Suzuki’s Danny EslickSpoiler Alert: 2015 Daytona 200 results listed belowLast year, Danny Eslick made history when he dominated the Daytona 200. The Oklahoma native earned the win from the pole, leading 44 of 57 laps. But there was more; he also provided Triumph with its first Daytona 200 victory since 1967 – the year Gary Nixon won the iconic race at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).
Yamaha’s Josh HerrinAmid the confusion of 2015’s Daytona 200 – a race that wasn’t confirmed until DIS arrived at a sanctioning agreement with American SportBike Racing Association in December – Eslick returned to the Daytona 200 grid, this time piloting the TOBC Racing Suzuki GSX-R600.Eslick’s qualifying result was decent, the 28-year-old placing his Suzuki on top of the second row in fourth. And during a race that was plagued with four red flags that caused restarts, the #69 Eslick ran up front throughout the entire 57-lap race on the 3.51-mile course.The final red flag occurred with 24 laps remaining, and it would all come down to a pitting strategy for fuel. With a huge lead over second-place rider Josh Herrin, Eslick pitted on lap 54.Eslick was able to retain the lead when re-entering the race, but Herrin’s #2 Meen Yamaha YZF-R6 closed in quickly. The former Moto2 pilot Herrin was able to take the lead at the high-banked Turns 1 and 2, and he seemed to have the advantage.But Eslick didn’t give up; he drafted the 2010 Daytona 200 Champion Herrin coming out of “NASCAR 4,” and was able to make the pass. Eslick would take the win by a mere 0.086 of a second. Taking third 3.347 seconds back was the man who earned the 2015 Daytona 200 pole after a GoFundMe.com effort to race at Daytona, Project Mayday Suzuki’s Geoff May.“It was a textbook draft-pass at Daytona, Those last couple laps were pretty crazy. I thought I was all by myself. I was able to set him up (at the end).”Herrin of Georgia also commented on the podium: “I thought I was going to be able to hold him off.”Yamaha’s Geoff MayAs for May, the 34-year-old was the only other rider capable of winning the 2015 Daytona 200, the Georgian finishing just under 3.5 seconds back. The next closest rider – Yamaha’s Bostjan Skubic – finished 30.614 seconds back. Taking fifth was yet another Yamaha pilot, Darren James, who finished over a minute behind Eslick.Out of 53 riders that entered, 40 finished the 2015 Daytona 200. The top six riders were the only ones within a lap of each other.This year’s race featured four former champions – Eslick, Herrin, Steve Rapp and John Ashmead. Rapp (Yamaha) finished 15th following a stop-and-go penalty, and Ashmead suffered a DNF due to mechanical failure on his Kawasaki ZX-6R.This was the 12th time in Daytona 200 history that a rider won back-to-back races; the most previous repeat winner was Mat Mladin in 2000-2001.In addition to Eslick, the other riders that achieved consecutive Daytona 200 wins are: Ben Campanale (1938-39); Dick Klamfoth (1951-52); Joe Leonard (1957-58); Brad Andres (1959-60); Roger Reiman (1964-65); Cal Rayborn (1968-69); Dick Mann (1971-72); Kenny Roberts (1983-84), Scott Russell (1994-95 and ’97-98) and Mladin.As for purse money, there was $175,000 up for grabs. Eslick earned $25,000; Herrin $20,000; and May $15,000. The money dwindled from there, but all top-40 riders received a share.Danny Eslick gets his third Rolex – two for previous pole positions, and one for this year’s win2015 Daytona 200 Results:1. Danny Eslick, Suzuki GSX-R600 2. Josh Herrin, Yamaha YZF-R6 3. Geoff May, Yamaha 4. Bostjan Skubic, Yamaha 5. Darren James, Yamaha 6. Sean Dwyer, Yamaha 7. Bryce Prince, Yamaha 8. Ryan Christian, Yamaha 9. Kristofer Knopf, Yamaha 10. George Letakis, Suzuki 11. Armando Ferrer, Yamaha 12. Eric Wood, Kawasaki ZX-6R 13. Bruno Silva, Yamaha 14. Alan Slaney, Triumph 675R 15. Steve Rapp, Yamaha 16. Patricia Fernandez, Yamaha 17. Fernando Silva, Yamaha 18. Chrsitian Crosslin, Suzuki 19. Eric Haugo, Yamaha 20. Eri Helmback, Kawasaki 21. Anthony Fania, Suzuki 22. Eri Pinson, Yamaha 23. Joel Lenk, Yamaha 24. Jason Farrell, Kawasaki 25. Darrin Klemens, Suzuki 26. Charlie Mavros, Yamaha 27. Christian Meekma, Triumh 28. Gino Angella, Ducati 848EVO 29. Jeff Permanian, Yamaha 30. Andrew Abel, Suzuki 31. Calvin Crosslin, Suzuki 32. Jon Foy, Yamaha 33. Russ Intravartolo, Yamaha 34. Daniel Spaulding, Yamaha 35. Stuart Harper, Yamaha 36. Ryan Jones, Honda CBR600RR 37. John Blike, Kawasaki 38. Arthur Aznavuryan, Yamaha 39. Tony Stomiolo, Kawasaki 40. Dustin Apgar, YamahaDNFs: Stefano Mesa, Seth Starnes, Norman Pomerleau, David Sadowski, Carl Soltisz, Josh Gallusser, Stephen Wilkins, Jamie Patterson, Barrett Long, John Ashmead, Scott Stall, Xavier Zayat, Charlie LongThe Daytona 200 has its own, tradition-rich legacy that has run parallel to the DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The event is America’s most historic motorcycle race, dating to 1937 when Ed Kretz Sr. rode an Indian motorcycle to victory on a 4.2-mile shoreline course that utilized both the beach and State Road A1A in Daytona Beach; the race moved to the speedway in 1961, two years after the facility opened.
