RMR/Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing rider Danny Eslick made it three wins in a row with a commanding victory in the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series at VIRginia International Raceway August 15, capitalizing on errors from his main rivals and continuing his domination of the class.
Eslick and RMR/Rossmeyer teammate Jake Holden challenged each other for the lead through the opening few laps of the race, with Holden making several trips off into the grass at the exit of turn one, some forced and some unforced.
“I couldn’t really get on the brakes that well into one and just kept going off the track. I was getting pissed off with myself,” Holden said after the race.
Quickly regrouping from his first trip into the grass to maintain pressure on Eslick, Holden later went off the track in nearly the same spot, this time ceding second place to Harv’s Harley-Davidson’s Travis Wyman, who held onto the spot to claim his first AMA Pro racing podium finish. It was a strong weekend for Wyman, who also finished fourth and sixth in the weekend’s Supersport class races.
Eslick took the blame for at least one of Holden’s off track excursions. “The first time I missed a gear, ran wide, and pretty much ran Jake off the track, so I’ll take credit for that one, the second time he was on his own,” Eslick said. “Then Travis was up there and I got going and put my head back down and he hung in there. I was still riding hard to the end.”
After third place starter RMR/Rossmeyer’s Kyle Wyman exited the race on the second lap with a crash between turns one and two, the battle for what was then third position waged between younger brother Travis and Doc’s Harley-Davidson’s Eric Stump, who swapped position back and forth as Stump worked the draft and made several late-braking moves on Wyman into turn one before suffering a dramatic crash in the downhill turn 7 on lap 11.
“I thought Stump was going to be there for most of the race because he kept passing me going into one,” Wyman said. “At the end Danny was messing around backing it in left and right and spraying dirt in my face all through the esses. I think he was doing it on purpose because he kept looking back at me. Eighteen laps on these seems like a long time but it was a lot of fun.”
Farther back, RMR/Rossmeyer’s Joseph Rozynski finished fourth followed by James Gang/Hoban Brothers/H-D of Appleton’s Paul James in fifth, and Matthew Heidel in sixth. Cycle World’s Mark Cernicky crashed out of fifth place on the HOG Racing entry to finish eighth.
The Vance & Hines XR1200 series returns for the fourth of five rounds at New Jersey Motorsports Park over Labor Day weekend, September 4-5.
Company Background
Harley-Davidson Motor Company produces heavyweight custom, cruiser and touring motorcycles and offers a complete line of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts, accessories, riding gear and apparel, and general merchandise. For more information, visit harley-davidson.com