AMA Pro Flat Track Releases Finalized 2012 Grand National Championship Schedule

With just five races left on the schedule, round 16 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield Mile II on September 4 was the first of the remaining Twins Series events on the schedule and saw 2010 AMA Grand National Champion Jake Johnson (shown above waiting for his heat race) sitting in the third spot in the overall standings, behind then-points leader Sammy Halbert and Jared Mees.

After taking his #1 Zanotti Racing/Schaeffer's H-D/Boughner Racing/Arai-sponsored H-D XR750 to a 3rd-place finish at the iconic Illinois State Fairgrounds, Jersey Jake, Slammin' Sammy and Jammin' Jared were still in the same spots in the championship hunt, with still 10 points separating them in the standings.

But just as he had during the 2010 season, Johnson pulled it out, taking the final two wins of the season to come from behind and win his second AMA Grand National Championship in-a-row by 16 points over runner-up Mees and 17 points over season-long points leader Halbert.  Johnson would join a very exclusive list of men who have won multiple championships in the decades-old series.

With the 2012 season-opening rounds at the Daytona Short Track now over 2 1/2 weeks in the rear-view mirror, we now await rounds 3 & 4 of the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com season at the Springfield TT and Springfield Mile I on May 26-27.

When the schedule for the season was originally released back in late December, AMA Pro Flat Track had left open two dates as TBA that originally were hoped to be added to the schedule for the 2012 season, however those dates have now been quashed and the official, final schedule has now been set as what was originally set, minus the two 'TBA' dates, making for a 17-round season.

You can check out the official, finalized schedule below, along with info about the renaming of the Tucson round in October, below thanks to AMA Pro Flat Track.
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AMA Pro Racing Announces Final 2012 Schedule for AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 3, 2012) - AMA Pro Racing announced today the final schedule for the 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track season. The AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com and AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles will compete in a total of 17 rounds. AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance GNC Expert Singles will compete at six rounds, broken down into three Short Tracks and three TT, while the mighty Expert Twins will contest the remaining 11 rounds, consisting of six Half-Mile and five Mile tracks. The 2012 season kicked off with a bang last month at the DAYTONA® Flat Track with two riders taking their breakout Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship wins as Johnny Lewis held off Matt Weidman and Sammy Halbert for his first in the Thursday night final and Matt Weidman taking the checkered flag over Jared Mees in Friday's main event. USA Raceway has been renamed to Tucson International Raceway and the recently-announced Half-Mile event, scheduled for October 6, 2012 as the penultimate round on the schedule, will now be called the Tucson Half-Mile. Two previously announced TBA events which were in negotiation will not be included in the 2012 schedule bringing the final count to 17 rounds, with the 2012 AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com schedule coming to a close on October 13th, 2012 on the Half-Mile track at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Complete 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Schedule: March 15, 2012 DAYTONA Flat Track I Daytona Flat Track, Daytona Beach, Fla. Short Track March 16, 2012 DAYTONA Flat Track II Daytona Flat Track, Daytona Beach, Fla. Short Track May 26, 2012 Springfield TT Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill. TT May 27, 2012 Springfield Mile Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill. Mile June 30, 2012 Lima Half-Mile Allen County Fairgrounds, Lima, Ohio Half Mile July 7, 2012 Hagerstown, Half-Mile Hagerstown Speedway, Md. Half Mile July 14, 2012 I-96 Half-Mile I-96 Speedway, Lake Odessa, Mich. Half Mile July 28, 2012 Sacramento Mile Cal Expo, Sacramento, Cailf. Mile August 4, 2012 Castle Rock TT Castle Rock Race Park, Castle Rock, Wash. TT August 12, 2012 Peoria TT PMC Race Park, Peoria, Ill. TT August 18, 2012 Indy Mile Indiana State Fairground, Indianapolis, Ind. Mile September 1, 2012 Springfield Short Track Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill. Short Track September 2, 2012 Springfield Mile II Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Ill. Mile September 8, 2012 Knoxville Half-Mile Knoxville Raceway,Knoxville, Iowa Half Mile September 30, 2012 Santa Rosa Mile Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, Calif. Mile October 6, 2012 Tucson Half-Mile Tucson International Raceway, Tucson, Ariz Half-Mile October 13, 2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Finals LA County Fairplex, Pomona, Calif. Half Mile

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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