Danny Eslick (1) won his first Daytona SportBike race of the 2010 season during Race 2 at Infineon.
The Daytona SportBike class once again provided the most action-packed racing of the weekend, as multiple riders battled at the front of the 33-rider field, with RMR Geico’s Danny Eslick taking on
Ducati-mounted Steve Rapp and Graves
Yamaha’s Josh Herrin for almost the entire 22-lap, two-part final. Eslick would eventually stand atop the podium, his first Daytona SportBike win of the season.
The race was marred by an unusually high number of crashes, one of them brining out a red flag on lap 6. The stoppage was caused when Michael Beck and Russ Wikle tangled and went down in Turn 5. Just prior to that Race 1-winner Martin Cardenas fell in Turn 9 after making contact with another rider.
After the restart it was Eslick leading the way from Bobby Fong, Herrin, Cory West and pole sitter Tommy Aquino. Herrin would quickly move into second position, while Rapp made fast work of several riders to move into third on lap 11.
The top-eight remained in a nose-to-tail string for a couple laps, with Eslick, Herrin and Rapp able to gain a slight advantage from the pack by Lap 13. Two laps later Clinton Sellers was able to join the lead group, only to fall on Lap 17 just as he looked set to challenge for a podium position.
Josh Herrin was quickly able to move into second place during Race 2 and stay there despite the chaos around him.
Rapp would then take the lead from Eslick on Lap 18, gapping the Oklahoma native slightly over the next two laps as the Californian gained an advantage in traffic. But Rapp’s time at the front would be short lived as the Latus Motorsports Ducati rider crashed out of the lead with a lap and a half remaining. This then handed the win to Eslick, his career first on a
Suzuki, bumping Herrin up to second and Dane Westby into the final podium position.
Pole sitter Tommy Aquino would end up finishing right off Westby’s back tire in fourth position, with West equally close in fifth. Fong would end up sixth on his DNA/Shred Stix Ducati, while Vesrah Suzuki’s Chris Fillmore ended up seventh and young P.J. Jacobson eighth. Eli Edwards finished ninth with Tyler Odem rounding out the top-10 on his Erion Honda.
Daytona SportBike Infineon Race 2 Results
Yamaha's Dane Westby was able to finish third on Sunday when Steve Rapp's crash bumped him into the final podium spot.
1. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
3. Dane Westby (Yamaha)
4. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
5. Cory West (Suzuki)
6. Bobby Fong (Ducati)
7. Chris Fillmore (Suzuki)
8. P.J. Jacobson (Suzuki)
9. Eli Edwards (Yamaha)
10. Tyler Odem (Honda)
11. Steve Bonsey (Yamaha)
12. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki)
13. Brian Pinkstaff (Kawasaki)
14. Craig Mason (Yamaha)
15. Melissa Paris (Yamaha)
