Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Not only did Eric Bostrom’s lap of 1:46.8355 during qualifying for the 63rd running of the Daytona 200 by Arai set a new motorcycle lap record for Daytona and earn him a new Rolex watch, it also reduced the field to a scant 37 riders.

With the new Superbike qualifying cut-off reduced from 112 percent to 110 percent of the fastest qualifying time in 2004, Daytona 200 hopefuls needed to turn a lap of 1:57.518 to make this year’s field.

The higher-than-normal cut-off time eliminated 18 racers, including AMA Superbike regulars Chuck Allen, Kevin Hanson, Eric Haugo, James Kerker, Greg Fryer and all-time Daytona 200 mileage leader Rick Shaw.

Had Shaw made the 2004 field, it would have be his 23rd Daytona 200 by Arai start and another new record, but trouble during qualifying resulted in Shaw just missing the cut-off with a 1:57.987.

“I got caught behind with the crash (in qualifying Wednesday),” Shaw told reporters. “We’ve played catch-up all week long, and I never got caught up. I’ve got no one to blame but myself. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever felt.

“I thought I might have made it on the last lap, but we ran out of gas.”

Because the Daytona 200 has the largest purse on the AMA Superbike circuit, the 37th and last rider on the grid Saturday will make at least $750. That’s $50 more than Damon Buckmaster earned for finishing fourth in Thursday’s hard-fought Superstock race.

A quick calculation of the purse structure and the 33 empty spots on the Daytona 200 grid showed that $12,750 in purse money – or more than the entire Superstock purse at Daytona – will go unclaimed.