Mees & Kopp top West Virginia HM | Whale & Drane P6 & P7

2023 Progressive American Flat Track Championship
West Virginia Half-Mile

Images Kristen Lassen

It was a tough weekend for the Aussies at the West Virginia Half-Mile, Max Whale having to settle for sixth with Tom Drane coming home in seventh, as Kody Kopp took the win and extended his standings lead further.

In the SuperTwins we saw Jared Mees close down Dallas Daniels’ standings lead with a win, now sitting just five-points off. Briar Bauman a close second, well clear of Daniels.

Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER

Like last week’s win, this one came with considerable effort and from the start, Kopp was embroiled in an evolving melee with Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) and James Ott (No. 19 1st Impressions Race Team/Husqvarna Racing FC450).

With multiple lines working, the three moved up and down the track as they exploited their preferred angles of attack while looking for any possible edge over one another.

Brunner pushed into the lead at mid-distance and held a half-second advantage at one point. However, the KTM star put his head down, reeled the Estenson Racing pilot back in, and kept up the momentum once he stormed past on the high line.

With a minute remaining on the clock, Kopp held a similar gap of his own, which he then managed to the checkered flag.

Kody Kopp

“The goal all day was to get a good start and try to split… we didn’t do that. Trevor got a great start, and he had a pace that was hard to keep up with. He had this line through 3 and 4 that had us skimming the Airfence every lap. I couldn’t figure that corner out, but I felt like we had him covered in 1 and 2. By the end of it, we kept digging and figured some things out and charged hard. This was a fun track and a fun race.”

Brunner finished as the race’s runner-up to earn his first podium since the season opener. He followed by Ott, who faded slightly late en route to his third top three of the season.

Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), who joined the battle for the lead momentarily, took a lonely fourth. Meanwhile, his Turner Racing Honda teammate, Chase Saathoff (No. 88 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R), won out in a scrap for fifth over Max Whale (No. 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 SX-F) and Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F).

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Max Whale – P6

“I consider this race one of my strong ones, so I was looking forward to coming here. Started off the day strong with P4 in qualifying, and I was just up there in every session, had good pace. I finished second in my heat, got into the Dash, then when it came down to crunch time I just didn’t really have the speed… struggled a bit, ended the night in sixth, and actually for the first time this year, I’ve gone backwards. We’ll keep pushing hard, it’s racing, so we’ll knuckle down for the remaining rounds.”

With five wins to his name in ‘23, Kopp has rebuilt a commanding lead in his title defense, now leading by 40 points (216-176) over Whale. Brunner’s big night sees him move into a tie with Saathoff for third at 173 points.

Tom Drane sits seventh, with 12-points separating him from second in the standings.

West Virginia Half-Mile AFT Singles Main Result

AFT Singles Standings – Top 20

Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle

Jared Mees came to West Virginia Motor Speedway for the first time since 2006 with an opportunity to match fellow legend Scott Parker’s mark for most Half-Mile wins in the long history of the Grand National Championship.

But to do so, he understood that he was going to have to overcome the combined challenge of Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle title leader Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), Lima Half-Mile conqueror Briar Bauman (No. 3 Parts Plus/Jacob Companies KTM 790 Duke), and Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge winner Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750) after the four went bar-to-bar minutes earlier in the four-lap dash for cash.

The potential adversaries whittled down almost immediately, however, as Fisher wheelied away his prime starting slot from pole and dropped to sixth. Meanwhile, Daniels was only one position further up the order and slotted in behind fellow Yamaha runners JD Beach (No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) and Dan Bromley (No. 62 HRP Racing/Memphis Shades/Mike Vinson/Corbin Yamaha MT-07).

That left just Bauman alone to prevent Mees from escaping at the front. The Rick Ware Racing hero did well to demonstrate his recent success was down to more than simply capitalizing on a series of racetracks well suited to his bike’s strengths, tracking the factory Indian ace down to show him a wheel at half-distance.

However, Mees’ relentless excellence ultimately won the day, allowing him to stretch open some breathing space late. In the end, he secured his record-tying 35th-career HM win with a 0.609-second margin of victory.

Jared Mees

“It feels really good – this is like my favorite one so far this year. I didn’t feel like we were the fastest guy lining up for that Main Event. We made some game-changing decisions after the dash with the Öhlins rear shock. With not trying something like that all day, you don’t know exactly what to expect, but I have a lot of faith in my team. It was a super finesse-y track – it was really easy to make a mistake and lose your momentum. I thought Briar and Davis were the guys to beat. But I hit my marks every lap, moved around to figure out where Briar was catching me, got my spot and felt the motorcycle hook up and move forward.”

Behind, Daniels’ season-long podium streak came under serious threat. He was pressed hard to work his way around Beach and Bromley before being forced to fight his way back up to third after Bromley contacted his rear wheel with four minutes remaining. Both riders came close to hitting the dirt following the incident, which allowed Beach to steal third and Fisher to close in to make for a four-way sprint for the final spot on the box.

Daniels ultimately rebounded to keep his perfect top-three run intact. In doing so, he also held on to his points lead, albeit by a slim five-point margin over reigning champion Mees (237-232). Beach followed his teammate home fourth. Fisher picked up fifth, while part-timer Bromley only had a sixth-place finish to show for his impressive outing.

Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Indian FTR750) charged the entire distance in an attempt to make it a five-way scrap for the podium before earning a relatively close seventh. Likewise, Johnny Lewis (No. 10 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650) slashed up to eighth, despite starting from the back of the pack after suffering a mechanical issue during his heat race.

Henry Wiles (No. 17 BriggsAuto.com/Martin Trucking Indian FTR750) and Jeffery Lowery (No. 223 Lowery Racing/Gray Hogs Yamaha MT-07) rounded out the top ten.

West Virginia Half-Mile SuperTwins Main Result

SuperTwins Standings – Top 20

The 2023 Progressive American Flat Track’s run of four consecutive Half-Miles continues with next weekend’s inaugural Orange County Half-Mile at Orange County Speedway in Middletown, New York, on Saturday, July 8.