Graves Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom has never been known as a morning person, but at 9:20 a.m. this morning at Daytona International Speedway Bostrom posted the fastest time in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike ‘basic qualifying.’ The key, said Bostrom, was staying awake most of last night. “I only slept like three hours,” Bostrom told Roadracingworld.com. “I just want to win too bad [to sleep].” Bostrom was riding in a pack of riders for much of the Thursday morning’s session, but the former AMA Superbike Champion decided to change tactics toward the end of the qualifier. “I was better off by myself, so I let them go,” said Bostrom. “Unfortunately we ran them down too quick and bumped into them at the chicane.” Still, Bostrom was able to record a 1:49.093 to top the Daytona SportBike class, leading the top 10 qualifiers into SuperPole later this evening at the speedway. Asked for his thoughts about SuperPole, Bostrom said, “It’s going to be tough. I’ll be riding the big bike [American Superbike YZF-R1] all day, so I’ll be coming off the big bike and will have to go out on the little bike without any practice. The most interesting part is seeing what that Buell does.” The Buell Bostrom referred to was the 1125R of Bruce Rossmeyers Daytona Racing’s Danny Eslick, who has been consistently fast in practice, held the top spot for much of the qualifying session and was only demoted to second by Bostrom. “It was a great session,” said Eslick, who did a 1:49.253 around the 2.95-mile course. “Me and Barney [Eslick’s teammate Michael Barnes] had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do, and it ended up not working out that way. “I got a bunch of good tows from guys, and apparently I gave a bunch of good tows, as well. It was just a really good session. Second is just fine.” AMA Pro Racing AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 5, 2009 Provisional Group A Basic Qualifying Results (3.51-mile course, all on Dunlop tires): 1. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:49.093 2. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R), 1:49.253 3. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), 1:49.952 4. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 1:50.011 5. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:50.100 6. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), 1:50.169 7. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), 1:50.338 8. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:50.370 9. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:50.471 10. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:50.517 Top 10 advance to SuperPole 11. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), 1:50.604 12. Michael Barnes (Buell 1125R), 1:50.661 13. Miguel Duhamel (Suz GSX-R600), 1:50.701 14. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000), 1:50.750 15. Robertino Pietri (Yam YZF-R6), 1:50.801 16. Bostjan Pintar (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.102 17. Eric Wood (Hon CBR600RR), 1:51.238 18. Russell Wikle (Suz GSX-R600), 1:51.500 19. Kris Turner (Suz GSX-R600), 1:51.583 20. Daniel Parkerson (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:51.811 21. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.817 22. Bostjan Skubic (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.973 23. Leandro Mercado (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:52.072 24. Steve Rapp (Yam YZF-R6), 1:52.083 25. Damian Cudlin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:52.232 26. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:52.658 27. Armando Ferrer (Suz GSX-R600), 1:52.920 28. Marcos Reichert (Yam YZF-R6), 1:52.927 29. Justin Filice (Tri Daytona 675), 1:52.989 30. Eric Haugo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.061 31. Ryan Patterson (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.160 32. Andres Londono (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.180 33. Josh Bryan (Buell 1125R), 1:53.192 34. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR), 1:53.259 35. Ty Howard (Apr RSV1000), 1:53.865 36. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.139 37. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R600), 1:54.765 38. Ben Thompson (Apr RSV1000), 1:54.831 More, from a press release issued by Paradigm Racing: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 5, 2009) – Paradigm Racing is hard at work fine tuning their Yamaha R6 and perfecting their pit stops in preparation for the first ever AMA night race at Daytona International Speedway. It will be a historic moment not only for the speedway but also rider Barrett Long as well. This race will mark the third generation of the Long family to participate in the Daytona 200. Barrett’s grandfather ran from 1948-1953 when the race was still run on the beaches of Daytona. His father, John Long, is no stranger to the 200 either. He competed over ten times in the historic race and finished as high as sixth. John first raced at Daytona in the mid-1970s’ and competed in his last 200 in 2001. Barrett will be riding the Team Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6 in Friday night’s Daytona 200. “After concluding qualifying, I can say that I’m very pleased thus far. The Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6 performed fantastically! I’m very satisfied with the performance of the bike and can’t wait to get out there under the lights and mix it up. The Daytona 200 means a lot to our family and I’m honored to be in the position that I am.” More information on Team Paradigm Racing can be found at www.paradigmracing.net.