Danny Eslick rode his Dunlop-shod TOBC racing Yamaha YZF-R6 to victory in the 76th Daytona 200 Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Eslick, the third-fastest qualifier, was near the front of the pack the entire race and won in classic fashion by getting the better of Trackside Suspension & Engineering’s Cory West in a last-lap drafting battle.
For Eslick, it was his third time winning America’s biggest motorcycle road race, making him only the eighth rider in the race’s 76-year history to win three times or more, according to Daytona International Speedway’s media guide. Eslick’s three wins all came in his last three starts – 2014, 2015 and 2017 – and all came on three different brands of motorcycles – Triumph, Suzuki and Yamaha.
For the victory, Eslick won $25,000 in purse money, $10,000 in contingency money from Yamaha, a Daytona Rolex watch valued at approximately $10,000 plus other contingency prizes.
West came up just 0.041 second short of the victory at the checkered flag, earning him $20,000 in purse money plus another $5000 in contingency from Yamaha. In technical inspections after the race, however, West’s Yamaha YZF-R6 was found to have an illegal air filter and he was disqualified from the event.
West’s team said they planned to appeal the disqualification, but neither they nor West had any further comment at post time.
West’s disqualification promoted 2016 Daytona 200 winner Michael Barnes to second place. Barnes, riding his Pirelli-equipped Prieto Performance Yamaha YZF-R6, drafted past Kyle Wyman and his Dunlop-fitted M4 The 22 Project Suzuki GSX-R600 on the last lap.
Wyman raced for the lead with Eslick and West until the second round of pit stops, when problems dropped him back into a battle with Barnes over third. Wyman crossed the finish line fourth, 0.052 second behind Barnes, but with West’s disqualification ended up getting third, his career-best finish in the Daytona 200.
Shane Narbonne said he couldn’t match the pace of the leaders, so he focused on running his own race, which resulted in him getting fourth on his self-built, Dunlop-sponsored Six-Four Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6.
M4 The 22 Project ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise suffered a problem with the rear brake on his GSX-R600 early in the race, causing him to miss a restart. Thanks to the third of three red flags early in the race and quick repairs by his crew, Debise was able to restart the race from the back of the grid, albeit two laps down. The Frenchman then proceeded to run the fastest lap of the race (1:48.903), pass then entire field in his first stint — gaining one lap back, and work his way up to fifth by the finish.
Kaleb De Keyrel, age 19, overcame running off the track and serving a stop-and-go penalty to place sixth on his Anderson Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
Jason Farrell said he had to nurse his overheating Farrell Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R the entire race, contributing to his seventh-place result.
Geoff May blew the engine in his Project MayDay/Bock’s Concrete Yamaha YZF-R6 in Saturday morning’s warm-up and had to rent another rider’s engine for the race. Unfortunately, that rented engine did not perform very well, said May, and running off the track early in the race did not help his cause. However, May was able to work his way back up to eighth.
Canadian Darren James rode his Ruthless Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 to a solid ninth-place finish.
Veteran racer Bostjan Skubic, of Slovenia, qualified 17th on his Inotherm Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 and raced his way up to 10th.
Venezuela’s Robertino Pietri raced for the lead for the first 10 laps, but he was forced to retire when the shifter on his Hairy Kiwi Racing by Prieto Performance Yamaha YZF-R6 failed him.
Shane Richardson, a 21-year-old from New Zealand, overcame a lot of hurdles during the weekend and was running as high as fifth in the race, but the Wainui Joinery Team New Zealand rider was knocked out of the running when his rented Kawasaki ZX-6R lost its gearbox.
76th Daytona 200
ASRA Championship Series Sanctioned by AMA
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
March 18, 2017
Provisional Race Results (3.51-mile course):
1. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 57 laps, Total Race Time 2:11.30.583, Best Lap Time 1:49.951, $25,000
2. Michael Barnes (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -24.319 seconds, 1:50.034, $20,000
3. Kyle Wyman (Suz GSX-R600), Dunlop, -24.371, 1:49.864, $15,000
4. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -1 lap, 1:50.850, $12,500
5. Valentin Debise (Suz GSX-600), Dunlop, -1 lap, 1:48.903, $10,500
6. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -2 laps, 1:52.220, stop-and-go penalty, $9000
7. Jason Farrell (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -2 laps, 1:51.094, stop-and-go penalty, $8000
8. Geoff May (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -2 laps, 1:51.966, $7000
9. Darren James (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -2 laps, 1:53.022, $6000
10. Bostjan Skubic (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -2 laps, 1:54.124, $5000
11. Jason Edmonds (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -2 laps, 1:53.303, $4500
12. Barrett Long (Duc 848), Dunlop, -2 laps, 1:53.680, $4000
13. Carl Soltisz (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -2 laps, 1:53.650, $3500
14. Jody Barry (Kaw ZX-6R), Dunlop, -2 laps, 1:53.892, $3200
15. Mark Rhoades (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -2 laps, 1:53.779, $2900
16. Joseph Giannotto (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -3 laps, 1:53.953, $2600
17. Jordan Strange (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, -3 laps, 1:53.956, $2300
18. Taylor Knapp (MV Agusta F3 675), Dunlop, -3 laps, 1:53.431, $2000
19. Daniel Spaulding (Kaw ZX-6R), Dunlop, -4 laps, 1:56.166, $1800
20. Chuck Ivey (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -4 laps, 1:56.107, $1600
21. Patricia Fernandez (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -4 laps, 1:57.451, $1500
22. Seth Starnes (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -4 laps, 1:55.409, $1500
23. Eric Helmbach (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -4 laps, 1:58.706, $1500
24. Joel D. Lenk (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -4 laps, 1:57.297, $1500
25. Norman Pomerleau (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -4 laps, 1:58.150, $1500
26. Jeremy Kolewski (Kaw ZX-6R), Michelin, -4 laps, 1:54.431, $1500
27. Matthew Gendron (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -4 laps, 1:57.393, $1500
28. Alexander Guilbeault (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -5 laps, 1:59.309, $1500
29. Mark Dickerson (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -5 laps, 1:59.695, $1500
30. Marcelo Paladini (Yam YZF-R6), Bridgestone, -5 laps, 2:00.997, $1500
31. David McPherson (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -5 laps, 1:58.547, $1400
32. Max Angles (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -6 laps, 1:54.093, $1400
33. Alex Arango (MV Agusta F3 675), Dunlop, -6 laps, 2:00.730, $1400
34. Andrew Abel (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, -6 laps, 1:59.917, $1400
35. Chris Sullivan (Yam YZF-R6), Bridgestone, -6 laps, 2:00.214, $1400
36. Gino Angella (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -7 laps, 2:03.134, $1400
37. CJ LaRoche (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -7 laps, 1:57.899, $1300
38. Harry Wilson (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -7 laps, 2:00.094, $1300
39. Patrick Ryan (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -7 laps, 2:03.642, $1300
40. Richard O’Conner (Duc 749), Pirelli, -8 laps, 2:07.168, $1300
41. Aaron Stein (Yam YZF-R6), Bridgestone, -8 laps, 2:04.649
42. Anthony Fania, Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -13 laps, 1:58.100
43. Salvatore Ruffino (Yam YZF-6), Pirelli, -13 laps, 2:02.085
44. Antal Halasz (Suz GSX-R600), Dunlop, -14 laps, 2:00.891
45. Russ Intravartolo (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin, -14 laps, 2:04.800
46. Shane Richardson (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -15 laps, DNF, mechanical, 1:51.351
47. Bailey Cox (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -28 laps, crash, 1:57.060
48. Justin Holderman (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -32 laps, 1:56.726
49. Dustin Ducote (Tri Daytona 675), Michelin, -32 laps, 2:03.412
50. Tony Storniolo (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -36 laps, 1:54.238
51. Robertino Pietri (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -40 laps, DNF, mechanical, 1:50.288
52. Ryan Kerr (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -44 laps, 1:54.213
53. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -48 laps, 1:57.509
54. Kevin Heil (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -48 laps, 2:04.790
55. Arthur Kowitz (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, -49 laps, 2:04.124
56. Kristofer Knopf (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin, -50 laps, 1:56.007
57. Darrin Klemmens (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -53 laps, 2:02.747
58. John Ashmead (Kaw ZX-6R), Dunlop, -55 laps, DNF, crash, 1:56.750
59. Ryan Jones (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -55 laps, DNF, mechanical, no lap time recorded
60. Roosevelt Wright. Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, -55 laps, 2:08.302
61. Christian Cronin (MV Agusta F3 675), Dunlop, -56 laps, no time recorded
62. Robert Fisher (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli, -57 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
63. Dustin Apgar (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -57 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
64. Cory West (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, DQ, 1:49.699