing Turner Racing onboard to run the day-to-day operations alongside their successful AFT Singles program.

The early returns were a significant step up – six top tens in the ‘25 season’s opening seven races, including a trio of sixths. All the while, Lowe, Lozano, Coolbeth and company continued their development efforts.

Lowe explained, “For the most part, Lozano worked on the bikes throughout the week, and Kenny Coolbeth flew down to Texas to help work on it. Meanwhile, I did a lot of development through the first half of the year with the practice bike at my house, just trying stuff and getting on the phone with all the guys, trying to figure out what we can test and what we can try.”

While the strides forward were obvious – they still weren’t anywhere near the team’s internal goals.

Turner said, ‘“Kenny was instrumental in (the improved results) – me and Kenny working together with Trent and Mike Lozano. But I knew that the chassis we had just wasn't going to work. We kind of knew that at the beginning of the season, but it just took time to really get it designed. And up until we were able to get a new chassis together, we missed our expectations, to be honest with you.”

Lamb concurred. “We started the season trying lots of different things – shock positioning and different forks. We had a lot of sixths and sevenths – so we were doing better than we had before, but obviously, it was not where we wanted to be. Nothing got us where we wanted to be.”

“So I bought a new chassis.”

The team contracted Michael Owen of J&M Racing Products to build them a clean-sheet frame. Upon delivery, they then worked nonstop to transform it into a complete racebike ahead of the Short Track at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Lowe said, “They got the frame on a Saturday down in Texas and then Mike and Kenny spent four days with no sleep trying to build this bike to have it ready for Lucas.”

It was indicative of a unique team dynamic in which butting heads is common but only due to an intense shared desire to achieve a unified goal. As Lowe said, “We are all extremely competitive. We were desperate to figure out a way to get to the front. There may have been times we would get a little mad at one another, but then we’d move on. We all just want to win so bad.

“So we actually work really well together, even if there are times of frustration. That’s just part of it. Everyone knows the deal. This means a lot to everyone on the team. I’m just glad they want it as much as I do.

“And I knew how much work went into getting the bike together before Lucas Oil. I knew I needed to make sure when I rode it, I made it worth it for them and all the hard work they put in. It was my turn to do something with it.”

Fortunately, the new chassis proved both worth the wait and worth the work. Turner said, “As soon as we got the bike together, we had a test at a track in Texas ahead of the race weekend. Even riding it from the truck and around the parking lot, I said, ‘Okay, we’ve got something here.’”

Did they ever… Lowe stormed out of the gates with the second fastest time in the opening practice at Lucas Oil Speedway. He then proceeded to post the fastest overall time in next free practice and both qualifying sessions.

He then made good on that promise with a new high-water mark for the team – a fourth-place finish in the Main Event, crossing the stripe just a half second removed from the podium.

That weekend alone would almost qualify the entire 2025 season as a success. But it was nothing compared to what was to come.

When the tour finally arrived at its most iconic event – the Springfield Mile – the Big Red SuperTwin looked like a problem for the opposition as soon as the bike hit the track.

Turner said, “I was standing on top of the hauler watching, and from the third lap of practice, I saw our corner speed. I was like, ‘Oh, they’re in trouble. They are in trouble.”

Lowe laid down the fastest lap in that opening session. He backed it up with the second-best time in first qualifying and then resumed his position atop the leaderboard in the second and final qualifying session.

That strength carried over to the first of the day’s three Mission Triple Challenge Main Events, where Lowe finished as runner-up to James Ott by 0.131 seconds in that initial 10 lapper.

“I wasn’t too worried when James won the first one. I knew we were there.”

He bettered that result in the 15-lap Main Event, edging Bauman by 0.038 seconds for the win.

Lowe said, “To win that second one? I was pretty emotional. When I took the checkered flag, I was thinking about all the work that was put in and the frustration of us not being where we wanted to be and the time we put in to figure out how to fix that. Why can’t we make it to the front? So to get that win, it was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got something now.’

Lowe’s 2-1 put him in a commanding position to claim overall honors with even a solid run in the decisive 20-lap Main Event 3.

“I was even more confident going into the third Main than I was for the second one.”

That confidence was earned and deserved. Lowe immediately put himself up front and was content to bid his time before executing his late-race strategy.

And then disaster struck.

Lamb recounted, “He was just cruising. Afterward, he said, ‘You wouldn’t believe how slow they were all going.’ He was just cruising. And then he went into a corner, chopped the throttle, and the chain came off.”

Turner added, “To have a chain break on a 50-cent part… Disappointing.”

Instead of history, Lowe’s DNF put him 13th in Main Event 3 and handed the team yet another good-but-not great sixth in the overall results.

Devastating.

Motivating.

Fortunately, Saturday’s Springfield Mile I was immediately followed by Sunday’s Springfield Mile II, featuring the more conventional single Main Event format. And with it, a shot at both redemption and the history that so cruelly eluded the team the day before.

“I showed up Sunday and all I wanted to do was win,” Lowe said. “I wasn't satisfied with being second in qualifying. I wasn't satisfied with getting second in my heat race. I wasn’t satisfied with getting second in the Dash. I was a pretty angry person all day, and I’m never usually that way. All I wanted to do was win.”

Lamb said, “Before the Main, Kenny told him, ‘Do not lead except for the last lap!’”

Lowe added, “Kenny told me to just sit back and wait for the last lap to do anything. And I knew that was my best option. But once I was in the mix, I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to go try to lead this thing at least once. I can’t just sit back.’

“And I led it for two laps and thought maybe I could break the draft. But when I took a peek back, I saw they were still there, so I rolled off hoping Dallas (Daniels) would pass me back and he did. ‘Okay, perfect.’

“From there, it was back to Plan A. I got back in line, waited until the last lap, and on the back straight I made the pass. It played out exactly how I wanted it to.”

Turner said, “Coming off of Turn 2 on the last lap, Trent set himself up perfectly, and right then I knew we were going to win the Springfield Mile.”

0.026 seconds was all that separated a mission accomplished/history made from yet another heartbreaker. But 0.026 seconds was enough.

Lowe’s triumph forever put him in the record books as not just a Grand National Championship Main Event winner, but a victor of the fabled Springfield Mile, while thrusting him into the especially rarified company as a rookie premier-class race winner.

But as titanic as it was from an individual respect, it represented something even greater to the sport – Honda’s first twin-cylinder premier-class victory of the millennium, and its first at Springfield as an official factory-backed effort since Bubba Shobert did the deed way back in 1987. Turner’s and Lamb’s original dream of putting the red-white-and-blue back atop the podium had been made real.

Lowe said, “I'm glad that I had a victory lap for that one because I kind of needed it. It was pretty emotional. Before the race, I had told Kenny, ‘Hey, just so you know, if I win, I’m smoking the tire off this thing. I’m doing a burnout.’ And he said, ‘You do you.’”

Lamb added, “We were so excited. Everybody was so excited. And the fact that it was Honda’s first win in 27 years? Even better.”

Turner said, “Springfield is my favorite track just because it was my father’s favorite track, and he passed away last October. It just means a lot to me. The Springfield Mile is our Daytona 500. As a kid growing up, everybody wants to win the Springfield Mile. Tears and joy… mainly tears. That was my childhood dream that just got fulfilled.

Echoing Turner, Lowe said, “Winning Springfield was a childhood dream of mine. At the beginning of the season, I didn’t think anything like this would be close to possible. To do this in my rookie season? It means so much to me. This was something we only dared to dream about.”

Following Springfield, the team had just one more race remaining on the slate to prove their success was no fluke. From the wide-open Mile of Springfield to the tight Short Track of Lake Ozark Speedway, Lowe continued to roll.

Despite another mechanical gremlin that forced Lowe through the Last Chance Qualifier and onto the back row of the grid for the Main Event, he blasted his way up through the field to slice-and-dice with soon-to-be-crowned Grand National Champion Daniels for the podium.

While he just missed out the box, his fourth-place finish was more than enough to lock down Rookie of the Year honors, fourth in the final Mission AFT SuperTwins standings, and provide even more evidence of what could be possible moving forward.

Turner said, “We just showed, going into next season, we’re gonna be one of the contenders.”

While, as typical for this time of year, there remains agreements to be made and contracts to be signed, there is little concern that the gang won’t be back together in 2026.

“We’re really excited,” Lamb said. “There was a lot of hard work and sacrifice put in from the team. Trent really stepped up his riding, and his racecraft has improved drastically. We feel like he’s capable of winning anywhere we go.

“If we get the money we need to really do it right, we feel like we can make a run for the championship. We’re negotiating with Honda right now, and the team is staying together. We’ve got another frame coming in next week, so we’ll have a second bike, and Lozano has lots of ideas for the motors. There are a lot of positives going for this effort.”

Turner was even more definitive. “100%, it’s already baked. And the great thing is, Honda is excited, and it’s been a long time since they’ve been excited about the twins class.

“It’s all a good deal. Trent’s coming back. Kenny’s coming back. Mike is coming back. And on our end, we’re doing it again.

“I mean, how can you finish the season like that and not come back?”