Now that the Daytona Motorsports Group is no longer in control of AMA Pro Road Racing, intrigue has surrounded DMG’s home race, the Daytona 200. An event that usually kicks off the motorcycle racing season in March, the Daytona 200 has been an outlier with its early schedule, endurance format, and technical challenges.
The race always seemed forced upon the AMA schedule, and it required teams who wanted to be competitive to run different equipment and tires than what they were using for the rest of the season.
The limitations on tires ultimately meant that the Superbikes, the premier road racing class, could not compete in 200 mile race, leaving the event for the aptly named Daytona SportBike category, which was a mix of middleweight machines.
With The KRAVE Group now in charge of professional motorcycle road racing in the United States, with its MotoAmerica series, there is little desire to continue the oddity that is Daytona. That hasn’t stopped DMG though from putting on the historic event, which will have its 74th running of the Daytona 200 on March 14, 2015.
Sanctioning the next Daytona 200 is the American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA), which will keep the race restricted to 600cc equipment, despite an announcement by DMG earlier this year to return the race to a superbike class format.
While some might scuff at the ASRA’s sanctioning — as opposed to say the Daytona 200 being added to the FIM Endurance World Championship calendar — the 57-lap race will feature a $175,000 purse for the winner, which should certainly attract some big names to the event’s starting line (the winner also receives a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona).
Supporting the Daytona 200 will be a full compliment of racing from the Championship Cup Series (CCS), starting on Thursday, March 12th.
“To say that ASRA is excited to be a part of the DAYTONA 200 is an understatement,” said Kevin Elliott, President of ASRA. “There is no other motorcycle event in the United States that comes close to the prestige of the DAYTONA 200 and we’re honored to keep the tradition alive in 2015.”
As always, the Daytona 200 will take place during the Daytona Bike Week festivities, which includes other events, like AMA Supercross and AMA Flat Track racing (both DMG promoted events), and drunken biker debauchery (not DMG promoted).
Source: Daytona International Speedway
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