Jake Zemke, making his debut with owner Michael Jordan, won Thursday’s AMA Pro American SuperBike round and delivered the NBA legend his first AMA Pro SuperBike win as an owner.
In a tight five-bike duel, Zemke, who has ridden for Honda for the majority of his career, took the lead for the final time coming to the white flag as he slipped past Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden. He was able to distance himself on the final lap of the 15-lap event to claim a .0238 second victory.
Zemke’s first SuperBike win at Daytona was also Suzuki’s seventh straight SuperBike triumph at Daytona. Not only was the race Zemke’s first with Michael Jordan Motorsports, but it was also his first with sponsor National Guard.
1st – Jake Zemke Speaks…
"My bike was really fast," said Zemke, who led six laps. "I’ve been riding on Hondas the last 10 years and been getting beat up by Suzukis for a few of those years. I’m real happy. The bike is obviously competitive."
"It’s great to have all these people rooting for you," Zemke said. "They’re watching on satellite over in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s really cool when you think about it. There are 360,000 National Guard members serving our country. I’m really proud to be part of that."
2nd – Tommy Hayden Speaks…
"I purposely gave Jake a little gap off there because I wanted him to pull me most of the way around there, but I just underestimated his speed," said Hayden, who took runner-up honors.
3rd – Rounding out the podium was Larry Pegram on a Ducati.
Earlier in the day, SuperSport rider Cameron Beaubier held off pole sitter Joey Pascarella to win the 35-mile SuperSport race.
The 17-year-old Beaubier worked his way around Pascarella as they were coming to the white flag. Pascarella, who led six laps of the 12-lap race, battled back only to be beat at the line by .001 seconds in a photo-finish.
Cameron Beaubler Speaks…
"Me and Joey started battling and it went into the last lap," said Beaubier. "I had no idea (I won). I thought he won at first just because he was on the inside."
Jake Gagne rallied to finish third after missing the chicane earlier in the race with J.D. Beach and Tomas Puerta rounding out the top five.
2010 Daytona Superbike Race 1 Results
1. Jake Zemke
(Suzuki)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) +0.238
3. Larry Pegram
(Ducati) +0.259
4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) +0.291
5. Blake Young
(Suzuki) +0.307
6. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) +27.398
7. Taylor
Knapp (Suzuki) +27.43
8. Shawn Higbee (Ducati) +1 lap
9. Shane
Narbonne (Suzuki) +9.078
10. Barrett Long (Ducati) +16.377
11.
Chris Clark (Yamaha) +16.427
12. Eric Haugo (Suzuki) +16.989
13.
Josh Hayes (Yamaha) +01:14.2
14. Johnny Rock Page (Suzuki)
+01:23.2
15. Eric Pinson (BMW) +01:43.2
16. Trent Gibson
(Suzuki) +01:43.3
17. Skip Salenius (Suzuki) +1 lap
18. Ben
Bostrom (Yamaha)
19. Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) +6 laps
20. Brett
McCormick (Suzuki) +10 laps
21. David Anthony (Suzuki) +14 laps
22.
Scott Jensen (Suzuki) DNF
