The “World’s Fastest Mile” at the Illinois State Fairgrounds was a fitting host for a Progressive American Flat Track weekend that saw the temperature of both the Mission SuperTwins title fight and the rivalry at the center of it ratchet up more than a few degrees.
Reigning back-to-back Grand National Champion Briar Bauman came into the Springfield Mile doubleheader with a 25-point lead to defend over the final five races and a peerless podium strike rate in his corner.
Working against him was the fact that four of those final five fell not just on Miles, but the Springfield Mile and the Sacramento Mile where arch-nemesis Jared Mees had usurped “Mile Master” Bryan Smith’s claim as their modern-day ruler.
A bit of additional jeopardy in Springfield was an entry list made heavier by the additions of prior Springfield Mile winners Smith and Jeffrey Carver Jr., along with 2018 premier-class runner-up Henry Wiles. With two chances for them to get between Mees and Bauman in the running order, the ‘21 title chase had the potential to change its outlook in a hurry.
Former champ Mees did his part in his ongoing effort to reclaim the throne. He outlasted a six-rider scrap that stuck together deep into Sunday’s Springfield Mile I, ultimately beating Bauman in a one-on-one showdown to the flag by 0.116 seconds.
Third-ranked Brandon Robinson seemed capable of playing the spoiler but just lost touch with the draft on the final lap, rounding out the podium another 0.205-seconds back.
It’s safe to say Bauman was less than impressed by the tactics of fellow factory Indian star Mees. In his podium interview, Bauman said, “I can’t believe how bad that dude rides us out there. His bike is so quick, and he just swerves at us. I don’t want to lose any of my friends. We’re having good, clean racing and the dude is swerving at everyone.”
Mees responded to the tense ceremony by blowing the field away in Monday’s Springfield Mile II. He built up more than eight second’s distance over a five-rider pack disputing second before a late red flag erased the advantage in an instant.
Undeterred, Mees gapped the field yet again with just two minutes to work with, losing first position to Coolbeth-Nila Racing’s Sammy Halbert only briefly before resuming his crushing performance at the front.
Mees said, “After the chatter that Briar had up on the podium last night, I just figured today I’d drop the hammer and really put some distance on them to where I could do whatever I wanted out there.”
Bauman again did well to minimize the damage, although Halbert cost him a few more points by dropping him to third.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned wild card threat largely failed to materialize—at least on a championship-bending scale. Carver was plenty quick but the Happy Trails Racing rider suffered a mechanical on Sunday and then came home just behind Mission Roof Systems ace Robinson in fifth on Monday. Smith had bike issues as well and was never really a factor at the front on the Crosley/Howerton Motorsports Indian FTR750. And Wiles was absent altogether after being sent off to the series’ “Road to Recovery” program following a failed drug test.
Bauman’s lead was more than halved and now sits at just 12 (254-242) as the series heads to next weekend’s Sacramento Mile, where Mees will again be widely viewed as the pre-race favorite.
Mees said, “It was an incredible weekend for me, but I knew coming in here I had to do this this weekend to feel like I could get back up in there. We’ve got some good tracks ahead of us still and three races to go. Anything can happen. Briar Bauman has the number-one plate because he’s consistent, and right now, he’s the best guy in the sport. I want to take it back from him so bad.”
Expect an already heated title fight to get that much hotter before this one is settled.
AFT SINGLES
The story of the undercard was Estenson Racing’s Dallas Daniels. The budding superstar lost his AFT Singles points lead, and seemingly, a good deal of his mojo in a two-crash main at Peoria—a punishing result that stung that much more after title rival Max Whale was elevated to its winner following Wiles’ suspension.
Daniels had an opportunity for an epic redemption in front of the home fans with a dual-entry on the weekend, competing in both Friday’s one-night AFT Singles Springfield Short Track doubleheader and Sunday-Monday’s AFT Production Twins doubleheader on the Mile.
Any chance Daniels had at “the quad” appeared to get buried in the dirt of the final corner of Friday’s first main.
After earlier dispensing of Estenson Racing teammate Mikey Rush and Smartop/Jones Honda rookie Kody Kopp, Daniels zeroed in on fellow 2020 Springfield ST winner Trevor Brunner. Daniels made his move with two laps to go and looked good to get his season back on track in winning fashion in short order.
Instead, Brunner forced the issue in the last corner, knocking the champ down and taking the checkered flag for himself. Even while Brunner stood atop the podium, he was openly apologetic about the overly optimistic maneuver in post-race interviews.
Progressive AFT officials made things right just prior to the second main, clarifying the rulebook in a race-ending red-flag situation. As such, the results went back a lap while Brunner, who was judged to be the sole cause of the red, was dropped to the back of the lead lap.
Ultimately, that meant that Daniels was named the winner and Brunner was credited with 11th. Rush and Mission Roof Systems pilot Mischler completed the podium with Kopp a close fourth.
The rematch took a similar shape along with some repeat drama, which was not entirely unexpected in a fast-moving close-quarters battle. First, Brunner came together with his Turner Racing/American Honda teammate, Cole Zabala, while fighting for the lead. Zabala went down in the fray, which brought out the red flag.
Another red was shown as the clock hit 0:00 when Rush crashed after coming into contact with Mischler in their podium tussle.
Daniels, who had safely worked past Brunner and seemingly built up enough of a gap to avoid a repeat of the earlier main, was then forced to defend the position in a three-lap shootout to determine the winner.
He averted potential disaster with a perfect launch and a series of tidy laps to complete the unconventional double. Brunner came home second with yet another rising star, Kopp, rounding out the box in third.
Also of note were the respective charges of Zabala and Rush. Zabala came from the back to fourth, while Rush—despite only having three laps to do so—fought up from last to seventh.
Meanwhile, Daniels’ title rival Max Whale collected sixth- and ninth-place finishes on the works Red Bull KTM. As a result, Daniels reclaimed the title lead by seven points (231-224) with just three more races on the 2021 slate.
AFT PRODUCTION TWINS
Daniels carried that momentum over to his twin-cylinder duty and was, at times, nigh unbeatable on the Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07. He flat-out dominated Sunday’s Springfield Mile I, using a creative low line to run away from a makeshift Vance & Hines powerhouse team consisting of Mishler, Chad Cose and Jesse Janisch, who finished 2-3-4 on their Harley-Davidson XG750Rs.
Sunday’s rematch was much more competitive, as Daniels, Janisch, Cose and title dominator Cory Texter all opened the final lap with a realistic shot at the win.
Janisch continued to impress in substitute action and very nearly stole the weekend sweep away from Daniels with a final-lap pass that saw him exit turn four with a slight advantage.
Daniels, Cose and Texter all fanned out from the draft as they tucked their way to the flag. At the stripe, Daniels scored the exclamation point victory by 0.022 seconds over Janisch, 0.038 seconds over Cose, and 0.089 seconds over Texter.
Texter’s “off” weekend of seventh- and fourth-place finishes still moved the G&G Racing pilot that much closer to his second AFT Production Twins crown. He now leads second-ranked Dan Bromley by a massive 67 points (249-182) and is poised to clinch as early as the next race.
2021 Progressive American Flat Track
Rounds 12 & 13
Springfield Mile I & II
Illinois State Fairgrounds – Springfield, IL
RESULTS (September 5-6, 2021)
AFT SuperTwins Main (Race 1)
1. Jared Mees (Ind) 25 Laps
2. Briar Bauman (Ind) 0.116
3. Brandon Robinson (Ind) 0.321
4. Brandon Price (Ind) 2.670
5. Jeffery Carver (Ind) 9.450
AFT SuperTwins Main (Race 2)
1. Jared Mees (Ind) 25 Laps
2. Sammy Halbert (Ind) 1.134
3. Briar Bauman (Ind) 1.160
4. Brandon Robinson (Ind) 1.225
5. Jeffery Carver (Ind) 1.400
AFT Singles Main (Race 1)
1. Dallas Daniels (Yam) 27 Laps
2. Michael Rush (Yam) 2.667
3. Morgen Mischler (KTM) 3.346
4. Kody Kopp (Hon) 3.751
5. Cole Zabala (Hon) 6.997
AFT Singles Main (Race 2)
1. Dallas Daniels (Yam) 29 Laps
2. Trevor Brunner (Hon) 0.550
3. Kody Kopp (Hon) 0.958
4. Cole Zabala (Hon) 1.119
5. Morgan Mischler (KTM) 2.050
AFT Production Twins Main (Race 1)
1. Dallas Daniels (Yam) 18 Laps
2. Morgen Mischler (H-D) 2.455
3. Chad Cose (H-D) 5.224
4. Jesse Janisch (H-D) 5.227
5. Tanner Dean (Kaw) 6.099
AFT Production Twins Main (Race 2)
1. Dallas Daniels (Yam) 18 Laps
2. Jesse Janisch (H-D) 0.022
3. Chad Cose (H-D) 0.038
4. Cory Texter (Yam) 0.089
5. Morgen Mischler (H-D) 1.614
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