Stu's Shots Previews the Daytona 200 and the 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Season

With practice for the upcoming Daytona round of AMA Pro Road Racing only six days off, we can already smell the smoke and racing fuel in the air. As noted in the previous post, AMA Pro Racing and the AMA/DMG folks have been making wholesale changes to the series in the last several weeks, among them personnel changes and increased purses for the Daytona SportBike class premier Daytona 200 event, as well as adding a second Superbike round and increasing purse and place payouts for this event. We can only hope that these changes will help to bring public sentiment back around in their favor, and to give the series it's much needed bounce that was missing from last year's running of the series.

As of today's writing, there were 50 entries for the Daytona SportBike class for the Daytona round, so the that signals a very good sign considering just a little over a month ago less then 20 entries were showing. Today we will do a short profile on a few of those riders.

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Danny Eslick #1-'09 AMA Daytona SportBike Champion-Suzuki GSX-R600

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Richie Morris Racing's Geico-sponsored Danny Eslick set the world on fire during the '09 season riding the Buell 1125R. What many considered a bike that should never have been allowed in the class, Danny and the Buell won six races and clearly showed that talent and bike set-up were the key to the championship. Several other riders, among them Danny's teammate Michael Barnes, also raced the Buell last year, but not with near the results as young Mr. Eslick.

With Buell now defunct thanks to operations out of Milwaukee's 'finest' Harley Davidson, Eslick and the RMR team will be riding Suzuki GSX-R600's this year in their quest to retain the title.

With Danny having ridden Suzuki's in the past, the transition may not be as severe as what could be expected. The top shot shows Danny on the #69 Matsushima Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 while qualifying for the Barber round in Leeds, AL., for the April '07 round of the AMA SuperStock class.

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Geoff May #99-Vallely Racing/GMR Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 for 2010

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Geoff will be aboard his own equipment this year with help from Leo Vince, Ohlins and Dunlop, among others. Having raced for the M4 Emgo Suzuki team and Michael Jordan Motorsports over the course of the last five seasons, Geoff is going it on his own year, more a result of the lack of rides and sponsorship for the 2010 season then lack of effort. Having ridden Suzuki's with these teams as well can only help as well in his quest to run this class this year after having run AMA America/U.S. Superbike and AMA SuperStock and SuperSport the last 5-6 seasons. The second shot above shows Geoff in qualifying at Road America during the '06 event. Aboard the #99 M4 Emgo SuperStock Suzuki GSX-R1000, this was just coming out of turn 8.

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Martin Cardenas #36-Seven Time AMA Daytona SportBike Race Winner-Team M4 Emgo Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600

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In what will be his fourth year of riding in the States, Martin returns to the M4 Emgo Suzuki team and again will be Suzuki GSX-R600 mounted for the 2010 season. Martin won seven races and garnered 10 podiums in his debut in the Daytona SportBike class, and pretty much lost the title due to a late season crash that put him out of action at the last round. This year could be pivotal for Mr. Cardenas as he will be on like-equipment as his main adversary, Danny Eslick, and with four seasons of racing for M4 and on Suzuki's the transition shouldn't be too severe. Martin is shown in the third shot above at Road America in 2008 in the turn 10 area off of the carousel during rain practice for the AMA FX class.

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Steve Rapp #15-2007 Daytona 200 Winner-Team Latus Motors-Ducati 848 for 2010

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The senior member of the class, Steve Rapp has been throwing his leg over a racing motorcycle in the expert ranks now going on a decade and a half. Having won the Daytona 200 in '07, Steve has raced for Michael Jordan Motorsports, Vance and Hines Racing, and Valvoline Suzuki among others in his road racing career. With a new off-season deal with Latus Motors--the same folks who have sponsored 2000 AMA Flat Track Champion Joe Kopp for several years--the '10 season could be a new lease on racing life for Mr. Rapp. Having raced Ducati's for Vance and Hines and for HMC Racing back in the '00 and '01 seasons, adapting to the characteristics of the grunt from the twin shouldn't be a problem here. And with the Big Buell gone now, the 848 could prove to be a strong force in this class. Steve is shown in the fourth shot above on the Michael Jordan Motorsports GSX-R1000 during qualifying for the Road America SuperStock round in '08 coming out of the turn 8 area before heading under the bridge into the carousel.

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Jake Holden #23-Three Time AMA SuperStock Race Winner-Ducshop Racing Ducati 848 for '10

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Jake is another rider who has amassed a 'journeyman's' resume in AMA Road Racing over the course of the last several years. Michael Jordan Motorsports, Hypercycle Racing and Corona Honda Racing are among some of the teams he has raced for, and he won an AMA SuperStock race in '07 while with the Team Jordan Suzuki team and winning two rounds in '08 while riding for the Corona Honda Racing team. Jake will be on the #23 Ducshop Racing Ducati 848 in the Daytona SportBike class, and will be riding his own Honda CBR1000RR in the American Superbike class for the 2010 season. Jake is shown in the fifth shot above at Road America in 2006. As a team mate to Steve Rapp and Jason Pridmore, Jake was on the #59 Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the SuperStock class and is shown coming out of the turn 8 area during practice.

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Here's wishing not only the Daytona SportBike class but the entire field and all the entrants for Daytona, as well as the 2010 season, the best of luck. Keep in mind that the same-day tape-delayed Daytona 200 WILL be shown on SpeedTV on Friday, March 5th at 9 P.M Eastern Time. You can also follow it and all the racing 'live' via the AMA Live Wire timing/scoring link, which you can find on the left column side bar here as well. And the two Superbike races which are to run on Thursday March 4th at 3 P.M. Eastern and Friday March 5th at 4 P.M. Eastern are scheduled to be shown on SpeedTV on Saturday, March 6th at 10:30 P.M. Eastern as of this writing.

Thanks for coming by, and stay tuned and please come back in the next few days as we preview who will be coming back to the SpeedTV booth this year to help announce the races, and we will also do a preview on the AMA Flat Track rounds at Daytona scheduled for Wednesday March 3rd and Thursday March 4th. We will do our best to showcase the archives of Stu's Shots while we talk about the upcoming racing as well. Take care and we hope to see you back soon!