Estenson Racing’s Ryan Wells and Dallas Daniels both had solid nights at the Lima Half-Mile with Wells notching a top five result and Daniels making the Main Event in the freshly minted 16-year-old’s very first attempt, finishing just outside the top 10.
Conditions were challenging for the Yamaha YZ450F-mounted pair, and they had their hands full (and their faceshields, leathers, and bikes) quite literally with Lima’s legendary pea gravel creating a gnarly roost behind each competitor’s bike. Despite the pelting, Wells and Daniels hung tough all day and throughout the evening.
Daniels finished a remarkable fourth in Heat 1, while Wells was one position better, with a third-place finish in Heat 3. Wells then finished fourth in Semi 1, and Daniels was third in Semi 2. Both riders had great showings in the preliminary races leading up to the evening’s 15-lap Main Event, and Wells ultimately finished fifth in the Main, with his young teammate Daniels finishing 11th.
After a one-week hiatus, the Estenson Racing team will travel to Central New York State where they’ll compete in the New York Short Track event, which will take place on Saturday, July 13, at Weedsport Speedway.
“Lima was different this year for sure. It’s usually one of the races that I come to and look to get a win. We battled some stuff all day and unfortunately was on the back row for the Main Event. It was definitely a gnarly first few laps, but the changes that we made to the bike were super good for the line that I was riding in. I just didn’t get into fifth soon enough. I made a last five lap charge for the podium spots, but just ran out of time. The bike was really good for the Main Event. I think if we could have figured it out sooner we would have been in a shoe-in for a podium. We’ll just take it and move onto the next one.”
Dallas Daniels – AFT Singles #163:
“The day started out a little rough. In the Main Event, we kind of got off to a not-so-good start. I was in probably seventh or eighth, and going into turn three I had a big moment. It was pretty slick. I almost looped out over there. The rest of the race just kind of was holding on and trying to figure out some stuff. The first couple laps I wasn’t really riding very good. The last seven or eight laps I kind of poured it on and was starting to put in good, consistent laps. So for my first pro race, to start on front row and get 11th, I’m pretty happy with it for sure.