After losing out on the Daytona 200 victory in 2009, Josh Herrin secured his name in the history books by becoming the 69th winner of the Daytona Beach classic. Held for the second year in a row under the lights, Herrin rode with tremendous composure and skill to take the checkered flag with a 7.964 second margin of victory on the historic 3.55-mile Daytona International Speedway.
Dane Westby took a well-deserved second place, running up front all night and trading the lead with Herrin several times over the course of the 57-lap race.
Leading the field off the line was pole winner Danny Eslick; as the field took the green flag from the standing start, fellow front-row rider Martin Cardenas shot into the lead and led the field through turns one and two.
In a heartbreaking moment, Cardenas had the front end slide out on him going into turn three and down he went, his race over. Further back in the lineup, a number of riders came together in the next turn, necessitating a red flag and immediate race stoppage and full restart from the original grid. After a brief delay, the race was restarted, this time with three riders going off in turn one but with no impact on the race.
A tight group of 10 riders began drafting and swapping positions, with many changes every lap. Rapp, Herrin, Eslick, Tommy Aquino, Kev Coghlan, Westby and more were part of the action. The leaders were lapping in the one minute and fifty second range, which was just off the fastest qualifying times.
The first round of pit stops began on lap 17; Aquino suffered a malfunction with his fueling apparatus, spilling fuel all over the bike and ending his race. Herrin made a flawless stop one lap later. Eslick also had a good stop, with the lead now held by Coghlan, ahead of Eslick, Westby, Herrin, Rapp, and Taylor Knapp.
Coghlan then stopped on lap 21 and Herrin and Westby regained the lead battle with Rapp and the rest. As things settled down, Westby, Herrin and Eslick made a three-bike breakaway and kept the pressure on each other, each pulling the occasional wheelie out of the chicane. By lap 25 it became a two-bike race, with Herrin and Westby really extending their lead over the field.
By lap 34 there were seven riders on the lead lap, the second round of pit stops began and the race to the checkers was on. Herrin and Westby came down pit lane side by side on lap 39 and each wouldn't give an inch until they stopped in their respective pit boxes.
The Team Graves Yamaha crew really excelled and sent Herrin off before Westby, giving Herrin the gap he needed to break away. Westby rode as hard as he could, but the gap to Herrin slowly grew as the race wound down.
Later commenting that he was in nearly perfect rhythm, Herrin put his name in the record books as the second-youngest winner of the Daytona 200 and the youngest at the races held at the Daytona International Speedway. At 19 years and 10 months, he is only preceded by Brad Andres who, when he won the 200 in 1955, was 18 years and 11 months old.
AMA Pro Road Racing moves to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California from March 26 - 28 for round two of the 10-event schedule. For more info, check www.amaproracing.com.
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