Chris Peris, Cory West, Nate Kern and Blake Young were the victors during the opening round of the American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) season-opening event Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Peris, riding a Dunlop-equipped Evan Steel Performance Suzuki GSX-R1000, won the Superstock final by five bikelengths over veteran Michael Barnes. Barnes, however, was happy with his performance on his Celtic Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 considering it was his first race back since badly breaking his right wrist in May of 2007. Pole-sitter Chris Ulrich got a poor start, closed on but could not catch Peris and Barnes and finished third on his Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000. West won the Superbike sprint on his Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 AMA Supersport bike, but the Arkansas rider was the benefactor of a crash that took the leading duo out of the race. Celtic Racing’s Josh Day and West’s teammate Martin Cardenas battled for the lead throughout the event, but as they started the final lap both riders fell at high speed heading into Turn One. According to Day, he was nudged before he fell. According to Cardenas and eyewitness West, Day was on the inside, lost the front and crashed into the path of Cardenas, who could not take evasive action. Neither Day nor Cardenas were injured in the incident. Rockwall Honda’s Aaron Gobert (who rode a CBR600RR AMA Formula Xtreme bike) came back from a bad start to pass Barnes (who rode his 2007-spec Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 AMA Formula Xtreme bike) for second on the final lap, but both Gobert and Barnes failed to show up for the post-race weigh-in and were disqualified. This elevated Bettencourt’s Jeff Wood, the defending ASRA Superbike Champion, to second and Toshiba Ducati Miami’s Barrett Long to third. BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta’s Nate Kern drafted Morton’s BMW Motorcycles’ Richard Cooper on the final lap to win the Thunderbike final. Kern and Cooper both rode Pirelli-fitted R 1200 S BMWs. Defending ASRA Thunderbike Champion Dave Estok placed third in spite of having to start from the back of the grid and his Deeley H-D/Ruthless Racing Buell XB12R losing power during the race. Young took his first-ever win at Daytona, his first ASRA win and his first win as a Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rider in the Factory Pro Sportbike race. Young led the race from flag to flag on his Pirelli-sponsored GSX-R600 AMA Supersport bike. Ray C’s Extreme’s Taylor Knapp and Wood battled for all 10 laps of the race, but Long (who rode a Ducati 848) came from behind and used a double draft to pass both Knapp and Wood for second on the final lap. Wood was officially scored third inches ahead of Knapp. American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 1, 2008 Provisional Race Results: Superstock: 1. Chris Peris (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop, 8 laps 2. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli 3. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli 4. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop 5. J. Seth Starnes (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop 6. Dane Westby (Suz GSX-R1000) 7. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000), Dunlop 8. David Loikits (Suz GSX-R1000) 9. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli 10. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), Pirelli 11. Matthew Cooper (Yam YZF-R1) 12. Jim Wirth (Suz GSX-R1000) 13. Brian Boyd (Suz GSX-R1000) 14. Antal Halasz (Suz GSX-R1000) 15. Ivan Milan (Suz GSX-R1000) 16. Adrian Jones (Suz GSX-R1000) 17. Martin Lazor (Suz GSX-R1000) 18. Lloyd Bayley (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, crash 19. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), -2 laps Superbike: 1. Cory West (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, 8 laps 2. Jeff Wood (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 3. Barrett Long (Duc 848), Dunlop 4. Bobby Fong (Suz GSX-R600), Michelin 5. Taylor Knapp (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli 6. Eric Wood (Duc 848), Dunlop 7. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 8. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6) 9. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin 10. Scott Greenwood (Kaw ZX-6R), Dunlop 11. Garrett Carter (Suz GSX-R600), Dunlop 12. Greg Melka (Yam YZF-R6) 13. Ryan O’Donnell (Suz GSX-R600) 14. Andres Londono (Yam YZF-R6) 15. Ryan Patterson (Yam YZF-R6) 16. Payton Sassaman (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 17. Trey Yonce (Suz GSX-R600) 18. Dr. Jeffrey Purk (Yam YZF-R6) 19. Gabor Rizmayer (Suz GSX-R600) 20. Brett Sassaman (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 21. Shane Narbonne (Tri Daytona 675), Dunlop 22. Matt Hall 23. Bob Michael (Yam YZF-R6) 24. Zsolt Veres (Yam YZF-R6) 25. Arnold Hastings (Duc 848) 26. R. John Deuser (Yam YZF-R6) 27. Garrett Rick (Duc 848) 28. Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 29. Gary Cain (Yam YZF-R6) 30. Jamie Hall (Kaw ZX-6R) 31. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, -1 lap, DNF, crash 32. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, -1 lap, DNF, crash 33. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, -1 lap, DNF, retired 34. Rhiannon Lucente (Yam YZF-R6), -3 laps, DNF 35. Roberto Vargas (Kaw ZX-6R), -6 laps, DNF 36. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR600RR), Dunlop, disqualified* 37. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, disqualified* * failed to report to post-race weigh-in Thunderbike: 1. Nate Kern (BMW R 1200 S), Pirelli, 8 laps 2. Richard Cooper (BMW R 1200 S), Pirelli 3. Dave Estok (Buell XB12R), Pirelli 4. Walt Sipp (Buell XB12R) 5. Gus Holcomb (Duc PS1000) 6. Dan Bilansky (Buell XB12R), Pirelli 7. Jason Edmonds (Bim DB5) 8. Aaron Holcomb (Buell XB12R) 9. Paul James (Buell XB12R) 10. Joseph Rozynski, III (Buell XB12R) 11. Sam Rozynski (Buell XB12R) 12. Eric Menetrier (Duc 1000) 13. Joel Spalding (Buell XB12R) 14. Robert Johnson (Buell XB12R) 15. Jeff Gochenour (Buell XB12R) 16. Christopher Sullivan (Duc 1000) 17. Duane Desouza 18. Carl Reid, Jr. (Buell XB12R) 19. Gino Angella (Duc 1200) 20. Geoffrey Gilmore (Hon CBR600) 21. Nathaniel Mendell (Duc 1000) 22. James Delk, Jr. (Buell XB12R) 23. Aaron Stein (Hon CBR600) 24. Rob Buroker (Duc 748), -4 laps, DNF 25. Joe Delaney (Duc 748), -5 laps, DNF 26. Christopher Boy (Duc 748), disqualified* *over maximum allowable horsepower Factory Pro Sportbike: 1. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R600), Pirelli, 10 laps 2. Barrett Long (Duc 848), Dunlop 3. Jeff Wood (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 4. Taylor Knapp (Kaw ZX-6R), Pirelli 5. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 6. Garrett Carter (Suz GSX-R600), Dunlop 7. Nicky Moore (Kaw ZX-6R) 8. Tyler McDonald (Yam YZF-R6), Michelin 9. Scott Greenwood (Kaw ZX-6R), Dunlop 10. Payton Sassaman (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 11. Eduard Alberts (Hon CBR600RR) 12. Brett Sassaman (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop 13. Dr. Jeffrey Purk (Yam YZF-R6) 14. Andres Londono (Yam YZF-R6) 15. David Rose (Yam YZF-R6) 16. Matt Hall 17. Bob Michael (Yam YZF-R6) 18. Arnold Hastings (Duc 848) 19. Matthew Cooper (Hon CBR600RR) 20. Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 21. Dirk Sanchez (Suz GSX-R600) 22. Jamie Hall (Kaw ZX-6R) 23. Greg Bordeleau (Hon CBR600RR) 24. Zsolt Veres (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap 25. James White (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap 26. Travis McNerney (Hon CBR600RR), -1 lap 27. Benjamin Perez de Leon (Hon CBR600RR), -1 lap 28. Ryan O’Donnell (Suz GSX-R600), -2 laps 29. Greg Melka (Yam YZF-R6), -4 laps, DNF 30. R. John Deuser (Yam YZF-R6), 9 laps, DNF