Shayna Texter Gives Behind-The-Scenes Look At Her Super Twins Journey

The winningest AFT Singles rider has unfinished business in the top class.

By: Dustin Wheelen

Jul 8, 2022 at 1:51pm ET

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Ever since Shayna Texter made her professional racing debut in 2008, the Pennsylvania native has become the ideal role model for aspiring women racers. Throughout her 15-year career, Texter blazed a trail through dirt tracks across the country, winning her first American Flat Track (AFT) main event at the Knoxville Raceway in 2011 at just 20 years old.

Since then, number 52 has racked up 19 total AFT Singles victories, making her the winningest rider in series history. Texter remained an AFT Singles title contender, finishing third overall in the 2017 and 2018 season standings, and racking up eight race wins during that period.

The then-Red Bull KTM rider kicked off the 2021 season with imperious back-to-back victories at Florida’s Volusia Half-Mile, but she struggled for results the remainder of the season. With Texter’s KTM contract drawing to a close at the end of the 2021 season, she had a choice to make: remain in the AFT Singles category or move up to the Super Twins series?

Gallery: Indian Motorcycle Wrecking Crew: Shayna Texter

Ready to take on the challenges of the top class, the ever-popular rider accepted a spot at the factory-supported Indian Motorcycle Wrecking Crew alongside her husband and two-time Super Twins champion Briar Bauman and the defending Super Twins titleholder Jared Mees.

Transitioning from the KTM 450 SX-F to the works Indian FTR750 race machine has required extra effort on the part of chief mechanic and two-time flat track national champion Jake Johnson, though. With Texter measuring just five feet tall, the team needed to adjust the FTR750’s rider triangle to suit her dimensions.

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Despite the team adapting the machine to Texter and Texter adapting her style to the machine, she has shown steady progress over the course of the 2022 Super Twins season. Previously, Number 52 finished 14th in her lone AFT Twins appearance in 2017. She recently completed her eighth Super Twins race at the New York Short Track, equaling her best result of the season with an 11th-place finish.

Texter and team still have nine rounds remaining this year. With hopes of becoming the first female racer to earn an AFT Super Twins podium, Texter has a challenging road ahead. But, as she’s proven in the past, if anyone can achieve that feat, it’s Shayna Texter.