SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A thrilling Grand National Championship fight is well and truly racing down the backstretch as it arrives for the Springfield Mile I & II presented by Drag Specialties at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Aug. 30-31.
The victory of Briar Bauman (No. 3 RWR/Parts Plus/Latus Motors Harley-Davidson XG750R) over Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT) at the 78th World Famous Peoria TT was big in terms of their ongoing Mission AFT SuperTwins title conflict.
This weekend’s Progressive American Flat Track doubleheader, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, at the series’ crown jewel event promises to have even bigger implications.
As a result of Bauman’s win in Peoria, he now leads Daniels by 11 points (266-255). With just three races remaining, that puts the Estenson Racing Yamaha ace in a position where he needs to win out to be assured of the crown.
Considering the form of Daniels and his machine at the season’s only other Mile (DuQuoin) – further amplified by the desperation of his current situation – he’s likely viewed as the favorite this weekend.
However, even if he doubles in Springfield, he could still potentially face a scenario in which he’d need to win over Bauman at the Lake Ozark Short Track finale. And there he’s destined to be swapped into the role of underdog considering that Bauman has beaten Daniels head-to-head in each of the five most recent Short Tracks.
Still, even if Bauman is completely confident in his ability to overcome Daniels in Missouri, he can’t feel overly comfortable coming into Springfield due to some complicating factors.
The Springfield Mile has always loomed large in determining the Grand National Championship. That’s only been made truer since being slotted in as a late-season doubleheader.
Last season, Jared Mees came into Springfield with just a six-point championship advantage. A pair of wins later, he left up 22 with just Lake Ozark remaining to secure his unprecedented tenth premier-class crown.
In 2023, Mees led Daniels by just a single point prior to the Springfield Mile double finale. His 1-2 – contrasted by his young challenger’s 5-4 – stretched the final separation open to 16.
In 2021 (the event was rained out in ‘22), Mees used a Springfield sweep to springboard his comeback title campaign. Down 25 points at the time, Mees won both races in Springfield and then in Sacramento to turn the tables on Bauman.
In 2019 and 2020, Bauman proved it possible to weather a Springfield championship drubbing, although under considerably different circumstances than what he now faces. ‘19 saw Bauman go into Springfield with a massive 38-point advantage. Mees’ 1-1 vs. his 3-2 slashed the difference down to a still hefty 25.
And in ‘20, Bauman came in up three points and left down 13, as a result of his 7-3 vs Mees’ 2-1. However, the Springfield Mile doubleheader came early that season due to the pandemic scheduling shakeup, and Bauman managed to respond with four consecutive wins to get his championship campaign back on track.
As previously alluded, Springfield is a special case. While Bauman has finished first or second in 11 of 13 races this season (with one of the two misses being a third in which he had to race up through the field after being placed at the back of the pack), this weekend poses a steeper climb toward that end goal.
Bauman finished fifth at the ‘25 DuQuoin Mile and looked rather overmatched in doing so. Even though DuQuoin and Springfield have their own particular characteristics, that recent data point has to be a bit alarming for the Rick Ware Racing outfit.
Home track hero Jeffrey Carver, Jr. (No. 123 Happy Trails Racing/Carver’s BBQ Kawasaki Ninja 650), won the Springfield Mile in 2018 over Mees by 0.819 seconds. The following year, he finished 0.653 seconds behind race winner Mees… and finished 10th.
And that wasn’t the only such race, as there were two among the 11 that saw 10 riders take the checkered flag within a second of the win.
A similar outcome for Bauman (or Daniels) would likely prove catastrophic to their championship chances.
That sort of variability is liable to have ramifications all throughout the championship tables.
Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Harley-Davidson XG750R) is relatively secure in third with 176 points compared to the twin 158-point efforts of Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing KTM 790 Duke) and Jarod VanDerKooi (No. 20 Fastrack Racing/Wally Brown Racing KTM 790 Duke).
However, he’s arguably somewhat less secure than he was two rounds back when he led them 158-141-128. That current 18-point advantage sounds even shakier when you factor in the possibility of a 15-point shift a la Carver in 2019.
There’s also a tight race for sixth waged by Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Progressive Insurance Honda Transalp), James Ott (No. 19 G&G Racing Yamaha MT-07), Dan Bromley (No. 62 Memphis Shades/Vinson Construction Suzuki GSX-8S), and Max Whale (No. 18 Moto Anatomy X Powered by Royal Enfield 650).
Lowe leads them in that order, 137-131-128-127.
Behind those four, Declan Bender (No. 70 Memphis Shades/Luczak Racing Yamaha MT-07) sits a distant tenth at 83 after joining the chase halfway in.
Daniels and Yamaha would love to see Ott and Bender make big moves this weekend, ideally replicating their DuQuoin 1-2-3. There, a Yamaha podium lockout was significant. Here, it could be of Grand National proportions.
Even assuming a win at Lake Ozark, Bauman needs to score at least 31 points in Springfield to fend off a 1-1-2 season’s finish by Daniels. Two thirds would do it. A third and a fourth would not.
It may not prove to be podium or bust for Bauman, but he should probably plan on viewing it as such.
