Autos
2023 DAYTONA 200: Josh Herrin Claws Back from Penalty to Snatch Victory
Published
2 years agoon
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN) – Josh Herrin rallied back from the 7th position in a ten-lap restart to defeat Josh Hayes by .070 seconds in the 81st running of the DAYTONA 200, the annual single-man motorcycle endurance race.
Josh Herrin started strong and held the lead for most of the race. Two racers crashed out early, but things didn’t really get disruptive until the race got down to less than 10 laps remaining.
The most notable crash of the race was Herrin’s contact with Richie Escalante, who had been keeping up with Herrin for the majority of the race. The contact sent Escalante sliding off the track–and out of the running–with just eight laps to go. Escalante attempted to lift the bike up to get back on it, but there was no chance remaining for him to get back in the race. Seeing his chance of victory lost, he slammed his gloves to the ground as he removed them.
The call of whether the contact was an intentional push or race incident was tricky because when played back in slow motion, the collision looks incidental since Escalante had leaned in a bit too far and then just barely lifted back up at the last second while Herrin went wide in the turn as he was sometimes doing throughout the race. However, when played back in real time, it looks like Herrin intentionally went wide to knock Escalante out. The collision went under review.
Despite the brief break after Escalante’s crash, Herrin regained the lead. With five laps remaining, Teagg Hobbs crashed into Jason Waters, causing a red flag. After the red flag period, Herrin got penalized for his collision with Escalante by dropping six positions to the number seven spot. Five laps were added, making it a 10-lap race for the restart.
Ultimately, Herrin was penalized six positions to start at seventh for the restart. Herrin confessed he wasn’t sure he could make it to the end, given the amount of pain he was in, but he heard the struggling conditions of several other racers, since they couldn’t switch out tires during the red flag period, and give it all he had.
“After 15 years of trying I finally got it right,” Herrin said. “This is by far my favorite event that I ever get to race. It’s the one race a year where we really see the teamwork that goes on.”
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com
Autos
Braun’s Beastly Acura Leads Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Practice
Published
1 year agoon
July 8, 2023By
Willie David
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Autos
Garg Doubles Up, Liefooghe Gets Redemption in VP Racing Challenge Race 2 at Sebring Managing Traffic Was Key to Victory in Both Classes
Published
2 years agoon
March 12, 2023By
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Autos
PHOTOS: 2023 DAYTONA Supercross: Eli Tomac Matches Richard Petty with Historic 7th Daytona Win
Published
2 years agoon
March 4, 2023DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN) – The DAYTONA Supercross brought double the thrills for motocross fans Saturday, always showcasing races for 250SX and 450SX class dirt bikes on motocross legend Rick Carmichael’s insane course.
This year’s DAYTONA SX was bound to make history in several ways:
-The potential for 450SX legend Eli Tomac, who broke Ricky Carmichael’s DAYTONA SX winning record last year with his sixth win, to match NASCAR legend Richard Petty’s record as the only other athlete to win seven events at the Daytona International Speedway.
-The potential for any one of six rookies–Haiden Deegan, Tom Vialle, Chance Hymas, Talon Hawkins, Caden Braswell, Josiah Natzke–to get their first Daytona victory.
The 250SX Winners
In the end, this year’s 250SX saw two international winners take the podium and saw: Aussie rider Hunter Lawrence took his first DAYTONA Supercross victory Saturday, with English rider Max Anstie following in second place and Haiden Deegan, who wasn’t quite sure about his supercross career, closed out the DAYTONA Supercross 250SX podium in third place.
The 450SX Winners
Florida rain, which began during the 250SX main event, intensified when the 450SX main event race began, making it that much more chaotic. Eli Tomac fought hard and early to steal the lead from Cooper Webb, who began in the lead. The two made contact twice, the first of which saw Tomac lose his footing a little, but he was able to regain the lead. The record is meaningful to Tomac not only for the record’s sake, but his practices didn’t end well–he came out fourth. He was fine the end of the very first 450SX heat, though: he finished first, giving him a bit of a break as the others continued to compete for their spots in the main event.
Cooper Webb won second place while Chase Sexton rounded out the 450SX podium in third place.
Sexton and Justin “Bam Bam” Barcia traded hits several times throughout the race to attain or maintain dominance, but in the end, Barcia made a miscalculation close to the finish line that knocked him out of the running for top three, and Sexton quickly took his place to nab third.
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com
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