Martin Cardenas held the top spot on the time sheets until Danny Eslick put in his final lap. The defending AMA Pro Daytona Sporbike Champion knocked Cardenas out of the top spot by just .2 seconds.
Eslick finished with a 1'24.504 time, and him and Cardenas were the only two riders to finish below the 1'25 mark. Josh Herrin, who was next across the line, was exactly one half second back behind Eslick.
After the session ended, the AMA Pro Racing team passed out a press release, stating that Clinton Sellers had been suspended, and would not be participating for the rest of the weekend at New Jersey Motosports Park. Sellers was involved in a few incidents at the Virginia International Raceway competition, most notably, a first-corner clash with Herrin. The incident knocked Herrin to the ground, and ultimately out of the championship lead.
Herrin won't be able to get any points back from VIR, but he isn't too far behind at the moment. Herrin sits just 12 points behind Eslick, and will set out to regain the title lead this weekend.
Daytona Sportbike - New Jersey - Free Practice
1. Danny Eslick (Suz) 1:24.503
2. Martin Cardenas (Suz) 1:24.527
3. Josh Herrin (Yam) 1:25.103
4. Dane Westby (Yam) 1:25.328
5. Cory West (Suz) 1:25.482
6. Chris Fillmore (Suz) 1:25.487
7. Tommy Aquino (Yam) 1:25.493
8. Steve Rapp (Duc) 1:25.793
9. Paul Allison (Yam) 1:26.158
10. P.J. Jacobsen (Suz) 26.679
