The last few races of the AMA Pro Racing Daytona Sportbike series are bound to be intense, as the top three riders are now all within 5 points of one another. Martin Cardenas pulled off a spectacular win today, to put himself just two points behind the title leader. Josh Herrin, the other title contender, finished in second place, and is now just five points back.
Cardenas got off to a slow start today, and at one point, was more than 2 and half seconds back in 8th place. But the Columbian bided his time until the final laps where he made a dramatic charge toward the finish line. Cardenas would end up finishing .79 seconds ahead of Herrin today in New Jersey, but more importantly, season leader Danny Eslick could only manage a fifth place finish.
Cardenas and Herrin got a little help from Dane Westby and Bobby Fong, who both put in spectacular races to claim the third and fourth place positions.
The Daytona Sportbike race saw a scary fall from front row qualifer Tommy Aquino that brought out the red flag on lap five. But after a short stoppage, the race resumed.
Eslick will look to build on his lead tommorow. He currently has 125 points, to Cardenas' 123, and Herrin's 120.
AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike - New Jersey - Race 1 Results
1. Martin Cardenas (Suz)
2. Josh Herrin (Yam) +0.796
3. Dane Westby (Yam)
4. Bobby Fong (Duc)
5. Danny Eslick (Suz)
6. Cory West (Suz)
7. P.J. Jacobsen (Suz)
8. Chris Fillmore (Suz)
9. Paul Allison (Yam)
10. Steve Rapp (Duc)
