Watching the Invisible Racer at Daytona--By Peter Jones

What’s the story this weekend in roadracing in the Daytona 200 on International Speedway Boulevard? Maybe it’s kids, maybe it’s a foreigner.

Is it the economy, is it the grueling P90X program necessary to be in winning form, or is it the long working hours that have resulted in Jason DiSalvo being the oldest rider on the provisional front row for the Daytona 200? He’s under 30 years old! He’s 27. The second-fastest rider, P.J. Jacobson, is only 17. Third quickest in the field is JD Beach, who’s 19 years old. And Danny Eslick, with the fourth-fastest time of all, is 24. This is the first time in years that adding up the ages of the front row’s four riders in qualifying for the Daytona 200 adds up to an age that one human being might be, and still be a living human being. But we won’t know if this holds until Friday afternoon. Bless the kids.

Here’s something cool to watch for: Bostjan Skubic. He’s a racer from Slovenia. He’s a television race commentator for MotoGP in his country. This is his 11th time competing in the Daytona 200. He’s not a kid, at 37 years old, but he seems to have super powers. He has the power of being invisible! Seriously, his best finish in the Daytona 200 is eighth, which he earned in 2008. That could have made him visible. It didn’t. Skubic is under the radar. He is undetectable by radar. He was yesterday, Thursday, hiding in the 15th fastest position in Daytona SportBike practice. That sounds lousy, and it keeps him invisible. It’s not lousy, it’s the secret of his superpowers. If one looks closely, one will notice that Skubic is within the scratch of one single second from being on the front row. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone. Today, he might become visible. Watch the timing and scoring to see if he comes into view.

This year Skubic is competing in both the SuperBike sprint race and the Daytona 200. He has competed in both in the past, but only when they were the same race. Friday will be a day worth watching at Daytona, to see if this man solidifies into view.--Peter Jones