DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman continued his love affair with Daytona Int’l Speedway with his fourth Mission King Of The Baggers win in a row on a sunny and warm Friday in Florida.
With a new lap record from qualifying, Wyman started from pole position and showed his speed from the get-go as he stormed to a lead and was never headed in Friday’s first of two Mission King Of The Baggers races at the “World Center Of Racing.”
Wyman wasn’t completely without worry, however, as he started to feel the heat from behind as defending class champion Troy Herfoss clawed away at the 19-time race winner’s lead. But it didn’t last as Herfoss crashed his S&S/Indian Motorcycle Challenger with five laps to go in turn six, leaving Wyman to back off and cruise to a 2.6-second victory.
Herfoss, meanwhile, was able to remount to finish eighth, scoring eight points that may prove valuable in his title defense.
Wyman’s new Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing teammate Bradley Smith finished second. If you had to read that twice, you’re not alone. Even the Brit was shocked at his performance just a day after he made his first laps in fear at Daytona International Speedway.
Smith won a last-lap battle with SDI Racing’s Cameron Petersen by .42 of a second with the South African making the mistake of leading out of the chicane on the final lap. Still, Petersen was also elated to finish on the podium in his maiden Mission King Of The Baggers race.
TAB Performance Racing’s Kyle Ohnsorg was fourth, less than half a second ahead of Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin earned the first SC-Project Twins Cup victory of his young career today and, if that wasn’t impressive enough, that debut win came at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
The race was a battle to the bitter end with four riders breaking away and fighting for the duration. As is often the case at Daytona, all that really mattered was the run to the flag from the chicane, and Chapin seemed to be able to show his cards without paying the price. His Suzuki GSX-8R was fast enough that the reigning MotoAmerica Junior Cup Champion seemed to be able to get to the finish line first no matter what spot he was in on the exit to the chicane.
Chapin ended up crossing the line just .087 of a second ahead of defending class champion Alessandro Di Mario and his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660. Third place went to Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle, who was just .174 of a second behind Chapin.
The fourth rider in the lead pack was Koch Racing’s Sean Ungvarsky with the Yamaha YZF-R7-mounted Arizonan just a tick over a second behind and well clear of fifth-placed Avery Dreher on the Bad Boys Racing Suzuki GSX-8R.
“I may not have been the fastest in the infield, but I knew I had the bike underneath to get out there and get this done,” Chapin said. “Everyone else rode great. Props to Dom (Dominic Doyle), Alessandro (Di Mario) and Sean (Ungvarsky). They were all ripping, and this one feels great. I think I learned that I need to just send it a little bit harder into turn one. It seems like that was where I was really struggling, but I will try and do the same thing tomorrow.”
Saddlemen Racing Development’s Cory West showed that the weight of carrying the number-one plate wasn’t too heavy as the defending series champion held off his teammate Travis Wyman to win the opening round of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship at Daytona International Speedway.
The margin of victory was typical Daytona – .042 of a second.
Third place, some four seconds adrift, was the first of the KWR Harley-Davidsons ridden by class rookie James Rispoli, who was 2.5 seconds ahead of his teammate Cody Wyman.
Edge Racing’s Jason Waters and his Triumph 765RS were fifth and the first non-Harley-Davidson to cross the finish line.
Daytona Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott earned his second successive pole position for the Daytona 200 with the 19-year-old lapping Daytona International Speedway at a clip of 1:48.135 in Friday’s Time Attack that featured the fastest 12 qualifiers.
Scott turned in his quick lap on his seventh and final go-around of the 3.51-mile Daytona International Speedway and that put him ahead of three-time Daytona 200 winner Josh Herrin and his Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V2 by just .383 of a second.
TOBC Racing’s Brandon Paasch will complete the front row of the grid for Saturday’s Daytona 200 after lapping at 1:48.55 on his Triumph Street Triple 765 RS.
Row two of the grid will feature PHR Performance Triumph teammates Peter Hickman and Richard Cooper with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante joining the two Brits.
