Daytona Update: Danny Eslick Wins Pole For Daytona 200

Oklahoma native Danny Eslick won pole for Saturday's 73rd running of the Daytona 200 on a three-cylinder Triumph with a lap time of 1:49.292, outdistancing the Yamaha fours of fellow front-row starters Garrett Gerloff and Jake Lewis by the better part of a second. Significantly, Eslick's lap was 0.320 seconds quicker than Cameron Beaubier's pole-winning time from last year.

Describing his fast lap, the ex-Jordan Motorsports Suzuki rider said, "If you're not with a group and drafting, you're kind of hung out to dry. I rode around the first three or four laps by myself, came in, threw a tire at it, and waited for somebody to go by. I saw Gerloff and Jake Zemke, and I took off after them. I got by Zemke, then I just tucked in.

“Gerloff was a ways ahead of me; I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch him. But he got hung up by a couple groups of guys, and I got a big draft off another Triumph. Then I got a draft off Gerloff, and that made all the difference in the world. That was a pretty smokin’ lap, for sure.”

This is Eslick’s second Daytona 200 pole; he was also quickest around the Florida banking on a Buell in 2009. To hear Eslick tell it, his “other” Rolex Cosmograph Daytona has been through the mill. “I wear it all the time,” he said. “It’s beat up and looking a little rough. It will be nice to have one of these new watches.”

Eslick is the first Triumph rider since Paul Smart in 1971 to win the 200 pole. “I rode the twin back in 2009 and four-cylinders for the better half of my career. This three-cylinder is a lot of fun to ride. The way it makes power is similar to the twin. Down low, you’ve got good grunt. But as you can see by the trap speed, it has a pretty good top-end, too.”

While the Riders Discount team came together relatively late, Eslick says it’s a solid program. “I’ve got a couple championships that speak for themselves, but it takes the whole package. I’m just the squirrel holding the handlebars.”

Attack Performance's Richard Stanboli, who won back-to-back 200s in 2007 and '08 with riders Steve Rapp and Chaz Davies, is crew chief. "I worked with Richard in 2003—my first year in AMA," said Eslick. "Back then, I didn't know what I was doing. I'd just make stuff up. I must be doing something right."

Gary Nixon won Daytona on a Triumph in 1967. Eslick says his strategy for writing a new chapter in the British company's history book is simple: "Try not to fall down and lead the last lap."