2009 Daytona 200

[Nash]

If this race was any indication on how DMG is going to help racing in the US....well, we're screwed!

It was just horrible, but I couldn't stop watching that train wreck!

[SLOGY]

Yeah, the rolling start where they could not start racing until they passed start finish. That sucks for the guys in the back, by the time they hit start finish there probably 30 seconds behind.

[Mike]

I didn't watch it, but what made it so bad?

[barstoolracer]

i didnt think it was as bad as i thought it was gonna be but anyways congrats to kws for a top ten finish for davies....

[unfast1]

I didn't watch it, but what made it so bad?



From another site.

On a beautiful spring night in Florida, the largest crowd to attend a Daytona 200 in recent memory left the speedway knowing that Ben Bostrom had won the spring classic, but weren't really sure exactly how he'd pulled it off. They weren't alone. Bostrom himself was somewhat confused about the way events played out.
37 laps into the scheduled 57 lap race, Bostrom's Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes had pulled out to a 5 second lead and looked to be well on his way to erasing the bitter memory of last year's race disqualification that robbed him of his 1st 200 win.
Then, Tommy Aquino went down in the chicane as the apparent end result of a lighting snafu which had brought out the pace car. The race was subsequently red-flagged which left 70-plus racers cooling ther heels on pit road for approximately 30 minutes.
By now, readers not familiar with the 200 are probably wondering: Pace car? The Daytona 200 is an odd race, even by US standards. The distance is over 3 times as long as a typical race, necessitating multiple pit stops and when there is a mishap prompting a yellow or red flag situation, racers are supposed to gather behind the pace car, which, theoretically keeps the bikes in order. Unfortunately, theory doesn't always result in successful practice and there have been incidents in the past where racers have been denied their proper position when racing resumes.
On the restart, after a 30 minute delay, the order was Josh Hayes, Bostrom, Martin Cardenas, Jason DiSalvo and Jake Zemke. A couple of crashes and pace car deployments later, Bostrom pits, apparently losing almost a full lap in the process. Still on track, the pace car waves everybody by and they all take off at top speed. But when Bostrum comes up behind the pace car he is held until the rest of the pack catches back up.
After yet another restart, Josh Hayes eventually passes Bostrom to re-take the lead but crashes out on lap 52 of 57. Bostrom then takes the checkers over teammate Josh Herrin and M4 Emgo Suzuki's Jason Disalvo. But wait a minute, there's more confusion -- the timing tower shows that only 55 laps have elapsed. According to the AMA, there's an explanation for all that -- the timing and scoring sytem was bolloxed up and 200 miles had been run. Honest.
At least that's what this commentator thinks happened. I, like nearly everyone else at the apres-race press conference, including the podium trio, was more than a little baffled by the turns of events.
All of which was unfortunate. As I stated at the beginning of this missive, the weather was lovely, the hundreds of lights illuminating the track made for a striking tableaux, a lot of spectators had turned out and, in between the delays, there was some wonderful racing going on.
Finishing Order
1. Ben Bostrom
2. Josh Herrin
3. Jason DiSalvo
4. Jamie Hacking
5. Shawn Higbee
6. Chaz Davies
7. Dane Westby
8. Martin Cardenas
9. Leandro Mercado
10. Steve Rapp



It seemed like nobody really knew what was going on or where everybody should be.

[Mike]

Sounds like a cluster...

[mandingo]

They used a similar start to what we do in Moto GT, but they didn't know how until the riders meeting, so screw ups were inevitable. It really is a fun way of doing it. They won't always do it that way, that was only for the 200. I believe...

[the_MAC]

so does that this mean that now riders can race back onto the lead lap under a yellow flag the same way nascar does??

[Booty Freak]

Yep, my friend & I were sitting in the stands wondering how in
the world could Ben Bostrom pass the pace car under yellow
caution & race back into the lead lap ??? :shrug: I know the
red flag stop lasted at least 50 minutes before they got the
riders back onto the track. I'm still trying to figure why I only
saw like two AMA trucks selling merchandise versus at least
6 to 8 rigs selling Nascar stuff ? :shrug: I thought I was watching
a motorcycle race.

[Professor Fate]

I'm still trying to figure why I only
saw like two AMA trucks selling merchandise versus at least
6 to 8 rigs selling Nascar stuff ? :shrug: I thought I was watching
a motorcycle race.

Welcome to the suck ass South.

[Turbo storm]

Yep, my friend & I were sitting in the stands wondering how in
the world could Ben Bostrom pass the pace car under yellow
caution & race back into the lead lap ??? :shrug: I know the
red flag stop lasted at least 50 minutes before they got the
riders back onto the track. I'm still trying to figure why I only
saw like two AMA trucks selling merchandise versus at least
6 to 8 rigs selling Nascar stuff ? :shrug: I thought I was watching
a motorcycle race.



I was not thrilled about that either.

[Nash]

Just gives me all that more reason to save money and head to Europe for a MotoGP race.

[mandingo]

Guys, the changes are for the better and made for more close racing. Everyone is a on a level playing field. The compitetion was serious. Plus only Daytona will be run that way, with the exception of Moto GT. The smart ones will watch Nascar races to see how the pit stops can benifit you. Stay tuned.

Hell, I went to the Dunlop garage to get tires and so did the Jordan guys, my tire (front) came from the same stack!!
Much different than before.

[jason 41]

:confused: That shit sucked, the coverage sucked "no engine sound", the commentary sucked, it just sucked. The riders did thier best with what they had but speed and DMG have no clue what fans want. IF you want to see some good racing on TV watch the Super Cross races. The have there shit together! =D>

[black6]

yes even the PBR has better coverage.

[mandingo]

Well I didn't watch it on TV, didn't know the coverage sucked.:shrug:

[crash007]

Florida, the largest crowd to attend a Daytona 200 in recent memory

I've been to the Daytona 200 for nine years in a row now and this years crowd was the smallest I have ever seen. I saw infield stand half full. Vendors packing up early. The race was good even with the caution laps because lets not forget its a caution and we don't want to see anyone get hurt or killed. All in all it was a good race and I want what ever that person who wrote this is on. Or at least get paid a bit what he got paid to qrite this. Wait maybe that's the DMG game plan to hype up the race so next year there will be more of everything. Maybe???