VANCE & HINES HARLEY-DAVIDSON SERIES
AMA HARLEY-DAVIDSON
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY
ANDREA WILSON
I
t was looking to be another
case of Steve Rapp's patented
disappearing act at the front
of the AMA Pro Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson race at Laguna
Seca. In a class that is known for
knock down, drag out bar-bang-
ing battles, Rapp's strategy is a
no-brainer: Get out front, build a
healthy gap and cross the finish
line first.
And that was all going accord-
ing to plan for the reigning Harley
champ until a jumped-start pen-
alty made the execution of those
plans null and void. And the guy
right there to capitalize on it was
Danny Eslick, who earned his
first Harley win of the season.
Over the course of the week-
end Eslick looked to be the
only one capable of challenging
Rapp. The pair both set strong
qualifying times in the first ses-
sion on Friday afternoon – with
Eslick trailing Rapp by .880 of a
second – and both opted to sit
out of Saturday's morning qualify-
ing session. Anyone with experi-
ence knows that summertime at
Laguna Seca means morning fog
and the colder, damper session
is not worth spending the money
on tires or risking the bike when
you have a solid qualifying time.
When the lights went green
on Saturday afternoon, it was
Eslick that led straight away with
Kyle Wyman and Rapp in tow.
But that start wouldn't count, as
shortly thereafter the race was
red flagged due to an incident be-
tween Josh Chisum and Dave Es-
tok in turn six. Chisum was unhurt
and able to restart the race; Estok
was transported to seek medical
evaluation, but was okay except
for some damage to his fingers.
ROUND 4/JULY 12, 2014
MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA/MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
P100
BEST LAID PLANS
DANNY ESLICK CAPITALIZES ON RAPP PENALTY
