Ryan Wells Signs With Estenson Racing

The former American Flat Track champion joins rookie Dallas Daniels on the 2019 Estenson Racing AFT Singles team for the perfect mix of youth and experience.

PHOENIX (November 9, 2018) – Estenson Racing is pleased to announce that Ryan Wells will join the team to lead the campaign for an American Flat Track AFT Singles title in 2019. The 2016 Singles champion will be teammates with Dallas Daniels, who is one of the sport’s top amateurs. Combined with the AFT Twins side of the team, this increases Estenson Racing’s presence in the American Flat Track paddock, making it the largest to date with a total of five riders next season.

Wells brings with him a wealth of experience with multiple wins in the class in addition to the 2016 crown. With fellow New Yorker Kolby Carlile – the 2017 AFT Singles Champion – moving up to a Twin in 2019, Wells is eager to hop aboard the championship proven Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F to make the bid for another title in 2019.

“I’m super-excited because, as soon as Estenson joined the flat track world, everybody looked at them as one of the dominant teams from the get-go,” Wells said. “Definitely a dream team for me to be on. To see how well Kolby and the whole crew works together, I’m just super-excited to join them and hopefully everything meshes as good, if not better, for me next year, and I can win my second Singles championship.”

Wells also looks forward to taking lead in the team’s AFT Singles program and mentoring Daniels.

“I like it [the mentor role],” Wells said. “Dallas is going to kind of put that fire under me. He’s a fast, fast kid. We are pretty similar in size, and we have similar riding styles, so I think it’s going to be really beneficial to have both of us on the same bikes even before he starts at Lima. It’s a new bike for both of us. The more feedback, the better.”

Team Owner Tim Estenson originally considered shelving his 450 program when current rider and defending AFT Singles Champion Kolby Carlile moves up to the Twins class in 2019. After talking with his wife, Estenson decided that it was in the best interests of the team to keep it going and help support the rising stars of the sport.

“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the 450 program, and I was leaning towards letting it die and focusing on the Twins class. I was talking to my wife Traci, and she made the comment to me, ‘You can’t do that. You owe it to the sport to support the 450 program and the up-and-coming riders,’ and that hit me in a manner that it made sense. We are here for the long run. We are here to do something to help these kids. We need to really look at the amateur kids that are coming up and help them, give them the rides that a lot of us wish that we had the opportunity to have as kids., which for most of us didn’t come, including me.

“We are fortunate to put a two-year deal together with Dallas Daniels and have the support of his father Nick. He is a very talented young rider, and we are excited to have him join our team.”

A third-generation racer, Daniels has 15 overall Amateur National Championships to his credit and was named the 2014 Youth Rider of the Year. Daniels also pulls double duty as a road racer, racing in MotoAmerica’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup for Quarterly Racing/On Track Development. He recently scored his first podium during the World Superbike-MotoAmerica round at Laguna Seca.

At just the young age of 15, Daniels has already turned a lot of heads. He made history this year by being the first rider to earn the prestigious amateur accolade of the Nicky Hayden Horizon Award in both flat track and road racing during the same year. Although Daniels does not turn pro until mid-season next year at the Lima Half-Mile, he has spent a lot of time in the paddock helping out his dad Nick and has a good relationship with Wells. And like Wells, he is eager to get 2019 rolling.

“I’m looking forward to 2019 and to be on an Estenson Yamaha [YZ450F],” Daniels said. “We pretty much planned from the 250 days that we were going by ourselves and doing what we could, so to get an offer like this, I’m super-excited. I just can’t wait to start testing and start getting ready for Lima 2019. To add on top of it, they signed Ryan Wells. He’s the veteran. He knows how to get stuff done. He’s been through it all. It will be great to have him as a mentor all year long to help me out.”

Team Owner Tim Estenson couldn’t be happier with his 2019 AFT Singles lineup. The long-time flat track racing/motorcycle enthusiast feels he has the perfect mix between youth and experience, as well as a team with the cohesive, family environment he was looking for.

“Flat track racing is very near and dear to my heart,” Estenson said. “I’m here to win championships, but it is also important to me to have a great team environment and help provide riders an opportunity that I wish I had when I was younger. I have two very talented riders who I think will complement each other very well. Ryan is a title contender, and Dallas is one of the sport’s brightest stars. I’m so excited for 2019.”