After a 26-hour white-knuckle haul from Pensacola to South Dakota, Dalton Gauthier didn’t roll into Sturgis looking for rest—he rolled in ready to race.

Monday night marked the kickoff of the Jackpine Gypsies Short Track I, and Dalton lined up for not one, but two classes: the AFT Singles on his KTM 450 SX-F, and the new AdventureTrackers class aboard Triumph’s Tiger 900 GT Pro. What followed was a wild mix of heat, hustle, and hard-fought lessons in throttle control.

AFT Singles – Figuring It Out the Hard Way

Dalton started the evening chasing traction in the AFT Singles class. The Sturgis sun was blazing hot when practice kicked off around 5 p.m., drying out the surface fast and making the track slick and unforgiving. In his first practice session, he clocked a 14.230—good enough for 10th, but not where he wanted to be.

After the session, he swapped out his rear wheel in search of better grip. He came into Qualifying 1 still searching for speed, landing 15th with a 14.132. But Dalton’s not one to sit still. Between sessions, he made key changes—most notably switching gearing before Qualifying 2.

It paid off.

With the sun starting to dip behind the hills and some moisture hanging in the air, Dalton found his rhythm. He dropped nearly two-tenths to run a 13.977 and jumped all the way to 2nd on the leaderboard. The track was finally coming to him—and so was the pace.

The Mission Triple Challenge races were a different beast. Race 1 was a tough run, where he fought hard but finished 12th with a 13.542—his fastest lap of the night. In Race 2, he made some progress, finishing 10th as the track continued to evolve. But it wasn’t until Race 3 that things finally started to click.

By then, Dalton had dialed in his line, carving around the cushion on the outside edge of the track—a tricky, high-speed groove that rewarded trust and throttle. He brought it home in 8th place and left the track with momentum building.

AdventureTrackers – Bringing the Heat on the Tiger 900

Between his Singles sessions, Dalton also threw a leg over the Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro as part of Triumph’s official entry into the AdventureTrackers class. It’s not your typical race bike—but that’s the point.

He made a statement right out of the gate, going P1 in the first practice session and showing he could hustle the Tiger just as hard as anything else. He slipped to 5th in Practice 2, but rebounded strong with a P3 in Qualifying 2 thanks to a tidy 15.263 lap.

In the 10-lap main event, with the track now holding more moisture and the crowd buzzing, Dalton pushed the Triumph through the pack and into a hard-earned 3rd place finish—capping off the night with a podium and proving that adventure bikes can absolutely hang with the big dogs when ridden right.

Trackside Truth

Flat track racing isn’t just about raw speed—it’s about reading the surface, adapting fast, and staying calm when things get chaotic. The dry heat early in the evening made the dirt dusty and unpredictable. But once the sun dropped around 8 p.m., things shifted. The moisture returned. Grip improved. Lines started forming.

Dalton and his crew—though still running without head mechanic Robby Bobby, whose flight out of VIR was cancelled after wrenching for Bodie Page at MotoAmerica—made the right calls throughout the night. With hopes Robby can make it in by Thursday, the team is keeping its eyes locked on Friday’s TT main event.

Next Up: Day 2

With solid results and critical seat time under his belt, Dalton is looking ahead to day two and the Super TT—where elevation changes, right-handers, and jumps will put both man and machine to the test.

For now, it’s back to the pits, back to prep, and back to chasing the perfect lap.