DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — After a roller coaster of a year, the Progressive American Flat Track will conclude its season and crown the year’s AFT SuperTwins presented by Vance & Hines champion in this weekend’s Progressive AFT Finale at DAYTONA I & II at Daytona Int’l Speedway Oct. 16-17.

The premier class championship is still very much up in the air; teammates, preseason co-title favorites, and archrivals Briar Bauman and Jared Mees are set to square off and determine the grand national champion between them on the always unpredictable DAYTONA Short Track.

As a result of last Saturday’s race cancellation, reigning champion Bauman enters the finale with a nine-point advantage. That margin provides Mees one overriding mission: sweep both races — as he did in the year’s only other ST doubleheader and he’s guaranteed the crown. He, however, has never won at the track.

Bauman’s marching orders aren’t quite as clear cut other than the fact that above all else — he needs to prevent Mees from winning both main events. Should Bauman earn a victory in one of the doubleheader’s twin mains, he’d only need to finish eighth or better in the other one to secure the title. Bauman earned his first premier-class victory at the DAYTONA Short Track back in 2014.

However, even though Bauman and Mees have won 11 of 13 races between them this season, it’s far from a certainty they’ll dominate again this weekend. A look down the past winner’s list at the DAYTONA ST shows a huge range of names, including current competitors Sammy Halbert, Jake Johnson, Brandon Robinson and Bryan Smith.

Defending AFT Production Twins king Cory Texter has turned it on as of late in a desperate bid to retain his title. Two victoires and a second in his last three outings have provided him a mathematical chance to repeat, although he’s going to need plenty of help to pull it off.

James Rispoli has been the pick of the AFT Production Twins field in 2020, racking up seven victories, four seconds, a fourth, and a fifth en route to stacking up a 38-point advantage. Even if Texter sweeps the final two races, Rispoli needs just 12 points on the weekend (a single seventh-place finish or a pair of 13ths would be enough).

The AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys championship is already decided thanks to an amazing season on the part of Dallas Daniels. Daniels locked the AFT Singles title up three races early by piling up eight victories to the opposition’s combined five.

Beyond the three primary classes, Royal Enfield’s innovative BUILD. TRAIN. RACE. program will be back in action at the Progressive AFT Finale at DAYTONA to again shine the spotlight on some of the fast females of flat track.

The Progressive AFT Finale at DAYTONA I & II will air back-to-back on NBCSN on Oct. 31, starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern.