Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the Daytona round:
Fast Things First
I watched the Daytona 500 this year. You know, that little car race they have at the “World Center Of Racing” as a lead-up to the big one: the Daytona 200. The announcers frequently mentioned that the NASCAR Cup Series cars reach top speeds of 190 miles per hour on the high banks at Daytona. “Not bad,” I thought. “Wait till we get there.”
Are you ready for this? The highest trap speed achieved during this year’s MotoAmerica round at Daytona International Speedway was during Saturday morning’s Warm Up for Race 2 in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship. S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara got his Indian Challenger up to an eyeball-flattening 193.0 miles per hour on Lap 4 of the 9 laps he did during that session.
Not too far behind O’Hara was Supersport Next Generation rider Danny Eslick aboard his TOBC Racing Triumph Street Triple 765 RS. On Lap 6 of 57 in the Daytona 200 itself, four-time 200 winner Eslick went 182.6 miles per hour.
Here are the highest trap speeds achieved in the other two race classes at Daytona:
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship: 173.3 miles per hour
• Jake Lewis, Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson Pan America, Race 1 Lap 1 of 6
• Dominic Doyle, Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing MT-09 SP, Race 2 Lap 4 of 6
SC-Project Twins Cup Championship: 163.6 miles per hour
• Sean Ungvarsky, Koch Racing Yamaha YZF-R7, Race 1 Lap 1 of 9
Chicanery
Like most chicanes on road racing courses, the chicane at Daytona International Speedway is is a four-turn track feature designed primarily to slow the motorcycles and cars down after they come off the Turn 7 banking and before they go up onto the Turn 12 banking.
In 2022, the chicane heretofore known as the “Bus Stop” was renamed the “Le Mans Chicane,” and the first chicane at the iconic Mulsanne Straight in France was renamed the “Daytona Chicane.” As an additional nod to the alliance, the curbs in the Le Mans Chicane were repainted in the same blue and yellow used at Le Mans.
For this year, the Le Mans Chicane was slightly reconfigured with raised curbing that is bordered entirely by pavement instead of grass. First used during the Rolex 24 car race, the chicane did slow the cars down a little bit through that section, and the expectation was that lap times would be slower for motorcycles, as well.
Well, that wasn’t quite what happened.
You Can’t Curb Their Enthusiasm
Whereas last year, new lap records and race lap records were broken in all four classes that raced at Daytona, admittedly, that didn’t happen this year. But records were still broken despite the changes made to the Le Mans Chicane.
In the Daytona 200 and on the way to his unprecedented, third-consecutive Daytona 200 victory, Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati rider Josh Herrin set a new race lap record of 1:47.879 on Lap 51 of 57, which almost eclipsed Richie Escalante‘s Supersport class lap record of 1:47.833 set in Daytona 200 Qualifying 1 last year.
A new class lap record was set in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship by Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman, who did a 1:49.383 in Friday’s Qualifying 2. Later on Friday, in KOTB Race 1, S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss set a new race lap record of 1:49.608.
Not to be outdone, in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, the class lap record and race lap record were also broken despite the track changes. Defending Super Hooligan Champion and Saddlemen Race Development rider Cory West set a new class lap record of 1:51.032 aboard his Harley-Davidson Pan America in Friday’s Qualifying 2. On Saturday, Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle set a new race lap record with a 1:51.289 aboard his Yamaha MT-09 SP.
Slippery Snake Slingshots To Victory
Slipstreaming or “drafting” has been a big part of racing at Daytona International Speedway since it opened for car racing in 1959, and since 1964 when motorcycles started using the 31-degree banking at the Speedway.
There have been many tales told of the efforts the motorcycle race teams have made over the years to improve the aerodynamics of the motorcycles and their riders. Everything from wake-modifying tail sections and NACA ducts to extensive wind-tunnel testing and riders perfecting their race tucks and trying to crawl under the paint on their motorcycles.
Then we have the riders and teams of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship with their by-rule, fairing-free, “streetfighter”-style machines. And, among those high-handlebar heroes is Saddlemen Race Development’s six-foot, four-inch rider Jake Lewis whose nickname is “The Snake.” Well, that super-lengthy reptile of a human Jake the Snake sure did get slippery on the high banks of Daytona.
If you didn’t see him rocket from sixth place to first and take the checkered flag in Super Hooligan Race 2 on Saturday, you need to check out the full race on our YouTube Channel. What Lewis did to win that race was nothing short of astounding.
By the way, the win was Lewis’s first at Daytona International Speedway, which is now a highlight of his long and storied career spanning two eras of AMA-sanctioned professional road racing.
The Hurt Locker
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the riders who suffered injuries at Daytona International Speedway, including
S&S/Indian Motorcycle rider Loris Baz, who sustained a deep avulsion on his left elbow when he crashed in Mission King Of The Baggers Race 1. The nasty-looking wound required stitches, but he still competed in Race 2 and ended up on the podium.
VBoost/Victory Racing USA’s Gene Frerichs went down hard in SC-Project Twins Cup Qualifying 2, and he sustained injuries to both of his wrists and forearms, which resulted in both of his lower arms being placed in casts.
Finally, Get Fast Performance rider Jason Farrell had a get-off on the restart of the red-flagged Daytona 200, which brought out another red flag. Farrell’s crash was a bad one, and he suffered a concussion in the incident.
Best wishes for speedy recoveries to Loris, Gene, Jason, and anyone else who was injured at Daytona International Speedway during our event.
Drop And Give Me Twenty
Two riders reached Double-X (Roman numerals) milestones at Daytona International Speedway, and in two distinctly different ways.
TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick competed in his 20th Daytona 200 as he tried again to join Scott Russell and Miguel Duhamel in the “Five-Time Fraternity.” Here’s hoping that Slick keeps racing in the 200 next year and beyond because we’d love to see him get the V (Roman numeral) for victory.
Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman won his 19th and 20th all-time Mission King Of The Baggers races to extend his KOTB career wins lead even more over his competitors.
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