2024 Daytona VIP Brochure

Slicer’s Corner

Welcome to the opening round of Moto America’s 10th championship season. There was no better place to start the season than Daytona, “The World Center of Racing!” As we welcomed new teams and their riders into the paddock to begin their season-long quest to win and to eventfully achieve the coveted success of being crowned 2024 MotoAmerica Champions in their respective classes.

Daytona International Speedway has so much history. Can you imagine how things have changed over the 82 years of being at Daytona?

From Ed Kretz riding his Indian Sport Scout and taking the inaugural Daytona 200 victory on the beach to Josh Herrin Racing his Ducati Panigale V2 on the 31-degree banking to win his third Daytona 200. What has technology brought us, and what will we see in 2025?

It was a phenomenal start to the racing season for many and not so for some. A new feature in our Daytona magazine is something we will call “Duly Noted” written by our own Sean Bice! Sean, as many of us know, is an “accumulator” of statistics and “MC Stuff ” to say the least! If you’re one of those people who likes stats ,then Duly Noted is right up your alley. You can also find “Duly Noted” on motoamerica. com after each MotoAmerica round.

The Daytona 500 Club is a fitting venue to host the VIP Superfan Experience. Two days of on-and off-track experiences, I hope, provided each of you with a memorable experience. Once again, we appreciate the numerous guest speakers, with their busy racing schedules, being generous and sharing their time with us. This also goes for the riders on the grid and on the podium, to allow us to snap some long-lasting images that we will share with you in this magazine.

As always, I enjoy seeing familiar faces and meeting the interesting people who take part in our MotoAmerica VIP Superfan Experience. Thank you, again, and I hope to see you at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta or at one of our other MotoAmerica championship rounds.

Best Regards,

Ron “Slicer”Heben

200 Winner Josh Herrin. Ah the “World Center of Racing” What a weekend of racing!

The Daytona VIP Superfans enjoy the pre-grid with the likes of Bobby Fong, Hayden Gillim, Tyler Scott (polesitter), and Josh Herrin (winner of the 82nd running of the Daytona 200).

What better way to enjoy the races than to be on the podium with the 2024 Daytona 200 winners In Daytona’s Victory Lane?

Always the VIP Superfans’ favorite, Josh Hayes sported his new CSU One Cure/J4orce Racing team shirt.

The first guest speaker of the weekend was Indian Motorcycle racer Tyler O’Hara and his Crew Chief Al Ludington. Tyler and Al had a busy weekend, racing in both Mission King Of the Baggers and the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship.

Daytona polesitter and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Tyler Scott was a big hit with the VIP Superfans, and he certainly gained several new fans. Well-done, Tyler!

MotoAmerica TV commentator extraordinaire Greg White was missing his co-host Jason Pridmore, but again, he delighted the VIP Superfans with his MotoAmerica insights.

The Mission King Of The Baggers pre-grid. It sure seems that Tyler O’Hara, James Rispoli, Hayden Gillim, and Kyle Wyman are in a great frame of mind as they enjoy the little free time they had to get a snapshot with their many fans who came to see them at Daytona.

Ah, the starting line for the big guns in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, and our VIP Superfans were ready to race, too!

The Mission King Of The Baggers podium was a great result for the Harley-Davidson Factory Racing team at Daytona, with Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli taking first and third. Newcomer to the class and Australian Troy Herfoss, with his Indian Challenger, took the pole and finished second in both of his first two KOTB races. Who would have thought you’d be able to be on the podium and be handed the winner’s trophy while getting your picture taken? For the VIP Superfans, it was an epic moment!

Duly Noted Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the Daytona round

Li’l Bit Goes Back-To-Back

This past Saturday, Josh Herrin became the 13th rider in Daytona 200 history to win back-to-back Daytona 200s (Scott Russell and Danny Eslick did it twice).

Herrin joins Dick Klamfoth, Brad Andres, Roger Reiman, Kenny Roberts, and Mat Mladin with three Daytona 200 wins. Eslick has four wins, while Russell and Miguel Duhamel each have five victories.

Tyler O’Hara was one of the three KOTB riders to go 185.5 miles per hour at Daytona. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

They Were Fastest

Daytona International Speedway is a veritable crucible of velocity where aerodynamics, drafting, gravity, centrifugal force, track position, and of course, horsepower combine to produce the highest top speeds the riders and bikes will achieve at any of the 11 racetracks MotoAmerica will visit in 2024.

Here are the top speeds that were reached in each of the four race classes last week at “The World Center of Racing”:

185.5 Miles Per Hour – Mission King Of The Baggers

• James Rispoli, Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Road Glide, Race 1 - Lap 2 of 6

• Tyler O’Hara, S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger, Race 1 Lap 4 of 6

• Troy Herfoss, S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger, Race 1 Lap 6 of 6

184.3 Miles Per Hour – Daytona 200

• Richard Cooper, PHR Performance Triumph Speed Triple 765 RS, Qualifying 1 Lap 7 of 14

171.9 Miles Per Hour – Mission Super Hooligan N C

• Cody Wyman, Gator Harley/KWR/Harley-Davidson Pan America, Race 1 Lap 4 of 4

163.3 Miles Per Hour – BellissiMoto Twins Cup

• Avery Dreher, TopPro Racing Aprilia RS 660, Qualifying 1 Lap 10 of 12

They Were Quickest

Overall lap records and race lap records were set in all four classes that competed at Daytona International Speedway. Here are the stats:

Supersport:

• Richie Escalante, Qualifying 1 (Lap Record), 1:47.833 (Lap 13 of 14)

• Richie Escalante, Daytona 200 (Race Lap Record), 1:48.625 (Lap 46 of 57)

Mission King Of The Baggers:

• Troy Herfoss, Qualifying 2 (Lap Record), 1:49.987 (Lap 4 of 4)

• Troy Herfoss, Race 2 (Race Lap Record), 1:50.004 (Lap 5 of 6)

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship:

• Tyler O’Hara, Qualifying 1 (Lap Record), 1:52.781 (Lap 5 of 9)

•Cory West, Race 2 (Race Lap Record), 1:53.376 (Lap 2 of 6)

BellissiMoto Twins Cup:

• Gus Rodio, Qualifying 2 (Lap Record), 1:55.193 (Lap 10 of 13)

• Gus Rodio, Race 2 (Race Lap Record), 1:55.413 (Lap 3 of 9)

And That’s How West Has Won

Arkansan Cory West made his AMA professional road racing debut at the age of 16 in the AMA 250 Grand Prix class. Since that time, he has raced in Supersport, Superbike (he was the 2004 AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year), Superstock, Formula Xtreme, Daytona SportBike, Mission King Of The Baggers, and the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. He was also runner-up three times in the Daytona 200 (2011, 2017 and 2018).

In 2022’s Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, West was the fi rst rider to win a professional road race on the Indian FTR1200. Then, in Super Hooligan race two at Daytona International Speedway this past Saturday, West also became the fi rst rider to win a professional road race on the Harley-Davidson Pan America. Way to go, Cory.

That’s two Daytona 200 wins in a row for Josh Herrin, and a total of three for his career. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Tyler O’Hara was one of the three KOTB riders to go 185.5 miles per hour at Daytona. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

The Hurt Locker

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the riders who suffered injuries at Daytona International Speedway, including Mission Super Hooligan National Championship rider Andy DiBrino (concussion and fractured tibia/fibula), BellissiMoto Twins Cup competitors Ed Sullivan (finger) and Dominic Doyle (shoulder), and Daytona 200 pilots Tyler Scott (shoulder) and Niccolò Canepa (shoulder).

Familiar Smiles

And speaking of riders on the mend, it was great to see Supersport riders Kevin Olmedo and Sam Lochoff in attendance at Daytona International Speedway. Olmedo, who is recovering from the complications of Guillain-Barré Syndrome and Lochoff, who badly injured his ankle a couple of years ago, were both in good spirits and hopeful to resume their road racing careers at some point in the future. Good luck, Kevin and Sam.

The Why and How Of Wyman

Kyle Wyman is the winningest rider in Mission King Of The Baggers history, and by a large margin. Photo by Brian J. Nelson. The Why and How Of Wyman

Kyle Wyman continues to rack up the race wins. His double-victory achievement in Mission King Of The Baggers at Daytona International Speedway brings his class wins total to 14, which, by a large margin, continues to make him the class leader in race victories. Also, the eldest of the three Wyman brothers now has a total of 20 all-time AMA race wins, which moves him up to eighth among current MotoAmerica riders in all-time AMA race wins. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success, Kyle.

The Curse Of The High Banks

Daytona International Speedway is an iconic racetrack that brings indescribable levels of happiness and success to a lot of motorcycle road racers. Riders achieve not only race wins, but also personal bests in lap times, finishing positions, and sometimes just finishing races at the 3.51-mile facility. But, for some, Daytona can be an exceedingly cruel racetrack. Counting 2020, the year that the Daytona 200, due to COVID-19, was canceled after qualifying had been completed and the

starting grid was set, Josh Hayes has competed in 10 Daytona 200s. And yet, the all-time AMA race wins leader, who has taken the checkered flag in 88 races, has never won the Daytona 200. Hayes, who turns 49 years old next month, is not done yet. Despite the outcome, Hayes loves racing at Daytona. He’ll be back. In fact, he’ll be back in the 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship if he can find the funding to put together a full season.

Ben Gloddy has also felt like he is cursed at Daytona International Speedway. The 18-year-old New Hampshire native had failed to finish races over the past two years at Daytona due to on-track incidents that were no fault of his own. And, last year, he suffered a gruesome and debilitating injury at Daytona from which he physically recovered in fairly short fashion, but emotionally, the recovery took the better part of last summer and ultimately left him with a decision as to whether or not to continue racing. He gave it a go at the season-ending New Jersey Motorsports Park round last September, and his fourth- and fifth-place finishes encouraged him to not give up.

He returned to Daytona last week and successfully exorcised the Daytona curse. Finishing sixth and fifth, respectively, in the two BellissiMoto Twins Cup races, Gloddy, like Hayes, is now hopeful that he can find the funding to return to racing for the rest of the MotoAmerica season, in Twins Cup or in any other race class, for that matter.

Cory West is the first rider to score a road racing win on the Haley-Davidson Pan America. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Kyle Wyman is the winningest rider in Mission King Of The Baggers history, and by a large margin. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Ben Gloddy faced his Daytona Demons and vanquished them. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Special recognition also goes to our MotoAmerica Ambassadors and to Daytona for loaning us the Daytona 200 trophy. Both made for an ideal photo op!

Above: Special appreciation goes to Mission Foods Chairman of the Board Juan Gonzales and his sta for their support of MotoAmerica.

Right: Special thanks to Scott Odell for his generosity in giving a few very lucky VIP Superfans some of his unique artwork and for Kyle Wyman coming to share a few moments with us. Thanks, Kyle, and congrats!

Above: MotoAmerica VIP Superfans get in all the pictures. Here, a few were able to hang out on pit lane after the start of the 200 and get a great view of Turn 1.

Below: Other VIP Superfans were able to meet and hear about the incredible work that Roland Sands has accomplished with the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. Our MotoAmerica volunteer host Cristina Pinto came all the way from Puerto Rico, and she was just awesome. Finally, we can’t forget TJ Dunphy (who we finally managed to include in a picture) was on hand for photography, Thank you to TJ and to all our VIP Superfans!