In Sunday’s Daytona 200, a number of riders restarted the race on back-up motorcycles after their primary machines were too badly damaged or suffered mechanical problems. Notable among these were Nicky Hayden, whose Honda suffered engine problems and Larry Pegram, whose Ducati burned after he crashed it in the chicane.

The restart became controversial in the minds of certain journalists not familiar with the rule book, sparking debate and conjecture unsupported by the facts.

The governing AMA rule reads as follows: “In Superbike only, when a race is restarted following a red flag, a rider who was present at the starting grid, but was unable to start or dropped out after the start, is permitted to restart on a back-up motorcycle using the following procedure:

1. Rider must obtain permission from the Chief Steward or Race Manager.
2. Rider will be gridded on the last row of the restart grid