PHOENIX (May 29, 2019) – Estenson Racing is pleased to announce that Roger Hayden will fill in for JD Beach this Saturday, June 1, at the Red Mile, in Lexington, Kentucky, the first Mile race of the 2019 American Flat Track Championship.
The youngest brother of the well-known Hayden family, Roger has been involved in racing his whole life. Growing up in Owensboro, Kentucky, the 35-year-old has strong dirt track roots. Like his brothers, Hayden eventually went on to road racing and established a successful professional career. He competed both here in the U.S. and abroad, taking 21 wins in the U.S. National road racing championship (now MotoAmerica), and winning the AMA Supersport title in 2007.
Hayden retired from Superbike racing at the end of last season. After some time off, he looks forward to returning to racing and back to his dirt track roots in his home state of Kentucky with his parents as the Grand Marshals of the event.
“I’m really excited because it’s going to be a special weekend for the family,” Hayden said. “My parents are Grand Marshals, and to have Tommy [Hayden] as my team manager is definitely really cool. I was going to be home this weekend, anyway, so I was going to go watch. I feel like it’s going to be a great weekend for the family with us back dirt track racing and a dollar from each ticket sale going to Nicky’s Memorial Foundation. More importantly I’m excited to get out and try to learn as fast as possible and get back to doing a little bit of racing. I’m also looking forward to getting there and racing in front of people in Kentucky, too. I’ve never raced a national in Kentucky, so it would be awesome to see all the Kentucky fans there. They’ll have a Kentucky boy to root for.”
“I’m so excited to have a rider of Roger Hayden’s caliber race for us this weekend,” Team Owner, Tim Estenson said. “I got to know Roger and the rest of the Hayden family in Austin during the MotoGP weekend when they retired Nicky’s number, and they are great people. I look forward to seeing him make his return to dirt track racing aboard our MT-07 DT in his home state of Kentucky.”
About Estenson Racing
Estenson Racing was born out of Team Owner Tim Estenson’s passion for motorcycles and flat track racing. In just their first full year of racing, Estenson Racing quickly established themselves as one of the top non-factory teams in American Flat Track. They reaped success early with an AFT Singles Championship and an X Games Gold Medal and followed that up in 2018 with their first win in the Twins class and multiple wins on the Mile in AFT Singles. This year the team has more than doubled in size with JD Beach, Jake Johnson and Kolby Carlile in AFT Twins, and Ryan Wells and Dallas Daniels in AFT Singles. For more information about Estenson Racing, www.estensonracing.com
More, from a press release issued by American Flat Track:
Roger Lee Hayden Returns to Race American Flat Track
Hayden to Race the No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha at Saturday’s Red Mile
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 29, 2019) – Just days before the running of American Flat Track’s first Mile race of 2019, a new entry to the AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines class is making waves in the professional flat track community. Roger Lee Hayden – former MotoAmerica professional road racer and brother to fellow pros Nicky and Tommy Hayden – will race the No. 95 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT as a substitute for JD Beach during Saturday’s Indian Motorcycle of Lexington Red Mile in Lexington, Ky.
Beach, who is missing this round to race the fourth event of the MotoAmerica series at Road America, will return to AFT for the Lima Half-Mile on June 29. For Red Mile, Hayden, a fellow Kentucky native and longtime friend of Beach, has opted to come out of retirement, and return to his flat track roots, to compete in this hometown round of AFT.
With more than 20 years of professional racing experience to his credit, Hayden announced his retirement from racing in early 2018 while competing in the MotoAmerica series aboard the No. 95 Yoshimura Suzuki. Although entered under the No. 195, AFT officials have permitted the No. 95 number plates to remain on the motorcycle as a symbol of solidarity between the machine’s two respective pilots.
“I’m really excited because it’s going to be a special weekend for the family,” said Hayden. “My parents are Grand Marshals, and to have Tommy [Hayden] as my team manager is definitely really cool. I feel like it’s going to be a great weekend for the family, getting back to dirt track racing and having a dollar from each ticket sale going to Nicky’s Memorial Foundation. I’ve never raced a national in Kentucky, so it will be awesome to see all the Kentucky fans there – they’ll have a Kentucky boy to root for.”
“AFT is delighted to welcome Roger to compete, particularly on such an auspicious weekend,” said Michael Lock, CEO of American Flat Track. “The Red Mile is hosting our first Mile of the season and this announcement ratchets up the anticipation to the next level.”
Fans can look forward to seeing nearly the entire Hayden family present at Saturday’s Indian Motorcycle of Lexington Red Mile event, as Roger Lee’s parents Earl and Rose Hayden will serve as the event’s Grand Marshals.
American Flat Track’s Indian Motorcycle of Lexington Red Mile is one of the most anticipated races on the circuit, and it all takes place at the famous Red Mile on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Tickets start at just $30 online and kids 12 and under are FREE. VIP and reserved seating are selling fast, so get your tickets now at www.americanflattrack.com.
For more information on American Flat Track visit www.americanflattrack.com.
To get the latest American Flat Track clothing and merchandise visit www.americanflattracker.com.
How to Watch:
NBCSN and FansChoice.tv are the official homes for coverage of American Flat Track. For the 2019 season, NBCSN’s coverage of AFT moves to highly-coveted, weekend afternoon programming slots within two weeks of each event. The complete schedule for AFT on NBCSN can be viewed at http://www.americanflattrack.com/events-nbcsn/. FansChoice.tv remains a cornerstone of AFT’s digital strategy, providing live streaming coverage of every event on AFT’s live page while previous events and exclusive features are available on AFT’s VOD page.
About American Flat Track:
American Flat Track is the world’s premier dirt track motorcycle racing series and one of the longest-running championships in the history of motorsports. Sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing in Daytona Beach, Fla., the series is highly regarded as the most competitive form of dirt track motorcycle racing on the globe. For more information on American Flat Track, please visit http://www.americanflattrack.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, check us out on Instagram, live stream the events at FansChoice.tv and catch all the American Flat Track racing action on NBCSN.