DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 16, 2011) - Following one of the closest finishes in the history of AMA Pro Racing, the Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series moves from the high-speed Knoxville Raceway to a brand new event at the North Central Speedway located in Brainerd, Minn., scheduled for Saturday, September 24th.

Located in the picturesque "Land of 10,000 Lakes," it will be the first time the Northern Minnesota track will host the stars of AMA Pro Flat Track. With only three races left to settle the 2011 AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship, a battle for the championship has come down to three riders.

Until the Knoxville race, Sammy Halbert (Kings Kustoms / White's Harley-Davidson) had controlled the points lead, but his main challengers Jared Mees (Rogers Lake Racing / Blue Springs Harley-Davidson) and defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson (Zanotti Racing / Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson) finished in a virtual dead heat for the win at Knoxville. Halbert held on for third, putting the top three in points up on the podium.

As a result of the photo finish, Jared Mees now holds the championship lead by a scant four points over Halbert with Johnson another five back. A perfect night (Dash win, National win and most laps led) will net a rider 29 points, but with the competition so tight, perfect nights are hard to come by.

Even though Harley-Davidson Motor Company's Kenny Coolbeth has a mathematical shot at the title, it would take major problems for the top three to let the three-time champion back into the race for the title.

The first-time event will also feature the AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles class with riders on 450cc single-cylinder motorcycles from a variety of manufacturers.

Another historic first was achieved at Knoxville with the sensational accomplishment of Shayna Texter, who firmly placed her name in the history books by becoming the first female to win a Pro Singles main event in the long history of this great sport. Texter (RLT Racing / Lancaster Harley-Davidson), overcame a poor start to pass her way to an extremely popular and well-deserved win. With her first win in the books, Texter is sure to carry momentum to Brainerd. The crowd is guaranteed to get a great show from Texter and the rest of the Pro Singles riders.

Mikey Martin (Weirbach Racing) has stretched his Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles points lead after most of his competition suffered fall downs and mechanical problems in the last few races. Martin's lead stands at 21 points over Gerit Callies and Mikey Avila.

Make sure you visit www.amaproracing.com to check up on all the action and results from the first time venture to North Central Speedway, in the Brainerd, Minnesota area for one of America's oldest and most popular forms of racing.

For North Central Speedway tickets and information, visit http://www.racencs.net/2012/ or call 218-839-2137. To learn more and to be a part of the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Flat Track Championship, visit http://www.amaproracing.com/ and join us on http://www.facebook.com/AMAProFlatTrackSeries and http://twitter.com/AMAProFlatTrack.