If you want a lighter color with the same stain you must sand to a finer grit, like 150. Coarser paper leaves more torn wood fibers, which are like sponges for pigments.
Casey

Flooring was run through a planer to make it flat and the right thickness. The top layer has been burnished by passing through the planer.

That surface doesn't take stain the way a sanded piece of the same batch of flooring would - it's a lot lighter.

Always treat the test sample EXACTLY the way you plan to treat the piece hyou are staining.

Eeeks. I do plan to take a lil steel wool to it on the 1st coat. Hopefully it will remove some of the pigment away

Don't use steel wool!

Tannins in oak react with iron in steel wool (when exposed to moisture) and you can end up with thousands of little black spots that you'll have to strip and bleach out with oxalic acid.

Use non-woven abrasive like Norton's or Scotch-Brite if you need to rub with something like steel woo.