Dallas Daniels is 23 years old and certainly one of the fastest young American racers—if not the fastest—right now.

When I asked him earlier in the year if he ever intended to roadrace again, the now four-time AFT Grand National champion (two Singles championships and two Twins championships, all back to back) said he didn't know, that it was hard to say if he ever intended to race on asphalt again.

When he last roadraced Dallas was easily one of the fastest young riders in MotoAmerica. He won a Junior Cup race and had all the veteran observers at the racetrack predicting he was the one to watch. These were not sun-baked cornerworkers, they were guys who had won AMA Superbike races in the glory years of 1993-2008. They knew what generational fast looked like.

Dallas won races in both AFT and MotoAmerica in 2019.

Dallas' first love is dirt track racing and he has focused on that championship. He was and is the lead rider on the Estenson Racing Yamaha team. There's no shame in racing to become the modern equivalent of Scott Parker in dirt track racing, if that's your dream.

Dallas has actually roadraced since he made the hard left to go dirt track. In 2023 he raced the MotoAmerica Twins Cup class after the end of the AFT season. He was still very impressive on a street-based motorcycle. He qualified 15th, finished 12th in race one and sixth in race two. He was only six seconds behind the winner of the race on Sunday.

So what now? It's clear Estenson Racing Yamaha won't be back in AFT in 2027. Where does that leave Dallas?

Some who know Dallas well say that they doubt Tim Estenson will leave him high and dry, that he will field a smaller effort for Dallas. And if not, then Dallas will be racing for someone, probably on the dirt.

But circumstances have a way of changing plans. Daniels didn't leave roadracing because he couldn't do it. He left because dirt track was where he wanted to be, and there was a championship there for him to chase.

Now he has four of them.

At 23, with Estenson Racing Yamaha apparently stepping away from AFT, Daniels suddenly finds himself at a crossroads he probably didn't expect. There will certainly be opportunities for him to keep racing dirt track, and that may be exactly what he wants.

But somewhere in all of this is a guy who was very, very fast on pavement, too.

Maybe it's time to ask him that question again.