2024 American Flat Track Sturgis TT Results

| August 12, 2024

We should all be so lucky. Imagine stepping away for nearly a year and then getting your “Beach body” back, more toned than ever, in two short weeks, all while traversing the nation and hanging out at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

If it sounds impossible, that’s because it is for mere mortals. But JD Beach’s body of work since jumping back into the Progressive American Flat Track scene in place of injured title favorite Dallas Daniels at Estenson Racing has only solidified his legend as a two-sport unicorn in the days after they were believed to have faded back into myth.

JD Beach at 2024 AFT Sturgis TT — **JD Beach takes the checkers while leading the TT final at Sturgis.**

By Chris Martin | Photography by Tim Lester and Scott Hunter

Beach was offered a bit of grace after seeing his three-race Peoria TT win streak snapped with a still-impressive second in his return ride. But even that strong performance didn’t adequately prepare the paddock for his Black Hills triumph, which came as a serious shock.

However, Beach’s form at Peoria and Black Hills suggested that when unleashed on the supermoto-like circuit that cut through the streets of downtown Sturgis, the number-95 entry was very likely to prove unstoppable.

Those fears were well founded. As it turned out, Beach was indeed utterly dominant throughout the day, topping every single session and generally by more than a half second per lap on a course that took less than 30 seconds to circulate.

The carrot he provided allowed his pursuers to give chase somewhat more effectively in actual race conditions, for a time anyway, but there too he ultimately showed himself to be in a class of his own.

Beach’s primary concern was simply getting off the line in decent shape so that he could then allow his superior pace to bear out. A holeshot to open the Mission AFT SuperTwins main nearly put an end to all drama for the win before any had a chance to arise. However, he would later be forced to make another clean start.

That was due to the contrasting day of reigning Grand National Champion Jared Mees. Up 17 points to start the event, the factory Indian ace pretty much needed only to avoid disaster to consider Sturgis a success.

Briar Bauman and Jared Vanderkooi at 2024 AFT Sturgis TT — **Briar Bauman (3) and Jared Vanderkooi battled it out for second place.**

And he did, even though disaster came looking and very nearly found Mees. The nine-time champ was among the quickest riders around the hybrid course, but a botched launch saw him gobbled up and almost taken out in the chaotic opening rush into the first turn.

Left squandering near the bottom of the top 10 as a result, Mees attempted to force his way back up the order, starting with a hard pass on Memphis Shades/Sody Enterprises’ Brandon Price as they transitioned into the dirt. But instead, he knocked Price over and then added insult to injury by driving his front wheel over Price’s body while trying to get free and back into the fight.

Despite being both trapped under his bike and getting run over the top of it, Price bounced back to his feet seemingly unscathed and ready for the restart to follow.

That restart also provided the field with a second chance to deter Beach. Rick Ware Racing’s Briar Bauman, the rider who ended Beach’s Peoria streak, was glued to his rear wheel for a stretch before that small gap imperceptibly grew and grew until the race was once again blown wide open.

Beach said, “It’s been a great three rounds, but this round was amazing. I’ve got to give it up to the whole fanbase. All the fans were going crazy all day long, and so many people stuck it out despite all the rain. I think this race was awesome. And I’ve got to thank the Estenson Racing Monster team for letting me come out and do these three rounds to fill in for Dallas. I’m bummed he’s not here because I know he would have given me a run for my money too, but it’s been a real good three races.”

2024 AFT Sturgis TT — **The Sturgis TT is one of the most unique tracks on the AFT circuit.**

Bauman didn’t have to worry about getting bored despite losing touch with the leader, however. He found himself under threat late from JMC Motorsports’ Jarod Vanderkooi, who closed in on second before happily settling on third to claim his first podium of the season.

“It’s about time,” Vanderkooi said.

Fourth went to Rackley Racing’s Davis Fisher, who gave Beach his biggest challenge of the day in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge race, at least before the risk associated with running Beach’s pace sent Fisher bouncing off the wall and into the main with an injured right foot. The pain cost him a realistic shot at a podium, but he still gritted his way to a fourth fourth of 2024.

Mees, meanwhile, finished up in fifth. That was not just good enough to avert disaster but put himself in a strong position to potentially lock up a record-setting 10th Grand National Championship at the Springfield Mile.

His lead is now 22 points over second-ranked Brandon Robinson after the Mission Roof Systems pilot left Sturgis with a 10th-place finish. And Mees is now 27 points up on third-ranked Bauman.

And while Bauman has won at Springfield once and Robinson twice, Mees has done so on eight occasions. If the champ Mees even slightly outperforms Robinson and only slightly underperforms Bauman, history could be made before the series arrives at the inaugural Lake Ozark Short Track finale.

The remainder of the top 10 in Sturgis was filled out by OnlyFans/Martin Trucking’s Sammy Halbert, Latus Motors’ Max Whale, Zanotti Racing’s Trevor Brunner, and Royal Enfield’s Dalton Gauthier.

2024 AFT Sturgis TT Singles Podium — **Kody Kopp (winner) and Tarren Santero (second) and Tom Drane (third) made up the Singles podium.**

AFT SINGLES

Mees could very well be joined in making history at Springfield by Rick Ware Racing’s Kody Kopp, who picked the pace back up in his march to an unprecedented third Parts Unlimited AFT Singles title in Sturgis.

Four consecutive finishes of second, second, second and third is a boon unless you happen to be named Kody Kopp. While his championship lead didn’t suffer during his wins “drought,” his aura of invincibility had been dented by rivals, JPG Motorsports’ Chase Saathoff and Estenson Racing’s Tom Drane, who’d split the wins over the previous four races.

Kopp went about reconstituting that reputation with a compelling romp through the streets on a course at which road racer Drane might have been expected to excel in the same way his premier-class teammate did.

Instead, Kopp was in dominant form en route to claiming his first career TT victory and, in the process, closing out his mission to earn a Singles Grand Slam.

Kopp was aided in another of his missions by Vinson Construction’s Tarren Santero, who ran ahead of second-ranked/fourth-placed Saathoff throughout the contest, and then outdueled Drane on the final lap to steal away second at the flag.

“It was strategic,” Santero said of his battle with Saathoff. “It’s really hard to push when you’re right behind someone. So when I saw two to go, I backed off a little bit so I could get a run at him. Going up turn one, I rolled it the best that I could, and then I rolled it in turn two and stuck it up the inside. He lost the front a little bit going over the painted lines where it’s pretty slippery, and that sealed the deal.”

Kopp leads Saathoff by 34 points and Drane by 40 as the series returns to the scene of the two-time champion’s first-career Mile win.

The unusual nature of the venue in downtown Sturgis created some opportunity for new names to run up near the front (even if the very front was still controlled by the usual suspects).

The biggest winner in this was Supermoto ace (and occasional Progressive AFT competitor) Bronson Pearce, who finished fifth and was followed by Chad Cose, filling in for James Ott on the Husqvarna, and rookie Justin Anselmi on the Team TDR entry.

Sammy Halbert at 2024 AdventureTrackers — **AdventureTracking made its debut at Sturgis. Sammy Halbert rode a Triumph Tiger 1200 to victory.**

AFT ADVENTURETRACKERS

Day and night, rain and shine, pavement and dirt. Sunday’s Sturgis TT threw more at the AFT AdventureTrackers’ debut than even the most ambitious dual adventure advertising campaign could have offered.

Ultimately, the event served as an effective proof of concept for the new category, as the largely stock machines put on an impressive show when hustled around by notable pilots from widely diverse racing backgrounds.

While five-time World Enduro Champion Ivan Cervantes and four-time Daytona 200 Champion Danny Eslick acquitted themselves nicely en route to respective second- and third-place finishes, the full-time dirt trackers were still the riders to beat, even on these bikes and on this course.

Dan Bromley controlled the race aboard his Memphis Shades/Vinson Shades Honda Africa Twin as it took shape with Triumph Racing’s Sammy Halbert in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, that duel ended prematurely when an errantly engaged kill switch removed Bromley from the equation.

Halbert slid and powered his way to victory from there, with Cervantes giving Triumph a 1-2 after working past the Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson Pan America of Eslick.

Ivan Cervantes at Sturgis AdventureTrackers — **Ivan Cervantes brought his Triumph across the line in second at the inaugural Sturgis AdventureTrackers.**

Sammy Halbert was not only the winner of Sunday’s inaugural AFT AdventureTrackers race, he was also the class’ best salesman, entertaining with his antics on the bike and smiling widely, Halbert manhandled the Triumph Tiger 1200 in impressive fashion despite being dwarfed by it. “It was actually quite easy for me to ride that Triumph; it worked so well,” he said. “I’m just a little guy, and that’s a big bike, but it’s so nice and easy to ride. I’m so stoked to get that win in the inaugural race for the class. Big shout-out to Triumph for putting me on their Tiger 1200. It was so fun to ride. It was a rad event. I love a little street racing. I’m so loving this part of my career, still getting to come out and slam it around out there. It was a blast.”

While it was Triumph’s day in the end, similar to the case of Honda-mounted Bromley, there’s no telling what might have happened had Eslick’s teammate, Frankie Garcia, not stalled off the line after leading two practice sessions and setting the fastest time in qualifying. CN