AMA Sportbike: After both Cardenas and Eslick and Cardenas taking wins this weekend at Topeka, the racers are now tied for first with 318 points apiece in the Daytona SportBike championship standings with just two double-header weekends of racing left this season
AMA Pro Racing Press Release
Race 1
Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) charged from 10th on the grid straight to the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL championship lead with a strong victory he and the Richie Morris Racing team dedicated to the late Bruce Rossmeyer, who died in a motorcycle accident earlier this week. Eslick has now won six Daytona SportBike races this year and has regained the points lead for the first time since Road Atlanta, currently 18 points ahead of nearest rival Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600).
"It was really unfortunate about the passing of Bruce Rossmeyer and we dedicate this win to him," Eslick said. "He was a great guy and our teammate. The family said 'go win a championship for us,' so this is the first step."
After a complete restart following an opening race incident, Eslick immediately began to charge through the field. He took the lead for the first time with a power move past Superpole winner Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) in the fast run out of the front straight on Lap 8. Eslick stayed up front through the race's halfway point but was soon challenged by Cardenas. Eslick and Cardenas, who has held the points lead for the majority of the season, swapped the lead several times in the final laps only to see Cardenas slide off course in second on Lap 18. From there Eslick was never again seriously challenged as he charged to his third straight victory.
"I glanced back and Martin was all over me and that was pretty close to the end," Eslick said. "I did a couple of really good motocross block passes, and I think I was going slow enough I could have put my foot down. It was 100% clean, he raced me clean and we never touched once. That's the race I've been looking for all year, to be the points leader and all that. Martin's a heck of a guy, a great rider and I wish it wouldn't have ended that way because that would have been a heck of a battle to the checkered flag."
Eslick crossed the finish line 1.810 seconds ahead of Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) who was closely followed by his teammate Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6).
"I thought I was going to be able to catch him," Herrin said. "I found out a real strong point coming on to the front straightaway that I'll be able to use tomorrow. At the end of the race I wasn't riding defensive, I just rode my race. I've had a few races recently where I rode defensive and it didn't pay off, so I just rode my line and took it to the finish line. We started reeling in Danny a little bit but it wasn't enough for the end of the race. I have to congratulate Tommy, and the Buell guys for another win. We'll come back strong tomorrow."
Aquino, who led the first two laps, finished third for the second consecutive race, his best finish of the season.
"That was the first time I've led a race," Aquino said. "Jason seemed to be going a little slow in the beginning so I made a pass really quick. It was just, like, riding by myself, which is really what I like to do - to go out there with nobody ahead of me and put down some laps. I just made a little mistake and let Jason by and after that a couple more people passed me. I settled in, got with the pace, passed who I needed to pass and it was good. I'm really enjoying where I'm at right now. I really have to thank all my guys."
Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia /Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV1000R) finished fourth for his sixth top-five result of the year while Bobby Fong (No. 51 Paradigm Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) finished fifth. It was the best result of the year for Fong and the Paradigm team that also finished sixth in the Daytona 200 with Barrett Long.
DiSalvo also went off course while running second to Eslick on Lap 10 but recovered to finish sixth.
A post-race protest was filed against the winning Daytona SportBike and it was determined in a review by AMA Pro Racing officials that Eslick passed for the lead in Turn 6 under a waving yellow flag. The area of the incident was also covered by a standing yellow flag at the corner workers' stations that Eslick failed to obey. He has been fined half of this weekend's final race purse and will be docked 10 championship points. Eslick currently leads the Daytona SportBike standings 296 - 288 over Cardenas.
Race 2
In the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL Sunday final, Cardenas passed Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) twice on the final lap for his series-leading seventh victory of 2009. Cardenas and Eslick are now tied for first with 318 points apiece in the Daytona SportBike championship standings with just two double-header weekends of racing left this season.
"The race was very tough," Cardenas said. "I noticed that the pace wasn't as good as yesterday and Danny was struggling in the first part of the track. I made a move three or four laps from the end and put a little bit of a gap in the parts that I saw he was struggling. He came right by me again so I just waited for the last lap to make a move and it worked out. It was a very good race. The bike worked awesome."
Eslick was leading at the start of the final lap but Cardenas was in hot pursuit along with Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6), who had recovered from a mid-race trip off course to race back into contention. Cardenas and Eslick traded the lead twice while working the Turn 6 and 7 section of the course before the Colombian took the lead for the final time out of the backstretch chicane with just half a lap to go. Eslick then had his hands full with Herrin, who made a late-breaking pass for second stick just two corners from the finish.
"It was just an awesome race," Eslick said. "I got away for a little while just past halfway and tried to lead as many laps as I could and hopefully get that point for the most laps led. Both these guys ran an awesome race and it was a lot of fun. I almost crashed on that last lap trying to chase Martin down in the chicane. I don't know if I hit the body work or what I did, but I was down, no saving it, and somehow it stood back up. I figured from there I'd go with second, then Josh came sliding by me. We'll take a third today, tied for the championship. It's a good weekend."
Herrin is now third in the Daytona SportBike standings with 261 points behind the two leaders.
"That was really scary," said Herrin, who fell to seventh after his off-course incident. "I ran it in really hard, and I was going to try to make a move on Danny going on the outside. I think I hit his exhaust or something with my fist and it just jabbed it, cut my hand actually. I ran off into the grass, made a couple of jumps through there and charged back. That was definitely the furthest I've had to work to catch back up to the leaders. The pass on Danny on the last lap was just full lock, sliding the bike on the last corner. Taking a second after charging that long is just as good as a win to me."
As he did on Saturday, Eslick spent the opening part of the race methodically charging through the field. He took the lead for the first time with a first-to-third pass of Cardenas and then-leader Herrin in the fast run through Heartland Park's Alpha and Turn 1 section on Lap 10. Eslick led the next nine race laps at the line before the white flag battle and was one of four riders to set the pace in the 20-lap race. Superpole winner Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) led the first six laps, Herrin led Laps 7 through 9 and Cardenas officially led just the final lap.
DiSalvo finished fourth while Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) continued his recent run of strong performances to round out the top five.
Next up for Daytona SportBike is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 - 16. The races will be featured in a pair of same-day, two-hour telecasts on SPEED on Saturday, August 15 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and Sunday, August 16 at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).
