Geico Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas took the AMA Pro Go Pro Daytona SportBike win at Miller Motorsports Park. Team Latus Motor’s Jason DiSalvo came in second just fractions of a second behind the Colombian rider. Yamaha Extended Service’s Cameron Beaubier rounded out the podium in third. The win marks the Suzuki rider's 22nd AMA Pro win and 50th win for Team Hammer in AMA Pro Racing.
DiSalvo held the lead for most of the race and had to fight off Beaubier for much of that time. The Yamaha rider was even able to take the lead briefly in Lap 3 and Lap 6, but was unable to hold DiSalvo from pushing back to the front. All the while Cardenas maintained pace with the two in third place. Beaubier dropped back with seven laps to go and it then became a heated contest between Cardenas and DiSalvo for the lead. The Triumph ace kept the Colombian at bay until the final lap when Cardenas closed the 0.525 second gap and passed DiSalvo in the final corner for the win. Beaubier and Ducshop Racing’s Jake Zemke fought a similarly close battle as the two riders traded third position a number of times before the finish.
"At first, I think all of us were pushing hard, but not in excess. Then Jason got up front, and he put his head down and gapped us a bit," said Cardenas. "I was planning to make my move at the hairpin but it didn't work out and I thought the race was lost then because he was very fast in the last sector. I got a very good drive, and we went side to side and I braked as hard as I could and passed him."
"That was a tough one, leading so many laps and then it coming down to the last few corners and then losing out," said DiSalvo. "I felt pretty happy with the race. I didn't leave anything on the table, and it came down to the last section. I was a little bit bummed about the lappers, and it's hard to say whether I would have been able to answer back to Martin's pass."
Beaubier rode the day with a non-race injury and showed he is able to contend with the front runners. The Yamaha rider mentioned later that he had burned up his tire in the beginning after pressing hard to pass DiSalvo and was able to keep pace later on in the race.
Cardenas remains first in overall points, now 31 points ahead of Y.E.S Graves Yamaha's Tommy Hayden. The Yamaha rider had a difficult day at Miller, finishing in ninth. DiSalvo lags behind Hayden by just one point in third place.
AMA Pro National Guard Superbike also ran on Sunday to determine the qualifying order for Monday's race. Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes took pole position from rival Blake Young of Yoshimura Racing by a mere 0.412 seconds. In addition to earning pole position, Hayes also set the fastest lap time of any AMA Pro National Guard Superbike at Miller in history at 1'49.729.
Team Amisol/Hero's Geoff May came in third and Team Hero's Danny Eslick grabbed fourth, putting the two EBR 1190RS riders in prime position to earn podiums at Miller.
2012 Daytona SportBike Miller Race Results:
1. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
2. Jason DiSalvo (Triumph)
3. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
4. Jake Zemke (Ducati)
5. Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
6. Dane Westby (Suzuki)
7. JD Beach (Yamaha)
8. Benny Solis (Yamaha)
9. Tommy Hayden (Yamaha)
10. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
11. Cory West (Suzuki)
12. Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
13. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
14. Huntley Nash (Yamaha)
15. Joey Pascarella (Suzuki)
2012 Daytona SportBike Points:1. Martin Cardenas, 144
2. Tommy Hayden, 113
3. Jason DiSalvo, 112
4. Dane Westby, 109
5. Joey Pascarella, 94
6. Jake Zemke, 93
7. Bobby Fong, 82
8. JD Beach, 79
9. Cory West, 70
10. Cameron Beaubier, 63
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