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VOL. 53 ISSUE 43 NOVEMBER 1, 2016 P107 pits. He didn't. Russell later said that he still was confident that he could come back and win the race at that point. A multi-bike crash brought out the pace car on the third lap. During the pace car laps, Russell frantically waved at the other riders to move up and bunch up with the leaders. Several observers said they saw Russell pass clumps of riders during the caution period, but the AMA (which used transponders to track the rid- ers) said no violation was made. After the pace car pulled off, the Ducatis of Cors- er and Fogarty began to show just how strong they were. Radar had clocked both of the top Ducatis at 180 miles per hour on the tri-oval, the fastest super- bikes ever at the Speedway. The two fire engine red Ducs sprinted away from the rest of the field, which was led by Edwards, Anthony Gobert and Jamie James. Meanwhile, Russell was slicing through the field at an unbelievable rate. At first Russell passed the midpack riders like they were standing still. He then treated the other factory riders with no respect, passing them every way in the book. Corser's day came to a disappointing end when his Ducati suddenly died on the west banking while leading. Corser pounded on the tank in disgust. "The bike seemed slow then all of a sudden it went down on one cylinder," said Corser. "I gave it full- throttle to try and clear it out and it just quit." Russell made it all the way back to the lead by lap 20. All of the leaders had pitted by then, clearing the way for Russell. Russell pitted on lap 21. The crew changed the rear and fueled the bike. They quickly checked the bike for damage and Russell was back in the race in 13 seconds. After the first round of stops, it was James who emerged the leader thanks to a nine-second pit stop by the Vance & Hines crew. Russell was three seconds back in second. Then it was Gobert in third followed by Edwards and Fogarty. Russell now seemed relaxed. He gained on James but this time seemed in no hurry to take over the lead. On lap 24 he took back the lead. James stayed with Russell for a lap but then crashed in turn six. Russell was now alone in the lead. It may have been hard for his competitors to swallow, but in the course of just 25 laps, Russell had crashed, made it all the way back to the front and was now pulling away; a stellar performance. The Georgian would not relinquish the lead the rest of the day. Fogarty had a chance to perhaps close in on Russell, but he came in a lap early for his sec- ond pit stop. The Ducati crew was not ready for him and the stop took 18 seconds. Fogarty lost a precious nine seconds to Russell when compar- ing their second stops. Slow stops or not, Rus- sell would not be touched. He was consistently a second per lap faster than anyone else, including Fogarty. Up front Russell cruised home to victory a half- lap in front of Fogarty. He took the checkered flag then began his well-known cool down lap celebra- tions much to the delight of the crowd. In the post-race press conference Russell revealed that his come-from-behind win was not as easy as it looked. "It was hard work," Russell explained. "The bike was wobbling so bad on the banking, I thought, 'Oh no, what have they done to the bike since practice. What can I say? I really like Daytona and I guess Daytona likes me. It's never easy here but in the end we always seem to be able to get the job done." Fogarty was impressed by Russell's race but did not feel like it would be a factor for the upcoming World Superbike season. "It's pretty good when a guy can crash and still win the race," said Fogarty. "That's Daytona, though; anything can happen. World Superbike is so different than this type of racing, I don't think you can compare the two." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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