Ben Bostrom will go down in history as the rider who won the first Daytona 200 to ever be run at night, but the first Daytona 200 to be run at night will go down as a race marred by incidents, errors and controversy. Bostrom had some things work for and against him during the course of the race, but in the final sprint to the finish it was his ability alone that got him and his Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 to the checkered flag first ahead of his teammate Josh Herrin and Team M4 Suzuki’s Jason DiSalvo. For Bostrom, it was his first Daytona 200 victory. For Yamaha it was their first Daytona 200 win since 1998, when Scott “Mr. Daytona” Russell took the fifth of his record five Daytona 200 wins. For Herrin, it was his first podium finish in the Daytona 200, but for DiSalvo it was his second visit to the podium in the spring classic. The race ran into problems on lap 36 when lights in the chicane began failing to the point officials felt it was too dark to continue green-flag racing. The Safety Car was called out, but in the process of the field bunching up in the dark chicane Graves Yamaha’s Tommy Aquino was hit from behind and crashed into the track’s outside retaining wall. Aquino and his motorcycle tumbled to a halt in the middle of the racetrack, forcing the race to be completely stopped by a red flag. Aquino said he only had the wind knocked out of him, but he was taken to the medical center at the track where he was treated and released. For the restart, officials lined the competitors up behind the Safety Car on pit lane according to the lap-37 running order. After two laps behind the Safety Car, the race was restarted but for only two laps. That’s when a crash in the West Horseshoe caused another full-course caution and turned the 68th Daytona 200 into a six-lap sprint to the finish. In the final laps, Bostrom inched away. Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes crashed out of second place with four laps to go. Herrin could not close on Bostrom, but he had enough to fend off DiSalvo by 0.073-second at the finish line. Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking finished fourth on his brand new ZX-6R. Shawnhigbeeracing.com’s Shawn Higbee took fifth, his best-ever Daytona 200 finish and the best-ever finish by a Buell. Paradigm Racing’s Barrett Long was elevated to sixth after a post-race scoring protest found he had been shorted a lap during the red-flag stoppage. Chaz Davies unofficially recorded the fastest lap of the race, a 1:48.948, in the final laps while sprinting to seventh on his Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies RSV1000R. Dane Westby got eighth on his TWC Kneedraggers.com Yamaha YZF-R6. DiSalvo’s teammate Martin Cardenas got caught out by the timing of the caution and red flag periods, finishing ninth on his GSX-R600. Hacking’s teammate 17-year-old Leandro Mercado rounded out the top 10 on his ZX-6R. Markbilt Racing’s Melissa Paris finished 22nd, earning her the best-ever finish by a female in the Daytona 200. AMA Pro Racing 68th Daytona 200 by Honda/AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 6, 2009 Provisional Results (3.51-mile course, all on Dunlop tires): 1. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 55 laps 2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), -0.551 second 3. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), -0.624 4. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), -4.745 seconds 5. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -12.949 6. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R6), -14.408 7. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000R), -22.899 8. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), -23.022 9. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), -24.000 10. Leandro Mercado (Kaw ZX-6R), -25.642 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Ben Bostrom Scores First Daytona 200 by Honda Win for Team Graves Yamaha Under the Lights Thursday’s Superpole Winner Leads 1-2 Yamaha YZF-R6 Finish with Teammate Josh Herrin DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 6, 2009) – Ben Bostrom took the lead from M4 Suzuki rider Jason DiSalvo on the run through Daytona International Speedway’s tri-oval on Lap 53 and then joined young teammate Josh Herrin in scoring a one-two finish for Team Graves Yamaha Friday in the Daytona 200 by Honda AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race. Starting first on the grid on his No. 1s Yamaha YZF-R6 after winning the pole in Thursday’s single-bike Superpole qualifying, Bostrom became the first rider since Miguel Duhamel in 2005 to win America’s premier motorcycle road race from the top starting spot. He won his first career Daytona 200 victory in his fifth start and had a previous best finish of second in 2003. “I’ve tried to win this thing,” Bostrom said. “We have been on the pole here twice now and I have lost the race here by two-thousandths of a second. I know what it’s like in the heart when you take second at Daytona. It hurts. Now I know what it’s like to win.” Bostrom led from the start, lost the lead momentarily in the infield to Danny Eslick and the No. 9 Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR Buell 1125R on the opening lap, but then powered past Eslick to officially lead Lap 1. From there, Bostrom stayed in the lead pack for the entire race, frequently swapping the top spots with Eslick, Team Graves Yamaha teammates Herrin and Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha YZF-R6) and M4 Suzuki teammates DiSalvo and Martin Cardenas. “The race was really intense and under the lights it was really spectacular,” Bostrom said. “When we started out, there were several of us going tooth and nail at the front. I loved every minute of it.” Bostrom crossed the finish line .554 of a second ahead of Herrin’s similar No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 while DiSalvo finished third on his No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600. The race was slowed by two safety car periods, including the first on lap 36 due to a temporary lighting failure on the back straight. A red flag was shown a few laps later when the fourth Team Graves rider, Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Yamaha YZF-R6), went down after being hit from behind when the field jammed up while slowing behind the safety car. Aquino was examined and released from the infield medical center and the field was reformed for a single-file restart. After a few warm-up laps, racing resumed only to see the safety car return a few laps later for the downed bike of Kris Turner (No. 3 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600). The race returned to green on Lap 49 for a dash to the finish with Bostrom, Hayes, Herrin and DiSalvo at the point. DiSalvo took the lead on Lap 52 as he battled with the three Graves Yamahas. “The M4 Suzuki was running really strong up top out there,” DiSalvo said. “I think if we could have been a little bit closer and had a little bit better preparation coming into the final lap we could have made a run. We could have got the double draft and I was sitting in third thinking this was going to work out, but it wasn’t to be tonight.” After Bostrom took the lead for good, Hayes was in hot pursuit only to lose control of his Yamaha exiting the infield’s east horseshoe section. Hayes was uninjured after the tumble but will have to wait another year for his next shot at what is becoming an elusive Daytona 200 victory. He led a race high 27 laps, Bostrom led 22 laps, Cardenas – who finished eighth – was in front for four laps and DiSalvo and Herrin each led a single lap. “It was a really awesome race and really eventful and probably one of the most exciting races I have been in,” Herrin said. “For being my first 200, actually for my first race over 20 laps, I think I did really good and I am really happy with it. We got a Yamaha one-two finish and that might be the first time that has been done in the 200.” Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) and Shawn Higbee (No. 11 Higbee-Racing.com Buell 1125R) rounded out the top five to make it four different manufacturers represented in the top-five finishers. Next up for AMA Pro Road Racing is the AMA Pro Suzuki Superbike Challenge, Round 2 of 2009’s schedule at Auto Club Speedway, March 20 – 22. AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway: Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom Wins Inaugural Nighttime Running Of The Daytona 200 By Honda DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom won the inaugural nighttime running of the 68th Daytona 200 By Honda on Friday night at Daytona International Speedway. Bostrom seized the lead for the final time from M4 Suzuki rider Jason DiSalvo through the tri-oval on Lap 53 of the 57-lap event that kicked off the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike season. “I’ve tried to win this thing,” said Bostrom, who in four previous 200 starts had a best finish of second in 2003. “We’ve been on pole here. We’ve lost this race by two thousandths. I know what it’s like in the heart when you take second at Daytona. It hurts. Now I know what it’s like to win.” Bostrom delivered Yamaha’s first Daytona 200 By Honda triumph since 1998 when Scott Russell claimed his fifth and final 200 victory. In addition, Bostrom became the first rider to win the Daytona 200 By Honda from the pole since Miguel Duhamel accomplished that feat in 2005. Rounding out the podium was Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin and DiSalvo. AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT The Wisconsin Racing Team of Jeff Purk and Calvin Martinez outlasted the rest of the field to take the checkered flag on the No. 20 Ducati 848 in AMA Pro Sun Trust Moto-GT event. Purk and Martinez sealed their two-hour endurance race win with a late pit stop and a bit of help from then race leader, the No. 14 Crozier Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675 team of Mark Crozier and Phil Caudill, ran out of gas in the infield before the final lap. “We were hoping to have to not come in for that last stop but I am glad we did,” Purk said. “That definitely gave us the win but I really didn’t know I was leading at the time.” The Wisconsin Racing Team finished the Sun Trust Moto-GT with 58 completed laps and more than a 90-second margin of victory. The win also gives Martinez his 25th win at Daytona spread over multiple racing series including CCS, ASRA, and Formula USA. “We knew coming down here that if we could get to victory lane one more time on this trip we would get it done,” Martinez said. “We did it today.” J.P. Tache and local rider Paul Schwemmer riding the No. 37 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R for the Old Pros Racing team took second place while the No. 41 Liberty Waves Racing Buell 1125R team of Eric Haugo and Eric Pinson finished third. Next up at the Speedway is Saturday’s Daytona Supercross By Honda. For tickets, go online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.