Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin pulled away in the closing laps of Sunday’s AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike race at VIR to take his second victory in as many days. Rossmeyers Geico RMR Buell’s Danny Eslick put on a big charge in the second half of the race to claim the runner-up position, just ahead of Herrin’s teammate Tommy Aquino. Latus Motors Racing Buell’s Taylor Knapp crossed the finish line 0.093 second behind Aquino in fourth. Championship contender Martin Cardenas, who broke his right hand on Friday, rode through pain to place 11th on his Team M4 Suzuki. Cardenas’ teammate Jason DiSalvo was racing for the lead in the first half of the race when he hit his right knee on a curb, rode off the track and fell off his bike in obvious pain. DiSalvo was then taken to the track’s medical center to have his knee examined. The original start of the race was red-flagged before the first lap was completed due to a six-rider crash in Turn One. According to eyewitness accounts, Brent Lyskawa came into Turn One hot, tucked the front and crashed into other riders, setting off a chain reaction of crashes. Involved were: Lyskawa, Josh Galster, Shawn Higbee, Reese Wacker, Ricky Parker and Melissa Paris. Paris was being examined for a suspected broken right leg. The race was restarted from its original two-by-two rolling grid for the original race distance of 23 laps. Update: According to Paris’ husband, racer Josh Hayes, she suffered fractures to her right tibia and fibula and was transported to Danville Regional Medical Center, in Danville, Virginia. It is not yet known if her fractures will require surgery. AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL VIRginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 16, 2009 Provisional Race Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 23 laps 2. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R), -1.874 seconds 3. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), -1.950 4. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125R), -2.043 5. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), -4.679 6. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), -4.715 7. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), -9.403 8. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), -15.956 9. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), -22.462 10. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), -25.983 11. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), -26.078 12. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), -27.030 13. Matt Lynn (Kaw ZX-6R), -30.938 14. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), -31.296 15. Marcos Reichert (Yam YZF-R6), -41.295 16. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), -50.935 17. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6), -64.120 18. Robertino Pietri (Yam YZF-R6), -70.517 19. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), -80.319 20. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), -85.176 21. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap 22. Alex Lazo (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 23.297 seconds 23. Nadr Riad (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 56.621 seconds 24. Aaron Gobert (Apr RSV1000R), -2 laps, DNF, crash 25. Steve Rapp (Yam YZF-R6), -7 laps, DNF, crash 26. Daniel Parkerson (Kaw ZX-6R), -7 laps, DNF 27. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), -15 laps, DNF, retired 28. Larry Karpinsky, Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), -19 laps, DNF 29. Abe Stacey (Suz GSX-R600), -20 laps, DNF 30. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000R), -21 laps, DNF, mechanical 31. Chris Fillmore (Yam YZF-R6), -22 laps, DNF, crash 32. Michael Barnes (Buell 1125R), -22 laps, DNF, mechanical 33. Walt Sipp (Buell 1125R), -23 laps, DNF, crash 34. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -23 laps, DNF, crash 35. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R600), -23 laps, DNF, crash 36. Brent Lyskawa (Yam YZF-R6), -23 laps, DNF, crash 37. Josh Galster (Kaw ZX-6R), -23 laps, DNF, crash 38. Melissa Paris (Yam YZF-R6), -23 laps, DNF, crash 39. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 40. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R600), DNS 41. Dominic Jones (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 42. Shea Fouchek (Hon CBR600RR), DNS 43. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 44. Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 45. C.R. Gittere (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 46. Eric Haugo (Yam YZF-R6), DNS Championship Point Standings (after 18 of 20 races): 1. Eslick, 357 points 2. Cardenas, 340 3. Herrin, 321 4. Hacking, 274 5. DiSalvo, 261 6. Zemke, 218 7. Aquino, 213 8. Peris, 212 9. Davies, 194 10. Rapp, 179 11. Knapp, 169 12. Hayden, 149 13. Barnes, 113 14. Beck, 103 15. Fong, 101 16. Damian Cudlin, 92 17. Fillmore, 77 18. Westby, 71 19. Higbee, 70 20. Pietri, 63 More, from a press release issued by M4 Suzuki: OPPORTUNITY FOR VICTORY SLIPS AWAY FROM DISALVO AT VIR Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo was robbed of a chance to fight for the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway when a fluke incident dropped him from contention while battling for the lead. Just as he did on Saturday, the New Yorker quickly charged up through the pack aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 from his ninth-place starting position to join the dogfight for the win. But while sitting a close third behind Roger Hayden and Josh Herrin on lap 9 of 23, DiSalvo’s right knee impacted the inside of the curbing and wrenched his leg back. He rode off the track and dismounted his machine in pain, ending his promising ride early. A disappointed DiSalvo explained, “I had the pace, I had the bike, the settings were perfect, and I was just biding my time. I was going to try to get them both at once and get a clean break. The pace was incredible at the beginning but right around when I went out Roger started to struggle with grip. “When my knee hit there was so much pain I couldn’t even focus. Everything went blurry and I just rode it off into the grass. I had a pretty good idea I wasn’t in an impact area. I was going to try to get it over to a wall or something but the pain was just too intense. I put it down and just laid there. I lifted up my thigh and my knee just bent to a 90-degree angle to the side. They told me in the medical center the trauma just turned my knee into jelly for a few moments. “The leathers were just torn open completely by the impact, but fortunately the knee is intact and there were no major injuries.” Daytona SportBike title hopeful Martin Cardenas registered another heroic ride to finish in eleventh position despite breaking his right hand on Friday. However, title rival Danny Eslick improved from Saturday, picking up second on Sunday and opening up a 17-point championship gap with just the New Jersey Motorsports Park doubleheader remaining on the schedule. “It was really tough like yesterday,” the former Spanish Supersport champ said. “We weren’t so lucky today, however, and Danny finished second today. I did what I could and we’ll try to be fit in New Jersey and win both races and hope for the best. “I’m going to go home and get an operation and get a pin put in my hand so that it will heal up quicker. We’ll see how I’ll be in New Jersey, but I think I’ll be ready to go. I need to win; that’s all I can do.” Team M4 Suzuki will head to the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ, on September 4-6.