Daniels Leads Grand National Championship Battle to Bridgeport Half-Mile

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – June 19, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, picks right back up this weekend with the second-ever running of the Bridgeport Half-Mile at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, New Jersey, on Saturday, June 22.

Last season’s stop marked the first-ever motorcycle race in the history of the half-century old venue and was rewarded with an epic Mission AFT SuperTwins showdown that saw Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) overcome reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees (No. 1 Rogers Racing/SDI Racing/Indian Motorcycle FTR750) by 0.095 seconds to secure his first-career Half-Mile victory.

Daniels returns with the momentum of a freight train after earning his second-career Half-Mile victory in this past weekend’s Orange County Half-Mile and doing so in utterly dominant fashion.

The circumstances might invite overconfidence if not for the reminder that rival Mees was in the exact same situation – having won both the season’s previous race and last year’s race at Orange County – before encountering an uncharacteristically difficult round. Buried outside the top ten early, Mees fought his way up to fifth to limit the damage done to his title chances, which he’ll no doubt look to bolster with a bounce-back ride this weekend.

While fellow title hopefuls Briar Bauman (No. 3 Rick Ware Racing/KTM/Parts Plus KTM 790 Duke) and Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750) continued to race near the front of the field and expect to do so again at Bridgeport, the final results underlined the incredible diversity and competitiveness of the premier class.

Five different manufacturers finished inside the top five thanks to the impressive ‘24 Mission SuperTwins debuts of Dalton Gauthier (No. 79 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) and Billy Ross (No. 29 Mission Foods/Digitale Kawasaki Ninja 650).

Meanwhile, a big crop of veteran frontrunners will be looking to make their presence felt in New Jersey, a crew that consists of Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Ohio Indian FTR750), Brandon Price (No. 92 Memphis Shades/Corbin/OTBR Yamaha MT-07), Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750), and Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson/Al Lamb’s Dallas Honda Transalp) among others.

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