ASHMEAD APPROACHING SHAW’S DAYTONA MILEAGE RECORD In 2003, Rick Shaw broke Warren Sherwood’s long-standing Daytona 200 career mileage record. Shaw still held that record when he announced his retirement at the end of the 2006 season, but fellow Floridian John Ashmead, the 1989 Daytona 200 winner, is closing in with miles logged and could potentially surpass him as early as 2009. Don Emde, who won the Daytona 200 in 1972 and author of “The Daytona 200. The History of America’s Premier Motorcycle Race,” discovered the slim distance advantage that Shaw now holds over Ashmead while updating his exclusive Daytona 200 database in preparation of the publication of the 3rd edition of his book, due out in 2008. Shaw’s Daytona 200 career mileage record is safe for 2008, but following this year’s race, Ashmead is now only 284 miles behind, setting up the possibility of breaking the record in 2009. Ashmead has raced in 23 Daytona 200s, just one behind record holder Shaw, who raced in 24. If Ashmead continues to participate in the 200 for the next two years, he would become the first rider to compete in 25 Daytona 200s. Among other findings of changes to the top 25 with mileage leaders since the last publication of his book, Emde found that in 2007 Ricky Orlando became only the fourth rider to have completed more than 3,000 miles in Daytona 200 races. He moved from 7th to 4th overall and is just 23 miles behind 3rd place Sherwood. Five-time winner Miguel Duhamel jumped all the way from 23rd to 7th and is only 11 miles behind Dick Mann and could jump all the way to 5th with a complete finish in 2008; Larry Pegram moved from 22nd to 13th and could move into the top 10 in 2008. Lastly, Pascal Picotte moved into the top 25 for the first time. He is ranked now in 19th and is within 200 miles of the next six riders ahead of him, so a complete finish in 2008 would move him significantly up in the rankings. Following the 2007 Daytona 200, the top 10 in Daytona 200 career mileage were: 1. Rick Shaw 3,728 2. John Ashmead 3,444 3. Warren Sherwood 3,187 4. Ricky Orlando 3,146 5. Earl Widman 2,640 6. Dick Mann 2,457 7. Miguel Duhamel 2,446 8. Eric Moe 2,399 9. Roger Reiman 2,326 10. Kurt Liebmann 2,325 For more information about “The Daytona 200. The History of America’s Premier Motorcycle Race” go online to: www.partsmag.com or call 800-984-7691. For info about the Daytona 200, log onto: www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.