Mees Promotions Inherit Springfield Mile Starting in 2022
Since 1981, Kiesow Racing and IMDA have been promoters of the legendary event. Now the company owned by Jared and Nichole Mees takes up the mantle.
August 23, 2021
By Kali Kotoski
After four decades of successfully promoting, not to mention resurrecting, the Springfield Mile, Kiesow Racing and the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association (IMDA) have passed the torch to racers and entrepreneurs Jared and Nichole Mees of Mees Promotions for the 2022 season.
“We proudly supported the sport for 40 years and have amazing memories and even more amazing friends because of it,” said Tommra Kiesow of Kiesow Racing in a news release.
The Springfield Mile, dubbed the “World’s Fastest Mile,” wouldn’t be around today if it wasn’t for IMDA and Kiesow Racing. The Springfield Mile ran its first AMA national in 1937. From 1946 to 1953, the flat track championship was determined by winning that one race, which launched it rightfully into its legendary status as one of the most prestigious races during the season.
But the race was canceled in 1966 when the city of Springfield halted race operations at the Illinois State Fair after the event was marred by the deaths of two amateur racers and multiple arrests of unruly spectators.
Then, in 1981 the IMDA convinced the city of Springfield to let the race return. If it wasn’t for their foresight, determination and IMDA members volunteering their time and efforts to bring the race back, it would have remained in the history books.
Since IMDA brought the Springfield Mile back, they have added TT and Short Track races. During their forty-year run, the Illinois State Fairgrounds has hosted 78 national Mile events, 16 national TT’s and 16 national Short Track races.
Operating during flat track’s glory days, the Springfield Mile has produced legendary winners like AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers Chris Carr, Ricky Graham, Gary Nixon, Scott Parker, Bubba Shobert and Jay Springsteen. Parker has the most recorded wins there at 14, with Carr slightly behind him with 12.
Now, the future of this iconic event is in the hands of Mees Promotions, the company started by the husband and wife racing duo Jared and Nichole Mees.
“Excited for the opportunity to promote this legendary event, the Springfield Mile,” Jared Mees said on social media. “The Kiesow’s have done a great job and we can’t wait to keep it going!”
Mees Promotions have already been promoting the wildly successful Lima Half-Mile, plus the couple was engaged and subsequently married at the Springfield Mile. Both Jared and Nichole have intimate experience with the Mile’s renowned straightaway speeds and smooth surface that make the event more like a well-calculated chess match than an all-out brawl in the dirt.
“We wish [Jared and Nichole] many years of success at Springfield and we look forward to being there watching in the stands,” said Kiesow.