AMA Road Racing: Aquino & Herrin Split Wins, Eslick Takes Daytona SportBike Title at NJMP

Herrin Claims Victory in Final Daytona SportBike Race of 2011, Says Hello to SuperBike

MILLVILLE, NJ (September 4, 2011) - Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin may not have gotten the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship he wanted, but he does have the satisfaction of having ended the 2011 season in the second-best way possible: with a hard-fought win over a list of determined opponents. After dispatching teammate Tommy Aquino, Cameron Beaubier (JHR/RidersDiscount.com), and Dane Westby (M4 Suzuki) -- each of whom came back for seconds, thirds, or more -- Herrin took his fifth victory of the season, more than any other rider in the class.

"When we came in for the red flag I talked to Josh Hayes for a little bit and he gave me a little advice, and it seemed to work," said Herrin. "I put my head down hard in both of the warm-up laps, and it seemed to set me up good for the first lap of the race. I couldn't hear anybody behind me for a little while and I thought I had a bigger gap than I did. When I heard Dave behind me, I got real scared because I knew it was him, and it scared me when I saw him put a wheel on me because I thought he would have gotten me on the last lap in Turn 3. But my Monster Energy Graves Yamaha worked really well and I was able to get by most everybody on the straightaway. I can be any happier ending the season with a win, especially since we're going up to SuperBike next year. I'm going to miss this class."
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Josh Herrin #8 leads Tommy Aquino #6 during the AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series event and season finale at NJMP.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Each rider seemed to typify the particular skill and strategy they've become known for in today's race, Herrin the smooth, determined veteran; Westby the late-race charger; Beaubier the constantly evolving rookie; Aquino the mercurial pilot capable of more than past seasons have shown. With a brief pause caused by a red flag (which flew after a crash by M4 Suzuki's Santiago Villa, who was quickly on his feet), the four-rider pack -- made five by Danny Eslick for the first half of the race - diced non-stop through the 23-laps, sliding forward and back through turns while trying to out-draft and out-break as they tore down the front straight.

"Today I thought I had something for Josh," said Westby, who'd been eager to erase yesterday's crash with a victory today, "but [it wasn't] enough that I could make it happen. Too bad it's the end of the season, because I'd like to do some more racing, but I look forward to seeing everybody next year."

"I actually felt a little pressure today because I realized I could maintain third in the championship," said Aquino, "so that was really cool. I'm almost as happy with this as with the win yesterday, just knowing I placed really well in the championship. It was a harder race than yesterday, which I barely got out of alive. Josh did a really good job of setting the pace and all I could do was hold on. I made a few mistakes on the last lap pushing really hard -- everybody was - but yeah, it's just been a pleasure all year to race alongside these guys. I have to thank my whole team ... this is just getting better and better, and next year is going to be phenomenal, no matter what happens."

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Dane Westby, Josh Herrin and Tommy Aquino celebrate on the podium at NJMP after the AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series race 2 event on Sunday, September 4.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Aquino was followed across the line by Beaubier and newly crowned 2011 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion Danny Eslick. Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki), Jason DiSalvo (Team Latus Motors Racing), Bryce Prince (Bryce Prince Racing), Mike Selpe (Frisco Tap House/Markbilt), and LTD Racing Y.E.S. Yamaha's Huntley Nash rounded out the top ten.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.   For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Eslick Reclaims Daytona SportBike Crown at New Jersey Motorsports Park

MILLVILLE, NJ (September 3, 2011) - The fast and furious number-crunching that followed today's AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race was nothing compared to the class' on-track action, but at the end of both the ultimate victor was revealed: GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki's Danny Eslick has clenched the 2011 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship. Eslick -- who adds this year's crown to the class title he earned in 2009 -- dedicated the championship to recently departed race legend Gary Nixon.

"It hasn't set in yet," said Eslick, grinning. "At first I didn't think we were far enough up there to get the job done. When I came in I saw my team looking around, then we looked at an official and they gave me the checkered flag, and then it started kicking in a little bit. It was an awesome race; I don't know how many lead changes -- a bunch, probably more than any other race this year. There were seven or eight of us for a while going back and forth ... it was pretty spectacular. It's nice to get it done with a race to go, and we'll go out and give it a heck of a shot tomorrow, too."

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Danny Eslick celebrates on the podium at NJMP after taking his 2nd AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series Championship at NJMP on Saturday, September 3.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Nearly as happy was Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha rider Tommy Aquino, who earned his career first AMA Pro victory at New Jersey Motorsports' Thunderbolt Raceway after a hard-fought battle with Dane Westby (M4 Suzuki), Josh Herrin (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha), and Cameron Beaubier (JHR/RidersDiscount.com). While Aquino and Herrin dominated the lead for the first half of the race, with Beaubier making occasional forays to the front, it was Westby -- via his now-infamous late-race magic -- who took over as the contest entered its final laps.

After taking the lead and being quickly usurped several times, Westby grabbed the frontrunner position yet again with three to go and looked destined to hold it as the laps clicked down. When the leaders encountered traffic on the final lap, however, disaster struck: Heading into a corner, Westby tried an outside pass to get around a lapped rider and the contest was quickly over for both leader and lapper, the pair heading straight off into the dirt.

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Josh Herrin, Tommy Aquino and Cameron Beaubier celebrate on the podium at NJMP after race 1 action in the AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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"Those last four or five laps," said Aquino, "I kind of put it in my head that that was the best chance I had [to win a race]. Dane wasn't going to give me an inch and ... I was lining him up for a pass in Turn 6 and was going to go for it no matter what, but before I had a chance, he was gone. I got in the lead from there and tried to just put in a flawless lap. I really didn't know who was behind me, I just focused on Dane at first and then just on getting a clean lap. I thought, 'You're a professional -- do one lap, how hard can it be?' Very hard, if you're wondering. It was a great weekend, and I have to thank the Yamaha Extended Service crew -- this win is for them."

"It was a really exciting race," said runner-up Herrin, despite being disappointed that his hopes for a 2011 championship are now officially over. "As far as the year goes, I've been pretty proud of my year. We had some mechanicals that hurt us, but when I've finished, my worst was a fifth; otherwise we've been on the box the whole time. I wanted to win, definitely, but to do today and get second made me happy. I'm hoping tomorrow we can put it on the box to end the season on top, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow." (Having announced he'll be fielding a Yamaha SuperBike next season, Herrin's looking forward to 2012, as well.)

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Cameron Beaubier, Tommy Aquino and Josh Herrin battle during AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series race 1 action at NJMP on Saturday, September 3.  AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Behind third-place Beaubier, Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki), Taylor Knapp (Vesrah Suzuki), Eslick, Jason DiSalvo (Latus Motors Racing), PJ Jacobsen (Celtic Racing/Fast by Ferracci), Tyler O'Hara (GP Bike Parts Racing), and Santiago Villa (M4 Suzuki) rounded out the top ten.


To learn more and to be a part of the AMA Pro Road Racing Championship, visit www.amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.   For additional information contact:   AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com

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Josh Herrin Takes R6 and Team Graves Yamaha to Daytona 200 Victory

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Josh Herrin #46-now running #8 for 2010-in action during the AMA SuperSport race at Barber Motorsports Park in April of 2007. Running for the same Team Graves Motorsports Yamaha team, the youngster spanked the competition last night in winning the 69th edition of the Daytona 200. Nearly flawless pit stops by his great team helped to seal the deal.

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Josh Herrin on the #8 Team Graves Motorsports Yamaha R6 won the Daytona 200 endurance race last night by using nearly flawless pit stops and good traffic strategy to take the top spot on the podium for the 69th running of what was once the classic North American motorcycle race.
Dane Westby on the #2 Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha R6 finished second a little over 7.9 seconds back, and perennial iron man Steve Rapp on the #15 Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848 finished a solid third a little over 24.4 seconds back of Herrin. Rapp won this event in '07 while running for the Attack Kawasaki Squad, and has been riding in AMA competition for over 14 seasons now and did a fine job of bringing it home.
You can check out the official results and the official press conference below to get the full meal deal on this eventful race.

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Provisional results of the Daytona 200 courtesy of John Ulrich's group of hard working pro's over at http://www.roadracingworld.com/. Their coverage and updates over the course of the week have been outstanding:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39653


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Daytona 200 press conference thanks to Dean's crew at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ who according to their Facebook.com page were 'asked to leave the pitlane' the other day. In spite of the DMG's outlook on these great folks, they tell it like it is:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100306b.htm

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Congratulations are in order not only for Josh for such a fine ride last night, but especially to all the riders and participants, and a special tip of the hat goes out to the DMG folks for starting off the season on a very high note and making it known that they are willing to help, learn and listen to everyone to ensure the series has a good year and no problems to follow such as the 2009 debacle in running the show. Bravo!
I also added the link in yesterday's post for the second superbike race press conference. The general feeling was good in Daytona after the way the series was handled last year. Ben Bostrom had a very nice comment about it all so if you get the chance to check it out, do so. Bravo again!
Thanks for following along with us for the road racing and flat track running of the races from Daytona this week. It's been a blast and although I plan to revert back to my normal writing and posting intervals, I wanted to try and follow the new year as quickly and as closely for all that I could. It's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to a new year, let alone a new outlook from the offices and managers of the AMA and DMG people. Other then the AMA Flat Track Live Timing and Scoring clusterf..k that we are confident they will have worked out by the next round, it has been a great week. Thanks again for taking your time to come by, see my old stuff and put up with me on a rant....or an occasional non-rant, even. God Bless to all and take care!
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