DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(September 1, 2024) – The
Springfield Mile I & II
presented by Drag Specialties lived
up to its billing as one of the
most significant events in the
series’ modern history as two of
the final three rounds of the
2024 Progressive
American Flat Track season,
sanctioned by AMA Pro
Racing, played out over
the course of a single day at
the Illinois State
Fairgrounds in
Springfield, Illinois.
When the dust settled at the
conclusion of the Super Sunday
doubleheader, reigning
Grand National Champion
Jared Mees (No.
1 Rogers Racing/SDI
Racing/Indian Motorcycle FTR750)
emerged the big winner… again.
A day of domination for the
all-time great ended with his
third Springfield Mile double –
this one leaving him just three
points away from the immortality
granted by a record tenth
premier-class crown.
Mission AFT SuperTwins
Main Event 1
Mission AFT SuperTwins Main
Event 1 was a contradictory
concoction of unpredictability
and inevitability courtesy of
the sport’s primary
protagonists, Mees and
Dallas Daniels (No. 32
Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07
DT), who made a shock return to
action just six weeks removed
from surgery to repair a broken
femur.
Despite hobbling around the
paddock on a crutch, Daniels
didn’t look to have missed a
step once he threw his leg over
a racebike. Starting from pole,
the Estenson Racing ace mixed it
up for the lead with the likes
of Mees, Brandon
Robinson (No. 44
Mission Roof Systems Indian
FTR750), and Brandon
Price (No. 92 Memphis
Shades/Sody Ent/OTBR Yamaha
MT-07) for the race lead.
But a moment of near catastrophe
transpired in still in the
contest’s early stages when the
still-mending Daniels got well
sideways, clipped Price’s rear
wheel and then Robinson’s,
before being sent up the track
and down the order… but most
crucially, all while somehow
remaining upright.
The drama allowed Mees to break
the draft and subsequently check
out, piling up a monster lead
before cruising to a
2.137-second margin of victory
at the flag. The win was both
his ninth-career victory at the
Springfield Mile and his 29th in
the Mile discipline overall,
tying him with Chris
Carr for second on the
all-time order.
Mees said, “So many people have
contributed to our program. My
guys worked so hard just to try
to fine-tune it all day. And I
needed that in the Main. You
don’t really get perfect
motorcycles every race, but that
Main Event, the thing was
really, really close to
perfect. It was awesome and came
together when we needed it.”
Rather than cower and fold
following his near fall, Daniels
clawed his way back up from
seventh to third, finishing
behind only Mees and fellow
charger Davis Fisher
(No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob
Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian
FTR750) to resume his run of
podiums at 11.
Robinson pulled off a final-lap
pass on Price to lock down
fourth, limiting the extent of
the damage done to his
championship chances. While less
than ideal, he got off easy
compared to fellow title hopeful
Briar Bauman
(No. 3 Rick Ware
Racing/KTM/Parts Plus KTM 790
Duke), who retired from the race
and was credited in 19th
position.
Mission AFT SuperTwins
Main Event 2
Minus a second moment of terror
for Daniels, the day’s second
scheduled Mees disappearing act
proved considerably more
difficult to execute. While
largely controlling the race
from the front, Daniels, Bauman,
Robinson, and Fisher kept the
champion firmly in their sights
over the race’s opening half.
However, Fisher then faded from
the lead pack, destined to
ultimately finish fifth behind
Price. A short while later,
Bauman was removed from the
equation as well, forced to pull
off a second time due to
mechanical issues, leaving only
Daniels and Robinson to give
chase.
With his conditioning left
wanting after sitting on the
couch for the past month,
Daniels eventually had to shift
his focus from pursuing Mees to
fending off Robinson, which
allowed the factory Indian
superstar to at last stretch
open a bit of padding with a
couple minutes to go.
The champ stormed past the
checkered flag with almost a
second-and-a-half in hand,
securing his 10th Springfield
Mile win and a Carr-surpassing
30th-career Mile victory.
Now on the verge of an
unprecedented tenth Grand
National Championship, Mees
said, “Total domination all day.
We came in super focused but
kind of had some jitters and
some nerves, just because the
pressure was on me because I’ve
done so well in the past. I had
the target on my back, but I do
well with that. A huge shout out
to my entire team.... I wanted
to get Indian Motorcycle their
last couple wins here, I really
did. That burnout was for Indian
Motorcycle. I’m so happy they
put me on board in 2016 and ‘17
– a phenomenal company to ride
for.
”We came into the Springfield
Mile needing to do this… We’ve
got one more to go, but we have
a little bit of cushion now.”
Daniels managed to successfully
hold off Robinson for second,
upping his podium streak to 12
in the process. Robinson,
however, did just enough to keep
his title hopes alive – if just
barely – now 22 points back of
the title lead (286-264) with
only the finale to go.
Parts Unlimited AFT
Singles presented by KICKER Main
Event 1
Defying pre-race expectations
for another of the Parts
Unlimited AFT Singles
class’ standard ten-plus-rider
Mile track pack wars, a
four-pilot breakaway featuring
title fighters Kody Kopp
(No. 1 Rick Ware Racing/Parts
Plus KTM 450 SX-F),
Chase Saathoff (No. 88
JPG Motorsports Honda CRF450R),
and Tom Drane (No.
59 Estenson Racing Yamaha
YZ450F), along with savvy vet
Chad Cose (No.
49 1st Impressions/Media HT
Husqvarna FC450), quickly took
shape in the day’s opening Main
Event.
However, eight minutes of
final-lap trial runs and
strategic formulations was
undone in an instant when a red
flag was thrown just as the
clocks hit zero. The potential
for a pack battle was again on
the table with the field bunched
back up for a frantic two-lap
dash to the checkered flag.
But somehow, Saathoff, Drane,
Cose, and Kopp instantly shook
free yet again, relegating
everyone else to an outsized
fight for fifth. Saathoff
appeared to be in prime position
to claim his third straight
home-state win when he powered
into Turn 3 for the final time
with the lead and Drane
displaced to third by Cose.
Instead, the Australian
immediately countered and leapt
out of 4 with a near-perfect
launch, enabling him to blast by
Saathoff at the stripe by 0.048
seconds. Cose held on for third
another 0.048 seconds back,
followed by championship leader
Kopp in fourth.
“It was definitely a hard race
out there,” Drane said. “There
was a big battle at the front,
and then that red flag made it
real dicey towards the end. I
was able to just get through on
Chad, which gave me a good run
on Chase and was able to get him
at the line. I couldn't have
done it without my whole
Estenson Racing Monster Energy
crew; they’ve put in a lot of
work, and it paid off.”
Miler extraordinaire
Shayna Texter-Bauman
(No. 52 Rick Ware Racing/Parts
Plus KTM 450 SX-F) took full
advantage of the race reset to
secure her season’s best result
by far in fifth.
Parts Unlimited AFT
Singles Main Event 2
After Cose was forced to line up
at the back of the grid for
jumping the start and Drane,
Saathoff, and Kopp stretched
open a healthy gap in less than
a lap, Parts Unlimited AFT
Singles Main Event 2 seemed
destined to be a three-contender
affair.
Instead, Trent Lowe
(No. 48 American Honda/Mission
Foods CRF450R) bridged the gap
from the second group and then
Cose arrived to conclude his
torrid climb up the order.
The development of a five-rider
freight train at the front was
not in the plans for Kopp,
especially when he was shuffled
down to fifth while seeking a
finish of second or better in
order to clinch the championship
early for the third consecutive
season.
A back-and-forth scrap saw Drane
and Saathoff cross the line with
two laps to go separated by
nothing – 0.000 seconds apart –
and Cose, Kopp, and Lowe tucked
tight in their tow.
The Estenson Racing star moved
into the lead to open the final
lap while Cose pushed Saathoff
down to third. The JPG
Motorsports runner responded by
overhauling both opponents
entering Turn 3. Cose then got
completely sideways while
holding onto second, allowing
Drane and Kopp through as they
navigated the final corner.
In the decisive sprint to the
flag, Drane replicated his Main
Event 1 trick to zap Saathoff
for the win once again – this
time by an even slimmer 0.019
seconds. Meanwhile, Cose edged
ahead of Kopp by 0.045 seconds
to keep the championship fight a
three-rider affair heading into
the season finale.
Lowe took fifth, less than a
second removed from the race
win.
“That was a really good one,”
Drane said. “We had a really
good race with me, Chad, and
Chase. We were all putting in
really good laps and swapping
back and forth throughout the
race. I got a little bit lucky
in that last corner, Chad
slipped up a little bit,
allowing me to go underneath him
and then get Chase to the line.”
Despite failing to end this one
early, Kopp remains in a very
strong position to claim an
unprecedented third class crown.
With just 25 points left on the
table, the Rick Ware Racing star
now leads Drane by 22 points
(321-299) and Saathoff by 24
(297).
Next Up:
The battle for the Grand
National Championship will
conclude at the 2024 season
finale, the Lake Ozark
Short Track at Lake
Ozark Speedway in Eldon,
Missouri, on Saturday, September
14. Visit
https://www.tixr.com/groups/americanflattrack/events/lake-ozark-short-track-104135
to purchase your tickets today.
For those who can’t catch the
action from the circuit,
FloRacing is the live
streaming home of Progressive
AFT. Sign up now and catch every
second of the on-track action,
from the first practice to the
victory podium, at
https://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports coverage
of the Springfield Mile
I & II presented by Drag
Specialties, featuring
in-depth features and thrilling
onboard cameras, will premiere
on FS1 on
Sunday, September 8.
The Springfield Mile I will air
at 7:00 a.m. ET
(4:00 a.m. PT) with the
Springfield Mile II scheduled
for 11:00 a.m. ET
(8:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on
Progressive AFT visit
https://www.americanflattrack.com.
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