Josh Herrin rides to victory in Daytona 200 motorcycle race

March 5, 2010

Josh Herrin rides to victory in Daytona 200 motorcycle race

John Herrin won the Daytona 200 motorcycle race with an 8-second lead over Dane Westby.

Josh Herrin finished second in the 2009 Daytona 200 motorcycle race behind teammate Ben Bostrom. But this year the 69th running of the Daytona 200 belonged to 19-year-old Herrin, who finished nearly eight seconds ahead of Dane Westby. Both rode Yamaha YZF-R6s.

Third was 38-year-old veteran Steve Rapp aboard a Ducati 848, 24 seconds behind Herrin, and in fourth was fast qualifier Danny Eslick on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Bostrom and several other top riders from the past few years did not compete in the race this year.

The first few laps of the race looked like a prelude to the crashfest of 2009, but the riders settled down for a relatively uneventful race. On the first lap, Eslick's Suzuki-riding teammate Martin Cardenas, who qualified second, led the field into turn three, where he crashed. Behind him there was an unrelated six-bike crash that brought out the red flag, causing a complete restart. Cardenas' crew attempted to repair his Suzuki but were unsuccessful.

After the restart the race looked like it would belong to Eslick, who led much of the 2009 race aboard a Buell, racing for the late Daytona motorcycle mogul Bruce Rossmeyer. With the demise of Buell, Eslick moved to the Geico Powersports Suzuki. The difference in the finish was due largely to the two pit stops required--Herrin's Team Graves Yamaha crew got their rider out quickly on both stops--the result, Herrin said, of lots of practice. A pit stop on lap 18 of the 57-lap race was disastrous for front-runner Tommy Aquino, who crashed hard here in 2009--the third-place qualifier, a teammate to Herrin, fell out of the race after a gas refueling can's valve stuck open, dousing his motorcycle. Fortunately, there was no fire.

Also suffering a late-race disappointment was the only female rider in the field, Melissa Paris, aboard a Yamaha. She was in contention for a top-10 finish when she crashed hard on lap 49.

Herrin was humble in victory lane.

"I just kept putting in the laps, pushing as hard as I could. I couldn't ask for anything more," he said

In the closing laps, Westby drew within two seconds of Herrin--not close enough for the draft to help him catch the leader.

"I didn't want to do anything stupid," Westby said, settling for the runner-up spot.

Forty-four riders started the race, considerably less than the 72 racers from 2009. The Daytona 200 used to be contested by the fastest American Motorcycle Association road racing class, the SuperBikes, but the slower, less powerful 600cc SportBikes replaced them in 2003. With the drop in entries and minimal attendance for what used to be a hugely important race, there's serious talk of bringing back the SuperBikes for the 200 next year, especially since the tire technology now exists to build safe tires, a major reason for the move to the smaller-displacement motorcycles.

Why the smaller field? Rapp, winner of the 2007 Daytona 200, said he believes the economy is mostly to blame. Also, the originally announced purse "was so small that a lot of people think it wasn't worth it." The purse was increased, but Rapp said it may have been too late for some riders to prepare for the race.

And speaking of the purse, Herrin earned $20,000, which is $241,424 less than Joe Nemechek won for finishing last in the 2010 Daytona 500. And speaking of the Daytona 500, at least there were no potholes for this race--the patched-up pavement from the Daytona 500 was not a factor in the 200, as the cycles take a higher line through turns three and four, and the patch is in the lower lanes.