Daytona 200 Preview

Filed in archive Motorcycle , News , Shows/Events on March 15, 2007

This last weekend marked the 66th running of the Daytona 200, featuring the AMA Formula Xtreme racing series. The Daytona has a long, rich history with the first race back in 1937. It was first run on the sandy beaches in Daytona on motorcycles with no suspension.

The Daytona 200 is the longest race in AMA racing, running 68 laps on this 2.95 mile long track. The track features and extremely long, high speed run around it's steep 30 degree banking, something many riders have a hard time getting comfortable with. As the longest race of the season, it is also the only race in the AMA series that has scheduled pit stops.

One of the new rules of the Daytona 200 is the speed limit on pit lane. Previously there was no speed limit on pit lane, and racers were allowed to come in to pit lane at top speed, and exit at the same pace. As you can imagine, this kind of situation presented very dangerous situations on pit lane. The year, there will be a 50mph speed limit on pit lane at all times.

This year there will be 61 racers on the grid. That's a lot of bikes on the race track no matter how long the track is, and also for such a long race. In fact, with this many racers, for safety reasons they start in two different waves.

motorcycle manufacturers base their street line on the race bikes, and use the race bikes to promote the sales. Honda released their new CBR600RR a few weeks ago and are hoping a strong finish at the Daytona 200 to help bolster the sales of the new model of sport bike. In fact, Honda based the marketing of the CBR600RR on the results of this single race.

Honda is confident, though, with the likes of Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke. Duhamel has won 5 previous Daytona 200s, and is tied with Scott Russell. With Russell retired, a win here would give Duhamel an unprecedented 6 Daytona 200 wins. For any normal person, even 1 Daytona 200 win would be something to brag about. For the record, Scott Russell was the last rider to bring a Kawasaki the checkered flag 12 years ago.

Last year, Duhamel was well on his way to winning his 6th Daytona 200, when he had a spectacular high side after securing a nearly 20 second lead towards the end of the race. Though he tried hard to regain control of the bike, he ultimately went over the bars and lost the race. . In a pre-race interview, Duhamel reluctantly agreed that the 50mph speed limit on pit lane was better than an un-regulated pit lane, stating "as long as it's safe for racers, it's a good thing".

Duhamel seems very confident this weekend, sitting on the pole position, which he somehow managed to secure with just 17 seconds left on the clock for qualifying Second on the grid is Jason DeSalvo, followed by Jake Zemke and Josh Hayes, the current AMA Formula Xtreme champion.