Sammy Halbert has competed in the American Flat Track Springfield Mile motorcycle race since 2006. Saturday was his greatest day at the Illinois State Fairgrounds’ legendary dirt track.
Halbert, of Graham, Washington, beat four-time Springfield Mile winner Jared Mees by 1.980 seconds.
The two riders were up front all race and the pair continually changed leads for nearly half the race until Halbert started to dominate and had the best lap of the race 35.248 seconds.
“Oh it’s so long overdue,” Halbert told NBC Sports Network, referring to his drought without a title that dated to 2016. “It feels amazing, sort of surreal.”
It was Halbert’s 14th career victory.
Halbert led 16 laps while Mees, of Sebastian, Florida, led 10 laps but had nothing for Halbert. Mees swept both races in 2019.
“I had a fun race,” Halbert said. “For a while there, I didn’t think I could shake Jared and I couldn’t even figure out how to lead across the line for a while but I just started to put it together and I could tell he was struggling off (turn) four. I just kept trying to break (Mees) and I finally did.”
The second Springfield Mile is scheduled for Sunday.
Mees also won at Springfield in 2011 and 2017 and hasn’t missed the podium at the Springfield Mile since the second 2016 race. He was appreciative of race officials, including the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association, for finding a way to make a Springfield visit in 2020 happen.
“A season without the Springfield Mile just wouldn’t feel like a season,” Mees said.
Halbert, on top of a Indian FTR750, was fast all day, winning his SuperTwins qualifying race, the first-ever American Flat Track Super Pole race and was second — to winner Mees — in his semifinal.
Godfrey’s Jeffrey Carver Jr., who won the first race here in 2018, finished third 10.449 seconds behind Halbert. Two-time Springfield Mile champion, Brandon Robinson, took fourth place, just 0.040 seconds behind Carver.
“Made two mistakes the first two laps,” Carver told NBC Sports Network. “I missed a shift off the start and blew the groove going into (turn) one. That’s all it takes with these top riders to lose a draft.”
Nine-time Springfield Mile winner Bryan Smith, of Fenton, Michigan, had to pull off the track and finished last, 11 laps behind the lead group. It’s been a frustrating season for Smith, who has just one top-three finish and two in the top six in five races. Smith remains tied with Ricky Graham for the third-most Springfield Mile titles. Graham last won here in 1993.
