Steve Rapp On Harley Pole At Daytona
Paul Carruthers | March 14, 2014
Photography by Larry Lawrence
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MARCH 14 – As third-fastest qualifier Kyle Wyman said, there may not be a less fruitful ordeal than Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series qualifying at Daytona International Speedway.
“Qualifying just means so little here at Daytona when it comes to the Harley-Davidson race,” team owner/racer Wyman said. “Just trying to get comfortable, not break anything, not throw anything down the road. If we just showed up here and lined them up, I’d be just as happy. The Harleys here at Daytona have been good to me for the past three years and hopefully I can redeem myself after last year getting second after two wins and get another win. Getting second after winning it two years in a row was kind of a bear.”
The final qualifying session was led by Harley-Davidson Champion Steve Rapp on the Suburban Motors entry. Rapp improved his lap times today to post a 2:04.556 to beat out his teammate Ben Carlson. Wyman was third on his self-owned KWR/Millennium Technologies XR1200. Tyler O’Hara qualified fourth for this afternoon’s final, which promises to be a drafting war to the finish as is the norm in the Harley class at Daytona.
“It was cold this morning when I went out in SportBike and I didn’t think I was going to be able to go faster than yesterday,” Rapp said. “So I was a little bummed out because I knew I probably wouldn’t get another shot at getting the pole, but it warmed up pretty quick between the end of SportBike and toward the XR session and it felt a lot better. I just went out by myself for a lot of the session. I noticed a group in front of me and I gained a second or so a lap. On the last lap that I did my best lap on, I caught them in the perfect spot coming out of the chicane and caught the draft. It was just luck really. It worked out pretty good.”
Harley-Davidson Final Qualifying
Daytona International Speedway
Results: Friday, March 14, 2014
1. Steve Rapp 2:04.556
2. Ben Carlson 2:05.046
3. Kyle Wyman 2:05.404
4. Tyler O’Hara 2:05.811
5. Gage McAllister 2:05.993
6. David Estok 2:06.458
7. Nick Hansen 2:06.538
8. Shane Narbonne 2:06.821
9. Danny Eslick 2:06.922
10. Michael Barnes 2:07.054
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America’s Daily Motorcycle News Source.
