Four Score: Herrin Wins Another Daytona 200
Written by I Dig Sports
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Josh Herrin made history on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway when he became the first rider in Daytona 200 history to win The Great American Motorcycle Race three times in a row.
It was also Herrins fourth Daytona 200 victory, putting him one win away from tying the all-time win leaders, Scott Russell and Miguel Duhamel.
Herrin won the 83rd running of the Daytona 200 by being consistently faster than his pursuers in the infield, especially late in the race. Case in point: With just six laps to go, Herrin ripped off a 1:47.879 lap on his Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V2 to seal the deal. It was a new race lap record and just .046 of a second shy of Richie Escalantes qualifying lap record from 2024.
The 57-lap race was red-flagged twice. Once when a brief rainstorm passed through the area after 24 laps, and again on the first lap of the restart when Get Fast Performances Jason Farrell crashed in turn one.
Escalantes bad Daytona luck turned around on Saturday with the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider finishing second to Herrin after running in the lead pack for the duration. When Herrin dropped the hammer, however, Escalante didnt have the pace to go with him and once the draft was broken it was game over.
Just a handful of people that just made this program happen, Herrin said. We were told by a bunch of people coming into this race that they didnt want us racing it, and we kind of just pushed through and did it. I couldnt be any more stoked, leaving here with three wins and a couple new records for the books. Get to celebrate with my family.
At the finish line, Herrin was 5.33 seconds ahead of Escalante, who had his hands full with his teammate Tyler Scott. Scott, who started the race from pole position, was also in the hunt from the get-go. His teammate beat him to the line by his teammate by a miniscule .008 of a second.
Fourth place went to Isle of Man TT lap record holder Peter Hickman, the Brit returning to Daytona with knowledge gained from last years debut. The PHR Performance Triumph team owner also led a few laps of the race. Hickmans teammate Richard Cooper also had the speed to run in the lead group, but his Triumph suffered a mechanical failure that put him out of the race.
Two-time Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch rode his TOBC Racing Triumph to fifth, one spot better than his teammate, four-time race winner Danny Eslick, who was celebrating his 20th Daytona 200.
The British Truelove brothers, Matt and Harry, finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with Matt being the last rider on the lead lap.
Isle of Man TT legend Michael Dunlop rode his Milwaukee Ducati MD Racing Panigale V2 to ninth, with Bauce BARTCON Racings Joseph LiMandri Jr. rounding out the top 10 on his Yamaha YZF-R6.