Geico Suzuki’s Danny Eslick won Sunday’s twice red-flagged and shortened Daytona Sportbike race over Cameron Beaubier and Jason DiSalvo. Yamaha’s Josh Herrin battled up front for much of the race until his engine failed forcing him to retire.
At the start of the race Jason DiSalvo got out to the early lead before the race was stopped the first time due to Jake Holden and Dane Westby coming together with Holden hitting the deck. On the restart it was DiSalvo out front again only this time he had Herrin right on his tail. The Yamaha rider stayed there for much of the race until his bike started smoking.
“The bike felt good out there,” said DiSalvo. “At first we were kind of pulling away and I saw my gap grow a little bit. I didn’t really slow down the guys behind me kind of upped the pace. There were some areas on track where I struggled and Cameron and Danny were really strong. Had the race gone the distance I was starting to figure some things out. I’m really happy with third. It’s been a while since we were on the box. I’m finally starting to come back and get to full strength after my crash at Elkhart.”
Herrin’s hard luck allowed Beaubier to move into second position but it wouldn’t last for long as Eslick flew by both him and DiSalvo in a series of daring moves for the lead. A few laps later a rider crashed entering The Corkscrew which necessitated another red flag and the race was then stopped and Eslick declared the winner.
“Yeah I got off to a little bit of a rough start,” said Eslick. “Tommy [Aquino] got by me on that first lap. l didn’t want to get shuffled too far back. It just took me a few laps to get into a rhythm and hit my marks. It was pretty much a sprint race a little bit different to what we’re use to.”
Daytona Sportbike Laguna Seca Results:
1. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
3. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati)
4. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
5. Corey West (Suzuki)
6. Dane Westby (Suzuki)
7. Kevin Coghlan (Yamaha)
8. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
9. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki)
10. Tyler Odom (Honda)
11. Austin DeHaven (Yamaha)
12. Huntley Nash (Yamaha)
13. Tyler OHara (Yamaha)
14. Dalton Dimick (Yamaha)
15. Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
