Photo By Brian J. Nelson.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin will roll into Daytona International Speedway this week riding high with a level of confidence that only comes from winning two Daytona 200s in a row, and three overall. He’s not “Mr. Daytona” yet, but a fourth win would put him just one trip to Victory Lane away from making it a three-way tie with Scott Russell and Miguel Duhamel, who both have five wins.
But first things first. There’s a race to be run and it is historically one of the more difficult to win. You need to be quick, and you need a motorcycle that is fast and a pit crew that is both fast and mistake-free. You also need to have the instinct of being in the right place at the right time to win a last-lap battle to the tri-oval and the checkered flag that awaits there.
And you need Lady Luck riding pillion.
Case in point: Most of the winners of the Daytona 200 have only won once in the race’s 82-year history. Seven racers have won twice, six have won three and one has won four. Only Russell and Duhamel have won five.
And none of them have won three in a row.
Herrin and his three victories will be joined on the grid by another multi-time winner, TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick. “Slick” has four Daytona 200 wins (2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018) and he’s back for another try in 2025.
Herrin’s first win, meanwhile, came in 2010, 14 years before his third win in the 82nd edition of “The Great American Motorcycle Race” this past March.
The Daytona 200 – Can Someone Stop Herrin?
Thirty-six riders will attempt to qualify for the 83rd running of the Daytona 200 on five different brands of motorcycles. The grid is again international with riders from six different countries represented with the Brits leading the foreign charge with six entries, one of whom is a 14-time Isle of Man TT winner and the all-time lap record holder on the Island with an average speed of 136.358 mph – Peter Hickman. The PHR Performance Triumph-mounted Hickman will be making his second start in the 200 after making his debut in the race last year.
Speaking of the TT, Northern Ireland’s Michael Dunlop (yes, the 29-time Isle of Man TT winner) will make his Daytona debut this week, riding a Milwaukee Ducati MD Racing Panigale V2. You’d think Daytona would be eye-opening for a first-timer, but that likely won’t be the case for someone with 29 Isle of Man TT victories. He’s seen scary.
Last year, the Daytona 200 wasn’t the thriller we’ve come to expect. As always, there was a large pack of riders in the lead group until the pack was thinned down during the first pit stop. For all practical purposes, Herrin won the race in the first pit stop with his team turning in a quick performance while his closest challenger, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, had a stop that was quite the opposite. From that point forward, Herrin was never threatened.
Escalante will be back this year, hoping Lady Luck speaks better Spanish than she does English. Escalante was robbed of what seemed to be a sure second place last year when he ran out of gas, coasting around for what would end up being a fourth-place finish. On the track, Escalante was fifth, but he moved up a spot when Bobby Fong was DQ’d for having a fuel tank that exceeded the legal size.
Escalante’s teammate, 19-year-old Tyler Scott, will be back with another year of racing under his belt. Scott took full advantage of Escalante’s bad luck last year to finish second, some 45 seconds behind Herrin. Scott did a lot of learning, and he should prove to be a threat in this year’s big race.
Hayden Gillim rode the Vesrah Suzuki to third place last year, but he won’t be racing in this year’s 200. The fan-favorite will, however, be in the two Mission King Of The Baggers races this weekend.
The fastest of the Brits in 2024 was Hickman’s PHR Performance Triumph teammate, Richard Cooper. Cooper is one to watch for as he ran in the lead pack until a crash took him out of the race.
As previously mentioned, four-time Daytona 200 winner Danny Eslick is entered for the 200 on a TOBC Racing Triumph Street Triple 765 RS. Eslick certainly isn’t a favorite to win a fifth 200, but this is Daytona. Anything can happen.
Brandon Paasch has two Daytona 200 wins to his credit, and he’s self-entered on another TOBC Racing Triumph. Paasch is serious about Daytona and is spending his own money to make it happen. If he pulls it all together, he is an obvious favorite.
Another Daytona first timer with a wealth of racing experience is Brit Danny Webb. Webb, a former 125cc GP, Moto3, World Supersport, Endurance World Championship, and Isle of Man TT competitor, will ride a Team Classic Suzuki GSX-R750 in the 200.
The Truelove brothers, Harry and Matt, are back for another Daytona 200 on their Truelove Brothers Racing Suzuki GSX-R750s.
Mission King Of The Baggers: Going Euro
The most American championship series in the history of American road racing is bringing two riders from across the pond to compete for the 2025 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, giving the series a truly international flair.
With Australian Troy Herfoss returning to defend his 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers title, three of the six factory rides are now in the hands of international stars.
The newbies to the championship are Frenchman Loris Baz, who will join Herfoss and Tyler O’Hara as the third rider on the S&S/Indian Motorcycle “Wrecking Crew,” and Brit Bradley Smith, who joins the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing team of Kyle Wyman and part-timer James Rispoli.
Former World Superbike, MotoAmerica Superbike and MotoGP racer Baz finished fifth in last year’s MotoAmerica Superbike Championship on a factory Ducati Panigale V4 R but was left looking for a ride at season’s end when the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team announced that they would run just one Superbike in 2025, and it would be ridden by defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Josh Herrin. Baz was part of a tryout/test with Indian in the offseason. He was fast and a deal was done, making him the first Frenchman to take part in the American V-twin series.
Baz’s Baggers debut on his Harley-Davidson Road Glide will also be his initiation to racing on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, which has been the Frenchman’s childhood dream.
When 35-year-old Smith lines up at Daytona, it will be his MotoAmerica debut and his first laps at Daytona. The well-traveled Brit has competed in MotoGP, Moto2, MotoE, 125cc GP (now Moto3), World Supersport and the World Superbike Championship. He most recently served as a test rider for BMW’s World Superbike effort.
Even though Baz and Smith have impressive international racing resumes, Herfoss will begin the season as the favorite and rightfully so after his seven-win 2024 season earned him the title in his rookie season of both Mission King Of The Baggers and MotoAmerica. Almost every track that Herfoss visited in 2024 was new to him, Daytona included, but he proved to be a quick study. The Aussie learned a lot in the two Daytona Baggers races last year as he finished a close second in both races to the man he battled with in a championship fight that went to the very last race of the season.
That man was Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman, the winningest rider in Mission King Of The Baggers history with 18 career victories. Wyman has a zillion laps around Daytona International Speedway, including the all-important last laps and the drafting battles that can win or lose you races in Daytona.
Wyman will have two teammates at Daytona. The aforementioned Smith and Rispoli, who is back for a second year with the factory team. This time it will be on a limited schedule that includes at least Daytona and Road America. Rispoli will also be making his Mission Super Hooligan National Championship debut on a KWR Racing Harley-Davidson Pan America.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson will field the same team as last year, with 2023 Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim again teaming up with rising star Rocco Landers, who ended the 2024 season fourth in the series standings with two victories late in the season. Gillim, meanwhile, ended up in a tie with his teammate for third in the title chase, but the Kentuckian earned the spot with three victories to Landers’ two wins.
The Saddlemen Race Development team will be a two-man effort for 2025 with Cory West and Jake Lewis set to ride the team’s Harley-Davidson Road Glides.
New to Mission King Of The Baggers racing is South African Cameron Petersen. Petersen will see double duty this year as he will ride the SDI Racing Indian Challenger, making his debut in the class at Daytona. Petersen will also ride a Celtic/Economy Lube & Tire by Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V2 in the MotoAmerica Motovation Supersport Championship.
TAB Performance Racing will field Kyle Ohnsorg on an Indian Challenger with perennial privateer and fan favorite Max Flinders (also an expat who was born in Great Britain) returning to the class on his Lyndall Brakes/M3 Harley-Davidson Road Glide.
Eight Harley-Davidson Road Glides and five Indian Challengers will be on the grid for the series-opening Daytona round.
SC-Project Twins Cup – Youth Is Served
Thirty-five riders will take part in the opening round of the 2025 MotoAmerica SC-Project Twins Cup Championship at Daytona International Speedway, led by 16-year-old defending series champion Alessandro Di Mario on his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660.
The list of challengers is long and begins with 2024 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Champion Matthew Chapin. The 17-year-old from Maryland had two outings in Twins Cup last year in the series finale at Circuit of The Americas, finishing an impressive fourth and fifth in the two races. Chapin will ride a Suzuki GSX-8R from under the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki awning where he will be able to draw from the experience of his two teammates Hayden Gillim and Rocco Landers – especially Landers, who finished second in last year’s Twins Cup series on the team’s GSX-8R and is also a former champion in the class.
With Di Mario and Chapin leading Aprilia’s and Suzuki’s charges, respectively, the Yamahas will likely be led by the Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing team and Dominic Doyle. The South African finished third in the championship last year with two wins and six total podiums on the Yamaha YZF-R7.
With three of the top five riders from last year’s championship – Landers; Gus Rodio, who won both Twins Cup races at Daytona last year; and Rossi Moor, who will be racing in Europe – moving to other classes or series, the next-highest-ranked rider taking to the grid at Daytona is Sean Ungvarsky. The Arizona native will be joined by Monaco resident Romeo Chiavini on the team’s Yamaha YZF-R7s.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher, the 2023 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Champion, won a Twins Cup race last year and finished seventh in the title chase. Dreher will be racing another of the Suzuki GSX-8Rs.
A horde of former Junior Cup racers have moved up to the SC-Project Twins Cup class, including Karns/TST Industries’ Isaac Woodworth and his teammates Levi Badie and Elisa Gendron-Belen, Speeddemon Racing’s Logan Cunnison, and Wolfe Racing’s Ryan Wolfe.
There are also plenty of veterans, including Ghetto Customs’ Chris Parrish, MotoAmerica’s first Twins Cup Champion in 2018.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Loaded For Bear
Led by defending series champion Cory West and his Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson Pan America, the 2025 Mission Super Hooligan National Championship is stacked with talent, featuring 49 entries racing across nine different brands of motorcycles.
West will lead the loaded Saddlemen Race Development team where he will be joined by Jake Lewis, third in the championship a year ago, and Travis Wyman.
Harley’s effort is strong and deep with a factory-backed KWR Harley-Davidson team featuring the threesome of James Rispoli (Rispoli will also race for Harley in the Mission King Of The Baggers series at Daytona and a few other select events), Cody Wyman, and Hayden Schultz.
With Indian pulling its factory team out of the series to focus its efforts on the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, the series is now heavy on Harley-Davidson Pan Americas (11) and KTMs (14 of the 890 and 990 DUKE Rs).
The entry list, however, also features Yamaha MT-09 SP (seven), Triumph 765RS (eight), Suzuki SV1000 (three), Ducati (two), a lone Aprilia Tuono, and the sure-to-be-attention-getting ARCH 2S-R. ARCH Motorcycles is owned by actor Keanu Reeves, and the 2S-R will be raced at Daytona and beyond by Corey Alexander, who will see double duty after Daytona in the Motovation Supersport class on his Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2.
Other notables set to battle include South African Dominic Doyle, who will be aboard a Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing MT-09 SP, as well as Hawk Mazzotta on a Strack Racing Yamaha MT-09 SP, and Competition Werkes Racing’s Andy DiBrino on his Triumph 765RS.
Pre-Daytona Notes…
Tyler Scott earned pole position for last year’s Daytona 200 with his 1:48.047 coming in the Time Attack qualifying session. Scott’s best was just .100 of a second faster than Stefano Mesa’s 1:48.147. Bobby Fong completed the front row with his 1:48.697. The 2024 race winner Josh Herrin started from the middle of the second row. In all, the top six riders all lapped in the 1:48s.
The fastest lap in the race went to fourth-place finisher Richie Escalante with his 1:48.625 barely besting Karel Hanika’s 1:48.628. Race winner Herrin had the third-fastest time – a 1:48.869.
Suzuki leads the way in entries for the 2025 Daytona 200 with 11 of the GSX-R750s That’s four more than Ducati’s seven entries. The other three manufacturers are Yamaha, Triumph, and Kawasaki – each with six motorcycles attempting to qualify.
Yamaha is the winningest brand by far in Daytona victories with 27 wins since the first Daytona 200 was held on the old beach circuit in 1937. The winner of that first Daytona 200 was Ed Kretz, who was riding an Indian. Harley-Davidson sits second on the all-time manufacturer wins list in the 200 with 16 victories, the last of which was Cal Rayborn’s victory in 1969. The third-highest win total goes to Honda with 11 victories, with Jake Zemke being the last rider to win on a Honda in 2006.
The first Daytona 200 to be run at Daytona International Speedway was in 1961 with Roger Reiman taking victory on his Harley-Davidson.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of then-23-year-old Freddie Spencer’s historic victory in the Daytona 200 in what was the first year of Superbikes taking over from Formula One machines in the premier event of Bike Week.
Superbikes were featured in the race until 2005 when 600cc Formula Xtreme bikes took over. The FX class ran in the Daytona 200 until 600cc Daytona SportBikes were used, beginning in 2009 with Ben Bostrom’s victory on a Yamaha YZF-R6.
This year’s 200 will mark the start of MotoAmerica’s fifth season of using the FIM’s “Supersport Next Generation” rules in the race, with the class featuring Ducati’s Panigale V2, Suzuki’s GSX-R750, Kawasaki’s ZX-6R, Triumph’s Street Triple 765 RS, and Yamaha’s YZF-R6. Seven countries will be represented in this year’s Daytona 200. The last non-American to win the race? That would be Welshman Chaz Davies, who won “The Great American Motorcycle Race” in 2008.
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