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Josh Herrin waited 13 years to win his second Daytona 200 last year, but he only had to wait 364 days to win his third on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Herrin became the sixth three-time winner of the Daytona 200 with the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati rider joining Dick Klamfoth, Brad Andres, Roger Reiman, Kenny Roberts, and Mat Mladin as those with a trio of victories.
The 82nd running of the Daytona 200 featured the drama and luck, both good and bad, that is a mainstay of a 200-mile race that features two pit stops and 57 laps. This year’s bad luck award goes to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, who spent most of the afternoon trying to chase down Herrin and had second place in the bag until running out of gas on the final lap. Fortunately, Escalante at least managed to coast to the finish line, but he lost three positions in the process and crossed the line a heart-breaking fifth.
For all practical purposes the race was won during the first of two pit stops on the 17th lap when Herrin and Escalante pitted for fuel and tires at the same time. While Herrin’s stop was lightning-fast, Escalante’s was the opposite. When they both rejoined the race, they were no longer close and once the pit stops cycled through, Herrin was in a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
Escalante didn’t give up and he got to within five seconds of Herrin after the second pit stop, but he would run out of laps in his pursuit and then he simply ran out of gas. His misfortune moved his teammate and pole sitter Tyler Scott to second, 45.660 seconds behind Herrin. It also propelled Vesrah Racing’s Hayden Gillim to third, for his first career Daytona 200 podium in his third attempt. It was also 18-year-old Scott’s first podium in the “Great American Motorcycle Race.”
The final rider to pass a coasting Escalante was Wrench Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong, one of those who took a turn at the front of the pack early in the 200. Fong also incurred a three-second pit-lane violation penalty. Things got worse for Fong post-race when he was DQ’d for having a fuel tank that was over the 50-liter limit.
As a result, Fong’s DQ moved Escalante up to fourth.
YART’s Karel Hanika and his teammate Marvin Fritz were fifth and sixth, respectively, with the Czech and the German finishing some 11 seconds apart as they led the large international contingent in their first-ever 200s.
Two-time Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch was seventh on the third Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki with the New Jerseyan just .115 of a second behind Fritz.
Boulder Motor Sports’ Stefano Mesa rode the team’s Ducati Panigale V2 to eighth with Team BATTLAX’s three-time Canadian Superbike Champion Ben Young ninth and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs rounding out the top 10.
Forty riders finished the race with 17 failing to do so. Notables amongst those DNFs included Peter Hickman, Josh Hayes, David Anthony, Richard Cooper, and Xavi Forés, with the Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R6 expiring on the opening lap.
82nd Daytona 200
Photo courtesy MotoAmerica by Brian J. Nelson
