Grand National Champion to be Crowned at Caterpillar Springfield Mile I & II

Mission AFT SuperTwins line up for the Springfield Mile in 2025.  [Photo: Kristen Lassen for AMA Pro Racing]  Download high-resolution photo from AMA Pro's Digital Asset Management system DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 4, 2026) – An epic, triple-star Grand National Championship battle will be decided during this weekend’s Caterpillar Springfield Mile I & II at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois, on Saturday, September 5, and Sunday, September 6.  And there’s no more fitting place for this monumental occurrence to be staged than the crown jewel of the Progressive American Flat Track calendar, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, where America’s Original Extreme Sport® will compete before a massive crowd at a venue that consistently delivers unforgettable action.  Go for Broke or Play the Odds?  With three successive wins in his favor, reigning Mission AFT SuperTwins king Dallas Daniels (No. 1 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07) has established himself the odds-on-favorite after spending the majority of his title defense in chase mode.  Now up 20 points with just the double finale to go, there are all sorts of ways Daniels can accumulate the points necessary to become just the 13th rider in the nearly three-quarter-century history of the series to take the title in back-to-back seasons.  Among all of those options, there’s one that’s the most direct. A victory on Saturday would put Daniels up by at least 24 points with just 23 points left in play. That would guarantee him the crown, regardless of what anyone else managed to accomplish on the weekend.   And to do that, all he needs to do is repeat last year’s performance in the Mission Triple Challenge.  That’s no doubt that’s how he and Estenson Racing Yamaha would prefer to get it done. Still, a more conservative path must be tempting as well.