Declan Bender
Hailing from Cooksville, Illinois, Declan Bender started racing at the age of six and proved himself as a frontrunner over the next decade, earning 14 amateur championships, including 10 AMA Flat Track Grand Championships, three Xtreem Flat Track titles and five AMA District 17 titles.
In 2022, he was one of the leading contenders for the Nicky Hayden AMA Flat Track Horizon Award but suffered bad luck with multiple mechanicals that took him out of contention. Over the final two years of his amateur career, he scored 62 wins and 81 podiums.
In his debut Progressive AFT season, Bender immediately proved he belonged, qualifying seventh overall for the 2023 AFT Singles opener. He ended the year ever stronger, notching up a sixth and a pair of sevenths in the season’s final four races to scoop Progressive AFT Rookie of the Year honors.
Bender quickly advanced to the Mission AFT SuperTwins class in 2024, riding under the tutelage of Johnny Goad and the Grumpy Old Men Racing team. There Bender again showed himself to belong, even against the best riders in the world, claiming nine top-ten finishes, including a fourth-place result at the Black Hills Half-Mile.
In his off time, Declan enjoys tuning his bikes and training motocross and bicycling.
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| Year | Class / Bike | Champ. Pos. |
Points | Main Events |
Wins | Best Fin. |
Worst Fin. |
Avg Fin. |
Laps Led |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | AFT Singles KTM 450 SX-F |
18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | |||||
| 2024 | AFT SuperTwins Indian FTR750 |
9 | 144 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 10.4 | 0 | |||||
| 2023 | AFT Singles KTM 450 SX-F |
17 | 65 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 13.5 | ||||||
| 2023 | AFT Singles KTM 450 SX-F |
17 | 65 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 13.5 | 0 | |||||
| 2020 | Road to AFT Amateur Invitational KTM 450 SX-F |
3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | |||||
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