By Henny Ray Abrams
Photos ~y Gold & Goose
very rider in the field knows what
it takes to win the Daytona 200,
but only Scott Russell puts that
knowledge to good use.
The only five-time winner, and a
two-time runner-up, Russell's approach
is one of common sense, centering on
tire conservation and setting the
machine up so that it's easy to ride and
properly balanced for the transition onto
the fast sections of the 3.57-mile Daytona International Speedway. It is, of
course, much harder than it sounds, and
there's more to it than that.
What does it take to win the Daytona
200?
"That's a question Scott Russell can
answer more than anybody," veteran
Steve Crevier said. "1 don't want to go
around giving too many riders much
praise, but the boy's pretty good here."
Tne factors that go into winning are
innumerable. Here are just a few:
E
STRATEGY
16
"1 think the key is just to try to stay
cool and go out there and wait for the
last maybe 20 laps and have your race
program going on," 1996 winner Miguel
DuHamel said.
DuHamel was running at the front
with Russell last year when he crashed
in the chicane early on.
"Last year Scott (Russell) took me by
surprise, and that was the first time," he
