Monster Energy Interview: Progressive AMA Flat Tracker Dallas Daniels

One of the all-time American Motorcyclist Association’s amateur racing greats, barely 20 years old, is about to step on the main stage of one of the oldest forms of American motorcycle racing and put it all on the line in an all-out battle for the season championship.

When Monster Energy’s Dallas Daniels (Estenson/Yamaha) was just a pup, fellow Monster Energy athlete Jared Mees (Indian) was getting his Progressive American Flat Track (AFT) racing career started. And at that time Daniels’ father, Nick, was running an AMA national pro number on the AFT circuit.

Fast-forward 16 years and Mees has seven Grand National AFT titles, and will be shooting for his 8th – one short of tying the all-time record by Scotty Parker (9) - when he and Daniels square off for the Springfield Mile Doubleheader, Sept. 2-3, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. And the title chase is thisclose, with Mees leading Daniels by a single point, 342-341, after 16 (of 18) rounds of racing.

From the time he first threw a leg over a Yamaha PW50 mini bike, and standing on a five-gallon gas can so he could see over the fence at the legendary Peoria TT – a race he’d later win – Daniels has a flat out awesome story to tell. 

Let’s cut right to the chase. Figure you’ve got the biggest weekend of your career thus far coming up, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2-3, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds for the annual running of the Springfield Mile Doubleheader. And the table is set for another epic battle between you and flat track legend, Monster Energy’s Jared Mees (Indian), with the Mission SuperTwins championship on the line. Talk about what’s going through your mind right now.

I think, for me, just keep things the same. Not changing anything. We show up every weekend to win, and I’d like to keep things the same. But it’s going to be tough, for sure. Jared’s one of the all-time greats, if not the greatest. I’ve dreamt of so long, being a position to win the championship. I want to focus on the goal, but it’s very easy to get distracted. The job’s not finished. People think I might be a ball of nerves, but really, I’m not. I understand that Jared’s really good at Springfield, and that I have less experience. But I feel that I’ve got what it takes to be in this position, so we’ll have to just see how it plays out.

In looking at the Springfield finals, your road to get to within one point, 342-341, of 1st place overall heading in to Springfield, has been marked with success all race season. And what it would mean to bring the title back to the Monster Energy/Estenson Racing/Yamaha team. But before we get into that, tell the MonsterEnergy.com readers about your upbringing on motorcycles, how you got started and what course you eventually chose to take.

To start out, my dad (Nick Daniels), did both flat track and road racing.  And, ironically, he used to race with Jared (Mees), back when I was like 4 years old. So he (Nick) got me into it. But when I was a kid I played every sport. I wrestled from kindergarten to my freshman year, then had to give that up because of being homeschooled to I could focus on my racing career. Played some baseball, ran track, soccer, some travel basketball. But it was the wrestling that really helped me out. Strength, quickness, balance – standing up for yourself in school. Kept me in great shape during the winter. I’m really thankful my dad made me do that.

As far a motorcycles go, like most kids, my first bike was a (Yamaha) PW50. I’d ride that locally for a while, then me and my dad got more into regional motocross racing, then traveling even more when I moved up through 50 juniors, seniors and the 65 classes. Around 12 (years old) I started with some flat track, mainly because I was in the paddock all the time. My dad worked with a lot of the pro guys. I remember I was about 10 when I first really thought to myself ‘What would it take for me to be here?’ So by 11 I knew this was what I wanted to do. Also, we were friends with the Haydens (Father Earl, sons Tommy, Nicky and Roger Lee) and they were the ones that got me into road racing.

Did you ever qualify for Loretta’s?

Yeah, that’s a funny story. When I was growing up we didn’t have that much money. My mom worked two jobs, my dad worked all kinds of odds and ends jobs. So we could really only afford one bike a year. So when I was a kid my MX bike was also my flat track bike. So in like 2009 or 2010, at the time I was dirt tracking a 65, I qualified for Loretta’s. I was like ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ It wasn’t a really big deal, but cool for sure. Then some parents complained and got me disqualified. Apparently you can’t race a bike that you also race – and win with – in another form of AMA racing. It wasn’t really that big of a deal because I was getting more into flat track and road racing, starting to move away from motocross at that time.

In 2018, you became the first racer in the history of the AMA to win the coveted Nicky Hayden Horizon Award in both flat track and road racing – at the tender age of 15. Talk about that year and how it, ultimately, helped launch your pro career.

That season was definitely, to date, the best season I’ve had racing. Earl (Hayden) had got me into road racing, and I got a wild card position in the KTM RC Cup, thanks to Dale Quartly. We didn’t have enough (money) to build a road racing bike, so Earl hooked us up. But during testing I high sided, broke my wrist, and felt that was the end of it. But then Bobby Robbins brought me onto his team, and I ended up getting hurt again. At the end of the summer, at the Dirt Track Amateur Nationals at Springfield, I won all three 450 Singles classes. I did the Moto America Junior Cup (road racing), but wasn’t doing very good, just kind of getting my feet wet. Local races was about it. Then I started figuring things out by the end of 2018.

So after we won the Horizon Award in dirt track, my dad said, “Let’s try and win it in road racing.” I was like ‘What the heck.’ We weren’t really sure what we were doing, which classes to enter and what not. But once we got things sorted out it just kind of clicked – and we ended up getting the AMA Athlete of the Year in 2018.

That’s awesome. The following year (2019), in your first season as a pro Parts Unlimited AFT Singles class racer, you won the prestigious Peoria TT. Talk about that win and how that helped launch your pro flat track career, and what it did for your confidence level with flat track racing.

Peoria just holds this different energy. It’s a very historical track. Not the typical venue. As a little kid going there when my dad raced, it was his favorite track. The hair literally stood up on my arms when you rolled down the hill and into the venue. There was a fence that ran down the front straight, and I used to stand on a five gallon gas can in order to watch. Literally stood there all day. It was at that point I realized my love for dirt track. I’d never missed a lap. And I always dreamed of racing there. So my first year racing pro I turned 16 halfway through the year. I was just a rookie, looking forward to riding that race. Earl was there. It was my first year with Estenson and Monster Energy. Earl comes up to me and says “Tommy (Hayden) told me you were gonna win this race.” And I felt, ‘Man, I can’t let Earl Hayden down.’ 

So everything went great. I qualified well, 3rd in my heat. Won my semi. Then, in the main, I started 2nd place, took the lead from Dan Bromley, and set sail after that - won by 2-3 seconds. So to win Peoria, for my family, it took years of hard work and dedication to establish that we could win a race. Peoria was definitely a big piece of the puzzle. Not the twins class, but it was for sure a step in the right direction.

In 2020, you really came on strong, winning more than half of the season Singles races – including a highly noticeable six-consecutive race win streak. You wrapped the title up early – your first AMA Flat Track title. Talk about how the 2020 season went. And then, how you were able to tap back into that experience and, in defending your Singles title in 2021 – becoming the first AMA racer to ever accomplish that feat – used that experience to graduate into the Mission SuperTwins class, both part time in ’21 and full time in ’22.

It’s kind of funny. In 2020 I didn’t even qualify for the first main event! I was just this dumb kid. Hell, I was only 16 at the time. And I didn’t just barely miss making the main – I missed it by a couple spots. (I) wanted to win the championship and I didn’t even make the main in the season’s first event! (laughs) At that point I felt I let everyone down. On the drive back to the hotel, Tim Estenson (Daniels’ race team owner) was basically just kind of laughing about it. The very next day we won the race - and hadn’t even qualified the day before. So that sparked parked my confidence back, thinking to myself ‘You can win. This isn’t a fluke.’ Amazing how good you feel about things when you bounce back like that. It was a big accomplishment. So the first season was a bit gifted. Eight wins, with six in a row heading to Charlotte where we clinched the title. Confidence is a hell of a drug and we were just clicking. And that carried us further than we thought.

You won two races in your first full season racing SuperTwins – both Mile races (Red Mile & Sacramento Mile). Talk about this experience, speeds and the nerves it takes to throw a bike sideways into a corner at 90 mph.

Singles to Twins isn’t as big of a jump as you’d think. I’m going from a production based 450 that’s meant to race motocross, to a motorcycle that is, yeah, bigger, heavier and faster, but is meant to go in a circle. The setup on the bikes is not much different, really. The bike switch was easier, but the competition was the  JUMP for me. I was now racing full grown men, some multiple-time champions, and on a bike that hadn’t won in oval racing since Kenny Roberts back in the 70s. So my goal was to have fun, learn as much as I can, and win one race. So winning the Red Mile was one of the biggest accomplishments of my career. That and taking Yamaha back to a point where we could win on their bike, on an oval. That hadn’t happened in some time. So it was big strides for the Estenson/Monster Energy team.

So this season, in the premier Mission SuperTwins class, you got off to a rocket ship start with back-to-back Daytona Short Track wins. From there you’ve only missed one podium. For a sophomore season, on flat track’s big stage, you’ve gotta be pretty pleased with that.

Yeah, for sure. I couldn’t have dreamt this year. Daytona was a dream weekend. And since then, battling it out with Jared, Briar (Bauman) and JD (Beach), every weekend we were able to battle for podiums and wins. At Peoria we ran into a bit of bad luck (5th), but outside that we’ve got a lot to be proud of. That said we still, hopefully, we can finish the job. The team’s been great, helped me in maturing and growing, and giving me a bike that can win at this level. I’m upset sometimes when I don’t come away with the win, but have to look back and see that nobody’s had more podiums than us this year. And we set an AMA all-time record for that - most consecutive podiums in a season, which we set in New York. Big thanks to my crew chief/tuner James Hart and my mechanic, Danny Lizardo, for that. 

You also put your name on a short list of racers (22), since the dawn of the sport of flat track, that have won what’s known as the “Grand Slam” – with wins in the Mile, Half-Mile, Short Track and TT. Talk about what it means to accomplish such a feat in just your second season racing SuperTwins.

Yeah, the old Grand Slam. I think I was the youngest guy to do it as well.

OK, let’s get down to brass tacks on the Showdown at Springfield. Talk a bit about your relationship with Jared Mees. You guys cool?

Oh, yeah. Starting back from the beginning, Jared was one of the guys I looked up to. He’s established himself as one of the greatest of all time. Seven championships and battling next weekend for his 8th against me. I’ve looked back on the battles he’s had with other guys, the minds games he plays, and that’s part of what champions do. He’s also very good on the track, very crafty. There’s a certain amount of respect that he’s shown me as well. When I won my first Singles championship, he wanted to get a picture with me. ‘Why,’ I said? He said; “You’re going to be a Grand National champion one day.” So the past two seasons we’ve raced really, really hard. But also really clean. And at the end of the day we shake hands.

Now that said, do we train together, or hang out together? No, we don’t. But unless he throws me a curveball at Springfield, he’s been really good with me. In the past, if I beat him and he’d be mad, he’d always comes up after and shake my hand and say, “Good race.” Jared’s a hell of a competitor and I don’t have anything bad to say. His (race experience) notebook’s so thick… he’s been doing this for so long. He’s easily the toughest competitor I’ve ever raced.

Without revealing any sort of strategy on your end, what are Mees’ strengths in the Mile? And where do you feel your strengths are?

Jared, obviously, he’s got so much experience. He also has a really good crew and a really fast motorcycle. Kenny Tolbert (Mees’ crew chief and tuner) and Jared, they’ve won so many titles. You could argue that Kenny, who also won a bunch of titles with Chris Carr, is the best tuner ever. That and Jared being the best racer – ever.  For me, I don’t know where my advantages are just yet. With Mile racing a lot comes down to strategy and experience, along with a little bit of luck. You can have a plan and it can all get messed up in one corner. Being young and being able to learn from one of the best guys… I’ve earned a lot already, and my plan is to apply that. Dirt track’s tough, not like supercross and motocross aggressive tough, but more like finesse and strategy tough. And since all the tracks are so different, you can’t show up with the same strategy. And for me, I’m still trying to learn that. I’m a sponge – and that’s my advantage.

Very well put. One last question - Yamaha vs. Indian… how do the two bikes stack up against each other?

When we first started out with the Yamaha MT07, we were on a bike that you could basically go buy at the dealer and ride it to the grocery store. The Indian that Jared rides is designed, solely, to race flat track. The motor, the frame, every piece of that bike took all the best design elements from the (Harley-Davidson) XR and the Honda RS. It’s a purebred racer. So what we had was street bike racing a purebred flat track racer. When we first showed up (with the MT07) it was like bringing a plastic knife to a gun fight. Last year the AMA made Indian run restrictor plates. But this year Jared’s bike is as fast as ours, if not faster. And I really credit the team and the testing JD Beach did to develop a bike that barely made the top ten four years ago to winning races.

Great stuff, Dallas. Good luck with all the prep work going into the Sept. 2-3 Progressive AMA Flat Track finals at Springfield. The Monster Army will be tuning in for sure.

Thank you, and thanks to everyone at Monster Energy headquarters. It’s definitely going to be a good time next weekend, and you can be sure the Estenson/Monster Energy/Yamaha team is going to be giving it everything we’ve got!