From the start of the 2017 Progressive American Flat Track season to the end of the 2018 campaign, factory Indian pilot Jared Mees dominated the Grand National Championship in a manner that hadn’t been experienced in a generation.

With double digit wins both seasons and a combined 182-point championship margin, Mees was such an unstoppable force that fans began to clamor for someone -- anyone -- else to step forward and provide him a legitimate challenge.

That sentiment was so widespread, in fact, that the rallying cry of “Anyone but Mees” even found its way to officially sanctioned t-shirts that are still available for purchase at this site by clicking the Merchandise link above.

And with no end to his reign in sight… his reign ended.

Briar Bauman is now your two-time defending Grand National Champion as the two head into this weekend’s decisive Honda Charlotte Half-Mile preparing to determine the 2021 Mission SuperTwins presented by S&S Cycle championship.

It’s still a challenge intellectually to position Mees as an underdog, but yet, here we are. Bauman straight-up beat Mees in 2019 and 2020 with a relentless, consistent excellence that ultimately outscored Mees’ more mercurial performances by a combined 15 points.

That reality pointed to a blowout championship threepeat in 2021 after Mees suffered an early-season knee injury in a training accident. That injury forced him to pull out early in the next race in Atlanta and had lingering effects for months -- most notably at his beloved Lima where he rolled around near the back of the field en route to a lowly eighth.

At that point, 23 points back and in third position -- the prospect of climbing back into contention versus the likes of Bauman seemed a bit far-fetched. Even Mees knew that was the case.

“In 2019, I lost (the championship) by six points, and last year I lost it by nine. It's not like he's been blowing me out of the water here. He's just been getting the best of me when it counted the most.

“Honestly, when I had my leg propped up in April and was sitting there hurting, I was thinking to myself, ‘The last two years it came down to 15 points to lose both championships and I was healthy. How am I going to make this work this year?’”

The ‘how’ was by gritting out whatever points he could and by getting healthy in time to capitalize where he held his biggest advantage -- the late-season run of Miles.

Now working an active four-race win streak after sweeping the Springfield and Sacramento Mile doubleheaders, Mees goes into the finale four points up rather than twenty odd points back as he was in late August.

But the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway presents a much more levelled playing field. Mees is one of the best Half-Milers in the sport’s history, but Bauman has arguably been even better in recent seasons.

It’s difficult to determine a favorite, but if you don’t think winning this championship would be incredibly satisfying for Mees, consider what he said early in the 2020 season -- even before enduring another title defeat and suffering through an injury-riddled, roller-coastering ‘21 campaign:

“Any time you get beat, it's not good. But (Bauman) stepped it up, and he made me step it up too. He made me go back to the drawing board with the bike and change things. If I come back and beat him and win the championship -- basically outride him and get the job done -- it'll be more rewarding than just clicking them off.

“I could say, ‘All right, the guy came in and took it and was better last year, but hard work, dedication, and heart got it back.’ That would be cool.

“If I'm able to get the job done this year, it will be one of my favorite Grand National Championship wins. Coming in, I think people were kind of favoring him more than me. It’s probably the first time in a long time I came into a season and wasn't viewed as the favorite.”

One area in which Mees does hold a clear advantage is that, in the event that another rider somehow manages to win the race ahead of the two title combatants, Mees doesn’t necessarily need to beat Bauman to earn the championship.

That’s directly a result of the four points he has in hand as opposed to just one thanks to Bryan Smith slotting in between Mees and Bauman in Sacramento.

And while it’s often said that good deeds come back around, rarely does it play out so tangibly nor so immediately as it did that night when Smith rode one of Mees’ back-up machines to second place in his swansong.

Mees said, “(Bryan) was struggling on his own bike, and he asked me if he could ride my spare. I just said, ‘Sure man, why don't you just hop on it and try it.’ Him finishing second and beating Briar was just like the perfect fairytale, but honestly, that wasn’t the intention. It was literally just for him to go out and do the best he could.”

It’s a great story that becomes a whole lot less compelling if Mees is unable to seal the deal this weekend.

“Yeah, you know, obviously, the momentum is on my side if it’s on anybody's. But with basically having a month off and whatnot, that kinda allows everyone to reset. It's probably bad for me and good for Briar, but honestly, we know going into the last race, it's going to be a dogfight. It should be good.”