Considering the level of investment in equipment, there are some pretty fast lap times turned. That being said, other than endurance races, no other bike event offers the distance that requires tire changes and refueling, and like a Nascar race, winning sometimes has little to do with being fastest if your equipment or team fails you. If you've ever noticed how spent GP and Superbike racers are at the end of a 75-mile flog at max speed and effort, check out the riders after 200 miles.
This will be my friend Arthur Kowitz's last Daytona 200, having raced against the likes of Freddie Spencer, Eddie Lawson et al back in the day (Arthur won the '73 Pocono AMA Superbike race). I will be on the team again.
Not only is it regrettable the 200 is no longer a Grand Prix, it's shameful that 99% of the people who attend Bike Week never step foot inside the Speedway. This was always an issue and is even more pathetic than ever now. The Main St. Trailer Queen parade is the same boring shit every year (check the youtube videos if your stomach is strong). The 200 is the last vestige of what used to be a fantastic week not only at the track, but on the street as well. It will be missed.
And the Daytona TT AFT race, which was panned in it's inaugural '17 event due to the hairpin turns at each end should be much better this year with the track now encroaching onto pit road to eliminate the hairpins and substitute 40-foot radius banked turns.
