Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127180
Daytona's premier event, the Daytona 200 by Arai, gets underway at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 12. Cycle Week '89 Daytona, here we come! Cycle Week. Bike Week. Speed Week. Camel Motorcycle' Week. Whatever you call it, it's motorcycling's annual season opener, no matter what has run before it. The annual Daytona race week is motorcycli ng's once-a-year happening. It 's racing, raci ng and more racing, but it's also good 14 times - cruisin ' on the beach or down Main Stree t a nd partyi ng for many. It's a bunch of both for most. Whatever you' re looking for , Dayton a ha s it. Old timer s wil1 te l1 yo u th at today's Daytona 200 is a mere shadow of its former self. Don't beli eve th em. Daytona is Dayton a. From the day s of th e ra ce on th e co mbi natio n beach/ road course to toda y's highspeed flin g ar ound the ova l/infield course, there's a certain magical ring in th e words " Dayto na 200." Just as the races on " The World's Most Famous Beach" had their own magic, so do the races conducted at the supers peed way. Critics refer to th e Daytona 200 of today as being no mo re th an a hyped-up dub race. While it's true that the established su pers tars of American road racing have op ted for the more lucrative world of Grand Prix racing, don't forget that the li kes of current World Champion Eddie Lawson, former World Champion Freddie Spencer and GP co nten ders like Wayne Rainey, Bubba Shobert and Kevin Sch wan tz have all sip ped ch am pagn e in the Daytona winner 's circle, Not a single one of those riders was a superstar roa d racer wh en he first turned a whee l at Daytona, and you can bet that tomorro w's su perstars will be compe ting .a t Dayton a th is year. The pr e-race favorite for this year's Daytona 200 by Arai is Yoshimura Suzuki-backed Do u g Pol en, bu t severa l insiders are touting Doug Chandler, who'll be aboard a Kawasaki after a severa l year sti nt o n H ondas. A race within a race will take p lace in the 200 as the nation 's di rt trackers will be raci ng for not only their share of the p urse but fo r a ~ u n k of .a special $20,000 pot tha t will be paid ou t to th e highest placin~ racers wh o are ran ked in th e top 20 m last year's dirt track point standings. That will see the likes of three-time G rand National Champion J ay Springsteen take to th e asphalt aft er a several year absence from the 200. Vet Steve Morehead and young Rodney Farris are among the dirt trackers who'll give Springer a run for the money, as will the previously mentioned Chandler. Daytona is much more th an th e 200 and for the first time the annual spring happening will offer attendees the opportunity of viewing an AMA Grand National Championship dirt track: race. Saturday night's (March II ) Camel Pro Series sh