Cardenas takes fifth SportBike win

From AMA Pro Racing

ELKHART LAKE, WI - M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas took his fifth AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory Sunday at the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend at the 4.05-mile scenic Road America natural road course. Cardenas won with a 0.276-sec. victory over Josh Herrin on his Team Graves Yamaha with an average speed of 102.8mph over the 13-lap race.

Herrin was pleased with his weekend with first and second place finishes over the course of the double race weekend. Herrin extends his Daytona SportBike points lead to 18 over 2009 champion Danny Eslick, who took seventh Sunday on his GEICO Powersports Suzuki.

After Saturday's wet and wild Daytona SportBike race where Herrin beat Steve Rapp by 0.008 secs., Sunday's race was only somewhat calmer, as has been the case all season long in this AMA Pro Road Racing class.

Rapp, riding his Team Latus Motors Ducati, took the early lead and was quickly joined by a fast starting Bobby Fong on his DNA Energy Drink Ducati. These two Ducati riders looked to draft together to separate themselves from the 12-motorcycle lead pack. 

Herrin, P.J. Jacobson with his Celtic Racing Suzuki, Cory West on the Vesrah Suzuki, Clinton Seller on his Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha, Danny Eslick and Seller's Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha teammate Dane Westby all battled as one big lead group in the early going. Also part of this mix was Cardenas, who in his stealthy style quietly began moving to the front. 

Fong was sidelined by a stop-and-go penalty due to a pre-race procedural mishap and another front runner, Herrin's Team Graves Yamaha teammate Tommy Aquino, suffered a late race mechanical problem which dropped him out of the lead group.

By lap 4, Cardenas was in the lead and in a concerted effort on their part, it came down to just Herrin and Cardenas. Herrin commented after the race how he and Cardenas just put their heads down and worked to ride away from the rest. On the last lap, the two came across the line side by side, setting up for another photo finish. Cardenas held the lead as they went through turn 1, then turn 5, through the Hurry Downs, out of turn 8 out of the Carousal down to Canada Corner. It was here the Cardenas had what looked like quite a moment as the back of his Suzuki slid out, but he gathered it all up and rode through turn 14 and up the hill to the finish line. Herrin just wasn't close enough to draft by Cardenas and he took a solid second, extending his points lead.

After falling back due to the battling in the pack, Rapp fought back to get by West and completed another successful weekend for Team Latus Motors by taking third. Westby finished fifth with Jacobson in sixth, Eslick in seventh and Chris Fillmore had a good day to take ninth on his Vesrah Suzuki. 

Fong fought back from his early stop with a strong 10th place finish.

The AMA Pro Road Racing series now move to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 16-18.
       
Huntley Nash took his first AMA Pro Road Racing victory Sunday in the final AMA Pro SuperSport race of the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader Weekend. Nash, riding his LTD Racing Yamaha, took a hard fought win, finishing 0.200 secs. over Saturday's race winner J.D. Beach on his Rockwall Yamaha.

Rebounding from his last lap crash in Saturday's race, Nash battled with Beach and his LTD Yamaha teammate Tomas Puerta for the entire 10-lap race. Nash made his final move as he dove past Beach into the lead at Canada Corner on the last lap and held him off through the last two turns and up the long hill to the finish line.

Beach extends his East Division points lead to 139. Cameron Beaubier and Puerta are next up with 117 points and Nash is just one point back with 116.

Eslick won the first ever AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series motorcycle race at the Suzuki SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America. Eslick, riding the carefully controlled specification Harley-Davidson XR1200 entered by the Richie Morris Racing/Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing Partnership, took the win after a race long duel with teammate Jake Holden riding the second GEICO Powersports Lucas Oil Revolution Performance XR1200. Taking third was young AMA Pro SuperSport regular Eric Stump, who was riding the Jones Brothers XR1200.

Daytona SportBike Race Results (Top 20)
1. Martin Cardenas (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 13 Laps
2. Josh Herrin (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R6 +0.275
3. Steve Rapp (Team Latus Motors Racing) Ducati 848 +3.485
4. Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +6.728
5. Dane Westby (Project 1 Atlanta) Yamaha YZF-R6 +9.992
6. P. J. Jacobsen (Celtic Racing) Suzuki GSX-R600 +11.600
7. Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports ·RMR ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +20.139
8. Clinton Seller (Project 1 Atlanta) Yamaha YZF-R6 +26.154
9. Chris Fillmore (Vesrah Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +26.401
10. Bobby Fong (DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati) Ducati 848 +40.916
11. Fernando Amantini (Team Amantini) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +41.590
12. Lenny Hale (Hale Racing) Yamaha YZF-R6 +41.828
13. Michael Beck (DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati) Ducati 848 +41.938
14. Marcos Reichert (Rockwall Performance) Yamaha YZF-R6 +55.465
15. Dominic Jones (Four Feathers Racing) Yamaha YZF-R6 +58.460
16. Michael Morgan (Autolite RIM Racing) Suzuki GSX-R600 +58.521
17. Santiago Villa (RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +1:18.790
18. Melissa Paris (MPH Racing ·Inc.) Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:26.049
19. Marie-Josee Boucher (Boucher Racing) Honda CBR600RR +2:09.278
20. Sam Rozynski (Chronic Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R6 +2:24.532
Race Time: 30:42.689
Margin of Victory: 0.275
Best Race Lap: Martin Cardenas (2:20.325)

Daytona SportBike Standings (Top 20)
1. Josh Herrin 216
2. Danny Eslick 198
3. Martin Cardenas 184
4. Dane Westby 157
5. Steve Rapp 150
6. Cory West 137
7. Tommy Aquino 103
8. Clinton Seller 96
9. Chris Fillmore 92
10. Bobby Fong 76
11. P. J. Jacobsen 63
12. Fernando Amantini 63
13. Lenny Hale 54
14. Tyler Odom 36
15. Geoff May 35
16. Shawn Higbee 33
17. Michael Beck 28
18. Kris Turner 26
19. Russ Wikle 25
20. Jake Holden 24
50. Marie-Josee Boucher 3