Third Time’s a Charm? Gear Up for Round 3 at Yamaha Senoia Short Track, Where Past Visits Foretold Grand National Championship Battles
The 2025 Progressive American Flat Track season, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, resumes this Saturday, March 29, with the third annual Yamaha Senoia Short Track at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia.
Third Time’s a Charm?
The two prior stops at Senoia Raceway served as microcosmic previews of the Grand National Championship battles to come.
On both of those occasions – just as he will again this year – Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) came into Yamaha’s home round riding high after a spectacular Daytona double opener.
In 2023, Daniels fought back and forth with reigning Mission AFT SupertTwins king Jared Mees throughout only to be edged at the stripe. And in the 2024 rematch, Daniels claimed the early advantage only to see Mees take control and pull free by the end.
While those battles also served as neat little summaries of their respective ‘23 and ‘24 title clashes, it remains to be seen if the Yamaha Senoia Short Track will retain its predictive powers in Mees’ absence.
Daniels no doubt hopes it does, only this time in overwhelming favor.
Title sponsor Yamaha is still seeking its first victory in either class at Senoia. However, that’s not to suggest the manufacturer hasn’t been able to protect its home turf altogether since Yamaha Motor Corporation relocated its USA headquarters from California to the greater Atlanta area in late 2018.
While shut out from the podium in the 2019 Yamaha Atlanta Short Track at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia, Yamaha fared considerably better in the 2020 doubleheader return, where Daniels doubled up in AFT Singles presented by KICKER competition and claimed top honors in the second AFT Production Twins Main.
That was only a taste of what was to come in 2021; Yamaha cleaned up at the Yamaha Atlanta Super TT in a manner rarely seen at a single round. Armed with two of the modern era’s greatest TT riders, Yamaha won all three Main Events courtesy of maestros JD Beach (Mission AFT SuperTwins) and Daniels (AFT Singles and AFT Production Twins).
If that wasn’t enough, Mikey Rush made it an Estenson Racing Yamaha 1-2 in 450cc action while then Yamaha-mounted Dan Bromley joined Daniels on the AFT Production Twins podium.
Yamaha comes into this weekend’s Senoia Short Track with similar potential, boasting last year’s race and championship runners-up in both classes with parallel goals of claiming vacated thrones.
So now it’s up to Daniels and teammate Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) to properly set the tone for the season in the friendly confines of Senoia Raceway.
