Estenson Racing Announces 2023 American Flat Track Program
Young up-and-comer Tom Drane joins JD Beach, Dallas Daniels, and Trevor Brunner to contend for top honors in the Progressive American Flat Track series
MARIETTA, Ga. – December 5, 2022 – Estenson Racing is happy to announce their continued partnership with Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS) and a talented four-rider lineup for the 2023 Progressive American Flat Track season. Multi-time road race champion JD Beach and two-time AFT Singles Champion Dallas Daniels return to fight for the title in the Mission SuperTwins Championship. Also returning with the team next year is Trevor Brunner who will be joined by new signee Tom Drane for a two-pronged threat in the AFT Singles class.
Beach enters his fifth season with Estenson Racing and looks to build on their breakthrough 2022 season with the Yamaha MT-07. The Owensboro rider was a championship contender, taking home four wins and a total of eight podiums. Unfortunately, he was injured in the final race of the season but still managed a fourth-place finish in the points standings. Beach also continued to be a force to be reckoned with on the TT tracks, sweeping both TTs this year to bring his career total to six TT wins since his first premier class victory during his debut season with the team in 2019.
On the heels of a stellar rookie season in the premier class, Daniels looks to build on his standout performance in 2022. The 2020 and 2021 AFT Singles Champion hit the ground running and was also a title contender in the competitive Mission SuperTwins Championship. He scored a pair of wins on the Mile tracks and stood on the podium seven times to finish third in the points standings. With a year under his belt, the 18-year-old looks to come out swinging in what will also be his fifth year with the Estenson Racing team.
Brunner returns in 2023 and looks to build on his debut season with the team and the YZ450F. The Indiana rider made progress throughout the year and hit his stride in the second half of the season, scoring a pair of wins and six podiums to earn fourth in the highly competitive AFT Singles Championship.
Drane joins the team next year for his first full season in American Flat Track. The 16-year-old Australian is one of the sport’s top up-and-coming riders, making an impressive AFT Singles debut last year at the Lima Half-Mile with a win in the dash for cash and a runner-up finish in the Main Event. He also won the dash at the Springfield Mile before the rest of the event’s program was rained out, and has multiple amateur dirt track titles to his resume in both the U.S. and Australia.
In addition to Yamaha Racing, the team would also like to thank its continued support from Monster Energy, WPS, FLY, Yamalube, ZO CBD, VortexEX, Motion Pro, and Hinson.
Jim Roach – Yamaha Racing Department Manager for YMUS
“Yamaha Racing is excited to continue our support of Estenson Racing in both the American Flat Track SuperTwins and AFT Singles classes. Estenson Racing has won multiple titles in the Singles class, and 2022 was filled with race wins and podiums in the SuperTwins class. Through the continued hard work and development by Estenson Racing, they have transformed their team into a championship contender in both the SuperTwins and Singles classes. We look forward to the start of the racing season.”
Tommy Hayden – Estenson Racing Team Manager
“I am really excited to announce our renewal with Yamaha and would like to thank them for their continued support, belief in our program, and stepping up for us for in 2023. I am very proud of our riders and the entire crew for the progress we made this year but we know there are many areas we are capable of improving in and that is what we are pushing towards this off-season.
“It is also very exciting for us to be adding Tom to our team for 2023 and to be able to watch his progress as a full-time AFT rider. To have JD, Dallas and Trevor all returning and the addition of Tom, I am confident that we have all the talent we need to reach our goals next season.”
JD Beach – Estenson Racing Mission SuperTwins
“After the season we had in 2022, I’m really excited to be back with the team. Going into next season we will be on the same bike and I’ll have the same crew. This will be the first time since I joined the team that we will have the same combo going into the next season. The progress we made this year was what we’ve been working so hard for, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do next season with some groundwork already made. I’ve got some big goals for this new season. Ending last year with a broken ankle wasn’t ideal so I’m looking forward to putting in the work this winter and coming out in March stronger than ever.”
Dallas Daniels – Estenson Racing Mission SuperTwins
“I’m very excited for the 2023 season. My rookie year in the SuperTwins class was awesome. I was able to learn so much about the bikes, the tracks, and the competition, so I’m going to carry that knowledge into 2023 and do the best I can. I’m just extremely grateful for this opportunity that Tim, Tommy, and the whole Estenson Racing team have given me to race at the premier level of American Flat Track.”
Trevor Brunner – Estenson Racing AFT Singles
“I’m really looking forward to the 2023 season with Estenson Racing. It was a tough year for me, but we were able to come together as a team by the end of this season and I’m confident that we can keep building and carrying that momentum through the new year. It’s also going to be awesome to have another teammate on the 450 side of the team to bounce ideas off of throughout the day.”
Tom Drane – Estenson Racing AFT Singles
“I am so excited to be joining the Estenson Yamaha racing team in 2023. It has been a dream of mine to be able to race professionally since starting my career and I am so grateful to be given such an opportunity at 16 years old. I feel like I can be competitive with such a high-level team behind me and I’m looking forward to what the year brings.“
About Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA
Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS), is a recognized leader in the outdoor recreation industry. The company’s ever-expanding product offerings include Motorcycles and Scooters, ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles, Snowmobiles, WaveRunner Personal Watercraft, Boats, Outboard Motors, Outdoor Power Equipment, Power Assist Bicycles, Golf Cars, Power Assist Wheelchair Systems, Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and Robotic Machines, Unmanned Helicopters, Accessories, Apparel, Yamalube products, and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of distributors and dealers in the United States.
YMUS has a corporate office in California, two corporate offices in Georgia, facilities in Wisconsin and Alabama, and factory operations in Tennessee and Georgia. Additional U.S.-based subsidiaries include Yamaha Marine Systems Company (YMSC) with divisions Bennett Marine (Florida), Kracor Systems (Wisconsin) and Siren Marine, Inc. (Rhode Island), Skeeter Boats (Texas), with division G3 Boats (Missouri), and Yamaha Precision Propeller (Indiana).
