It’s only fitting that during Progressive American Flat Track’s two-race West Coast swing, Salinas, California, staked its claim as the motorcycle dirt track center of the universe, at least temporarily.

At last weekend’s stop in Ventura, and then cemented in this weekend’s visit to Chico, a pair of Salinas natives completely turned the series’ assumed power dynamics on its head. In the premier Mission AFT SuperTwins class, Briar Bauman seemingly shed his two-plus-year stint as the scrappy underdog for good. On the same day he and his wife, Shayna Texter-Bauman, announced that they are expecting their first child, Bauman fully stepped into the role of authority over the developing 2025 title fight. With a third consecutive powerhouse victory, Bauman served a loud reminder that he is the field’s sole Grand National Champion (and a two-time champ at that), a fact backed up by nearly twice as many main-event victories as the next closest among the modern crop of contenders. The biggest question mark heading into the season was the Harley-Davidson XG750R, which had been winless in its first eight-plus seasons of competition. Those days are gone. In the first five races of the all-production-based era, Bauman has taken the Rick Ware Racing H-D to three wins and two more near wins, serving up a parallel reminder of Harley-Davidson’s history in dirt track as one of the most dominant manufacturers in any series across all of global motorsport.

At the Silver Dollar Speedway, Bauman executed the now-familiar strategy of waiting until it matters the most to show (or discover) his cards. While stronger in the lead-up to this week’s race than at either Senoia or Ventura, Bauman was still relatively quiet before the main, as his key rival and the unquestioned preseason title favorite, Estenson Racing’s Dallas Daniels, established himself as the odds-on pick to win.

Once again, in Chico, Daniels leapt out to the early lead, albeit a lead disputed fiercely with an impressive James Ott on the G&G Yamaha, who got the high line working to his liking.

Meanwhile, Bauman settled into fourth for the opening five laps before rushing up past Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher, Daniels and Ott during the subsequent seven circulations. At that point, the race for the win was effectively over, although there was still much to do to determine who would flank Bauman on the box. Fisher closed down on Daniels and overtook him with a higher line like Ott had before him. Soon after, Fisher and Daniels would overhaul Ott in second as Daniels’ counter further upped their pace. While Fisher pulled a small gap late, Daniels gobbled that distance up with a blistering final two laps. But in the end, the KTM-mounted pilot locked down second place at the stripe by a margin of 0.061 of a second.

AFT SINGLES Old Oak Ranch/Roof Systems’ Kage Tadman stunned the flat track world by turning up last weekend as a brand-new pro and completely dominating the proceedings in his Progressive American Flat Track debut. He was perhaps even more impressive in his encore, in which Tadman did it again despite being presented with a further elevated degree of difficulty. While Tadman was just the fourth rider to ever win in his first go, no one had ever made it two for two. Further complicating matters was that while the Californian was both familiar and comfortable at Ventura Raceway, Silver Dollar was not just new to him but was very different compared to the tracks he’d grown up racing as an amateur. A 14th-place ranking in qualifying allowed the class’s regulars a moment to breathe easy after last week’s unexpected gut punch. It was a short-lived moment.

Everything clicked once the riders lined up on the grid; Tadman owned the heat race, the Helmet House Challenge dash for cash and the main event, sweeping the night’s races exactly as he had the week prior, to up his overall Progressive AFT race record to six for six.

Two weeks of controlled chaos have left a class pecking order once carved in stone a pile of rubble. Tadman’s plans for the remainder of the season are not fixed, but it would only make sense if he’s now fielding multiple offers to move forward in some capacity.

While Tadman made it a one-rider show at the front, positions two through six were decided in a hard-fought affair. Despite absorbing a great deal of pressure throughout, second was successfully defended to the end by Turner Racing/American Honda’s Trevor Brunner.

“We’ve really got some things worked out with our personalities and stuff like that,” Brunner said. “It was figuring out how to gel again, but I think we’re here to stay. We’ve got the lingo worked out well with the team and [me], and we’re just going to keep plugging away.”

Third went to title leader Tom Drane on the Estenson Racing Yamaha, who is somehow still seeking his first win of 2025. He was followed by Vinson Construction-backed Hunter Bauer, championship hopeful Chase Saathoff on the RWR Honda, and Mission Roof Systems’ Tarren Santero.

Drane now leads Saathoff 84-79. Despite participating in only two races in his young career, Tadman is already up to sixth with 46 points. CN