Daytona 200 Winner
Herrin wins third Daytona 200, Wyman doubles up in King of the Baggers
The StaffMarch 12, 2024
Josh Herrin waited 13 years to win his second Daytona 200 last year, but he only had to wait 364 days to win his third on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Herrin became the sixth three-time winner of the Daytona 200 with the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati rider joining Dick Klamfoth, Brad Andres, Roger Reiman, Kenny Roberts, and Mat Mladin as those with a trio of victories.
Josh Herrin was dominant in winning his third Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
The 82nd running of the Daytona 200 featured drama and luck, both good and bad, which is a mainstay of a 200-mile race that features two pit stops and 57 laps. This year’s bad luck award goes to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, who spent most of the afternoon trying to chase down Herrin and had second place in the bag until running out of gas on the final lap. Fortunately, Escalante at least managed to coast to the finish line, but he lost three positions in the process and crossed the line a heart-breaking fifth.
Forty riders finished the race, with 17 failing to do so. Notables among those DNFs included Peter Hickman, Josh Hayes, David Anthony, Richard Cooper, and Xavi Forés. The Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R6 expired on the opening lap.
82nd Daytona 200 results:
1-Josh Herrin (Ducati)
2-Tyler Scott (Suzuki)
3-Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
4-Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
5-Karel Hanika (Yamaha)
6-Marvin Fritz (Yamaha)
7-Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
8-Stefano Mesa (Ducati)
9-Ben Young (Suzuki)
10-Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki)
“That was two dream pit stops,” says Herrin. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t have much faith in my team going into the race after the pit stop challenge yesterday and some of the practice we did yesterday. I was nervous. But they impressed me. I owe them an apology for doubting them, for sure. They’ve been working super hard this week to make everything as perfect as they can. That was as close to perfect as we could have gotten. I owe the entire race to those guys for doing those two amazing pit stops.”
Mission King Of The Baggers
Three of MotoAmerica’s season championships kicked off at Daytona International Speedway as an undercard to the Daytona 200, with the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship having two feature races. Baggers on the banking are a sight to see, and the fans enjoyed every lap of the race class that has become an international phenomenon.
Kyle Wyman won the Baggers race for the second straight day on Saturday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Saturday’s Daytona Bike Week-concluding Mission King Of The Baggers race two was, in many ways, a carbon copy of Friday’s KOTB race one. The podium for both races was exactly the same, with Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman getting the double win on the high banks. For Wyman, it was his 13th and 14th wins in the class and the 19th and 20th victories of his AMA/MotoAmerica racing career.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup
It seems pretty safe to say that Gus Rodio knows how to win races at Daytona International Speedway. After taking the victory in Twins Cup race one last year, the Rodio Racing Aprilia rider went one better and did the double this year, winning Friday’s BellissiMoto Twins Cup race one and finishing out his Daytona event with a win in Saturday’s race two.