DAYTONA BEACH, FL – September 8, 2025 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – The earliest signs that a rookie wave was about to hit the 2025 AFT Singles presented by KICKER class registered as barely more than a ripple.
The Progressive American Flat Track DAYTONA double season opener was meant to serve as a glorified torch-passing ceremony, with three-time reigning class champ Kody Kopp – who was preparing to embark on a roadracing career – slated to hand the reins over to his dueling heir apparents, Tom Drane and Chase Saathoff.
Instead, Kopp used the opportunity to clock a pair of extended victory laps, adding two more wins to his all-time class record before tossing said torch into the dirt for Drane and Saathoff to scrap over in his absence.
Nearly lost to that bright spotlight was the performance of Lucky Thumb M/C’s Ethan Kitchen, who managed to sneak into the bottom of the top ten in his debut weekend.
The wave next hit not just like a tsunami, but one of historic proportions.
Beachside Ventura Raceway served as a scenic backdrop framing the raw brilliance of Kage Tadman, who set the scene alight with a dominant victory in his very first attempt.
Very few riders had managed that in the history of the class. And no one had ever done what he would do days later – repeat the remarkable feat at Silver Dollar Speedway.
In doing so, Tadman set the stage for what has proved to be an unusually impactful rookie class.
Not many saw it coming. Per usual, there had been some advance hype for the reigning Nicky Hayden AMA Flat Track Horizon Award winner, Walker Porter, who was set to join the series with factory support from American Honda but not until he turned 16 a handful of rounds into the season. Otherwise, the class was rated as solid overall, but lacking any Dallas Daniels– or Kody Kopp-level can’t miss prospects.
But now with one round remaining to further pad the stats, the numbers speak for themselves.
Twenty top tens, nine top fives, four podiums, and two wins. Perhaps most impressively (save Tadman’s mind-bending victories), six different rookies have broken into the top ten this season with a couple more on the verge.
That’s almost as many top tens as the previous two classes combined and more than twice as many top fives. This year’s top threes are the first rookie podiums since Saathoff and Drane joined the fray in 2022, and the first rookie wins since Trevor Brunner nabbed one back in 2020.
The difference is especially stark in comparison to 2023, in which Declan Bender won AFT Singles Rookie of the Year honors in a season where he didn’t break into the top ten until Round 15 of 18 while finishing his campaign with a best result of sixth.
Bender has since more than proven himself a worthy recipient, having subsequently racked up multiple top fives and a podium finish since graduating to the premier class.
So what projections might be made for this year’s crop?
Tadman has rightly earned himself the lion’s share of the forecasts. Hailing from a traditional flat track talent hotbed in Salinas, California, one that has produced the likes of the Bauman brothers and many others before them, he was technically eligible to join the pro ranks for more than a year before he made his debut.
And that debut was supposed to be of the low-key variety. With support from Old Oak Ranch, Tadman planned to participate in just the two California rounds this season.
He said, “We were only about six months on the bike on the 450s full time when I turned 16. And I just didn’t want to waste people’s time or money. I didn’t think I was ready. And we made the right call, just waiting one more year. We didn’t need to rush into it.
“(Going into Ventura) I was just hoping to make the Main. I knew it was a whole different ball game, going into the big leagues.
“And we just started out the day swinging.”
And he didn’t stop swinging, at least not through that California swing. In Ventura, Tadman won his heat race, the challenge sprint race, and the Main Event, all with overwhelming style and speed.
Unlikely as his maiden victory was, the encore was expected to be even more challenging to the point of bordering on impossible. After all, while the rookie had some prior experience at Ventura, he had none to lean on at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway, which is a style of racetrack he was largely unfamiliar with.
No matter. He swept the day’s races – once again – and did so convincingly – once again.
“I don’t really ride car tracks very much. It’s totally different than what we’re used to. So we were kind of just throwing stuff at the wall, to see if it worked.
“And it all seemed to work.”
Like everyone else, Tadman was stunned.
“These are all guys that I grew up watching. And it was always my dream to become a pro. And to win my first two? It was a dream come true-type thing. I think everybody knew I had the speed to be up there and be able to make Mains and stuff, but to win it? I think that was a shocker to everybody.”
At that point, there was no way the paddock would allow Tadman to be two and done. Leading that charge was Jerry Stinchfield, the owner of Roof Systems of Dallas, Texas, and the patron of so many flat trackers, who had previously supported Tadman’s amateur career.
Stinchfield upped that support sufficiently to ensure that the rising star could compete for the remainder of the season.
Tadman’s runaway success just made Walker Porter’s wait all that much more unbearable. Stuck on the sidelines until his 16th birthday, the Alabama native attended every Progressive AFT round, just to get a better feel for the series as well as how his new teammate, Trevor Brunner, interacted with the Turner Honda crew.
Porter tried to look on the bright side. “It helped me out a lot just watching how the day goes by.
But it sucked having to watch them go out on the track while I had to sit there and watch.”
So Porter – who previously made known his goal of winning Rookie of the Year despite his delayed start – was there when the Tadman tsunami hit.
“I was for sure surprised when that happened. But it just fired me up even more. I knew I just had to get to work – work even harder – after that one.”
Porter’s debut was scheduled to take place on June 7 at Wheatland, Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway. Inclement weather forced a further delay, pushing that debut back to the Lima Half-Mile doubleheader.
“Yeah, that was annoying… But it wasn’t too bad because I was really looking forward to Lima.”
Lima and its iconic pea-gravel surface present an imposing challenge for even the most experienced racers. This year’s rookie class was set to be thoroughly tested at a venue that is equal parts physically and mentally demanding.
They passed with flying colors. Tadman proved himself a contender, even when removed from his home state and set loose on a bigger track, scoring two more top fives.
Porter, too, broke into the top five in his debut weekend, while flashing the speed to push up even higher than that.
And they weren’t alone. Ryder Reese – Tadman’s friend and then-quasi-teammate under the Roof Systems’ tent, got a top ten in his maiden pro weekend at Lima, while Hoffer Performance/Stauffer Motors’ Skylar Sentell broke into the top ten for the first time that weekend as well.
In fact, the AFT Singles Main Event at the Lima Half-Mile II featured four rookies in the top ten: Tadman 4th, Porter 5th, Reese 9th, and Sentell 10th.
Tadman said, “I was stoked at Lima. I’ve only been there one other time. And that type of track is not something we ever ride. A fifth and a fourth? I couldn’t complain about that.”
“I felt pretty good (about how things went at Lima). Porter said. “I know I can run up front. I just need to put everything together and put the whole day together. Everybody’s way more competitive and fast out the gate like when the day starts, everybody’s quick. But really, it hasn’t been a huge adjustment.”
What’s the explanation for this level of success so early, especially from a class that hadn’t expected to be all that unusual?
Few are better positioned to put it in perspective than Cory Texter. The 2019 and 2021 AFT Productions Twins champion is a keen observer of both the professional and amateur ranks, He oversees the Mission Foods CTR Flat Track Series, trains and mentors a number of up-and-coming riders, and hosts the Tank Slappin’ podcast, among other related endeavors.
“Well, I think there’s multiple ways to look at it,” Texter said. “I think you have to look at how many of the Singles riders have moved up to Twins that had been on the podium. As a result, I just don’t think the top of the Singles class is quite as stacked as it was, say, three or four years ago.
“But still, with Tadman, it surprised me that he won both those races. I was really impressed by that. And he did it so easily. He kind of just kicked their (butts).
“Talking with my buddies, I had him fourth through seventh right out of the gate. And I had Porter the same – like fourth through seventh. Reese too – I worked with him for a while. These guys are all really good talented riders. He’s won amateur national championships on like the 85 and 250. He’s really, really capable.”
“Tadman kind of overachieved at the first two, but eventually I knew he’d come back down to earth a little bit. He looked good at Lima, and then DuQuoin – the first Mile – really kind of showed everybody that he still had some learning to do.”
While there is no denying that the recent exodus of the likes of Kopp, Bender, Max Whale, Trent Lowe, and James Ott may have created some additional opportunity for the ‘25 rookies to shine, they had put themselves in position to take advantage of that opportunity and then actually capitalize on it.
This year’s class has done exactly that, coming into their own at just the right time.
Texter said, “A fun fact about Sentell is his dad used to race pro, and I remember getting his dad’s autograph when I was really young. But Sentell and Kitchen, they didn’t really do all that much as amateurs. Those two are kind of different because they were always like mid-pack in amateur, and now they’ve been impressing in pro.
“It’s just a testament to the fact that, no matter how good you are when you’re young, being a pro is a whole whole different animal. Like Tadman – he probably got beat by a lot of those pros most of his whole life. Then he shows up to the first two races and wins.
“And it’s a lot cooler to win when you’re a pro than it is to win when you’re an amateur.”
No longer amateurs, this class of first-year pros is united in grabbing attention as a collective despite being locked in individual battles to outshine one another.
“It’s one of those things where everybody’s cool off the track,” Tadman said. “We’re all buddies, but, you know, when around the track, we’re rivals.”
As brightly as they burned from the start, this past weekend’s racing in Springfield served as a showcase for their continued upward trajectory.
Tadman’s DuQuoin Mile struggles were forever captured via his 15th-place result. In fact, no rookies broke into the top ten that day with only Porter (12th) and Reese (16th) joining Tadman in the Main.
However, given a second (and third) opportunity at Springfield to demonstrate what they’ve since learned, the class turned up having completed their homework.
Tadman, again, was particularly impressive. Now a member of the 1st Impressions Husqvarna outfit, the Californian was slinging sideways around the Mile in his inimitable fashion while racking up a pair of fourths, a heat race win, a pole position, and a pair of Mission Triple Challenge top-threes to add to his résumé.
Meanwhile, Porter (eighth on Sunday) and Reese (ninth on Saturday) also picked up top tens at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
In addition to Tadman, Porter, Reese, and Sentell, Trevar Martin and Kaleb Martin joined in on the fun, making the first Main Events of their respective careers in Sunday’s Springfield Mile II, a race that featured six rookies among its 17 starters.
The ultimate story (and final stat line) for this year’s rookie crop has not yet been written. They certainly are not flying under the radar anymore; you can safely assume the flat track world will keep close tabs on these prospects as they look to close out their rookie campaigns on a high and step up to achieve even greater accomplishments in the years to come.
The 2025 rookies had our curiosity, but now they have our attention.
About Progressive American Flat Track:
Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, 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 Progressive American Flat Track, please visit us on the web, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, check us out on Instagram and catch all the Progressive American Flat Track racing action on FOX Sports.
Source: Progressive American Flat Track
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