Estenson Racing was born out of Team Owner Tim Estenson’s passion for motorcycles and flat track racing. In his youth, he was an avid flat track racer, but put his steel shoe aside to focus on what many refer to as “a real job.” In 1999, his goal of starting his own transportation company came to fruition with the birth of Estenson Logistics. Fast forward 15 years his company was a resounding success, but there came a moment when his wife helped him realize that there is more to life than just work, or “a real job.” It was then when the North Dakotan began to revisit his motorcycle roots and start a new endeavor – Estenson Racing.
At first, it was just helping a privateer racer, Colt Chebultz, to race select races in 2016. The following year the team went full time with a two-rider effort and quickly established itself as one of the top non-factory teams in American Flat Track. Success came early that debut season, with Kolby Carlile securing the 2017 AFT Singles title, and on the Twins side, Sammy Halbert taking the win on extreme sport’s biggest stage – X Games.
In 2018, the team broke ground by scoring its first win in American Flat Track’s AFT Twins class with Jake Johnson at the Buffalo Chip TT. On the AFT Singles side of the tent, returning champ Kolby Carlile secured multiple wins on the Mile.
2019 was a big year for Estenson Racing as the team more than doubled in size to campaign for top honors in all three of American Flat Track’s championships – AFT Twins, AFT Production Twins, and AFT Singles. Multi-time AMA road racing champion Tommy Hayden joined the team to help with that expansion as Director of Racing Operations. They also welcomed some new partners: Monster Energy, Yamaha Motor Corp. (YMUS), Yamalube, WPS, Fly, and Dainese.
History was made early in the season when JD Beach took the checkered flag at the team’s home race – the Super TT – to score the first win on a Yamaha Twin since 1981. The Estenson Racing squad built on that with a Beach and Johnson 1-2 finish at the Buffalo Chip TT, as well as securing multiple wins in the support classes.
Heading into 2020, in addition to the increased support from YMUS, Estenson Racing has made some key additions to its staff and technical program to battle for the crown in the all-new premier SuperTwins Championship and AFT Singles Championship. Beach returns for his second year with the team to compete full-time in American Flat Track in SuperTwins and is joined by Carlile who will make the step up to premiere class. In AFT Singles, newcomer Mikey Rush joins the 2019 Rookie of Year Dallas Daniels to bring the number-one plate back to Estenson Racing.