ESLICK SCORES FIRST CAREER POLE IN DAYTONA SPORTBIKE AT MID-OHIO

Knapp Debuts 1125RR 12th in American Superbike

East Troy, Wis. (July 18, 2009) Regaining his early season form, Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO Powersports rider Danny Eslick took his first career pole position for the start of Saturday's AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike double-header race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH.

Eslick was leading the class with a 1:28.508 lap time as the clock wound down to the final two minutes of Saturday's final qualifying, which was used to set the full grid for the field after Friday's basic qualifying and Superpole were cancelled due to heavy rain in the afternoon. The red flag was caused by Eslick's GEICO/RMR teammate Michael Barnes, who hitched a ride back to the pit lane on the back of Eslick's 1125R.

"I didn't even know it was qualifying. I guess I wasn't paying attention," Eslick quipped in the post-race press conference. "I came in and the guys said 'Good job.' It's a big bonus. Now I just have to figure out how to start the race from pole. It's definitely where we need to be because it's tough to pass here. Hopefully I can make a break with a few guys and we'll settle it at the end."

Eslick credited his fast pace to improvements made during the official AMA test at Mid-Ohio in June. "We made a lot of progress when we tested here a few weeks ago, and we haven't had to change many things since we took it off the trailer," Eslick said. "This is one of those weekends where everything is just working."

In other Daytona SportBike results, Latus Motor's Taylor Knapp qualified 12th, while Barnes, who was uninjured in his qualifying crash, will start right behind him in 13th. Bartel's H-D/Higbee-racing.com's Shawn Higbee will start 16th and James Pooler will start 40th.

In American Superbike results, Taylor Knapp, riding the new Buell 1125RR in its competition debut, narrowly missed out making Friday's Superpole, finishing 11th in the basic qualifying session. In Saturday's final qualifying session, he was bumped to 12th on the grid by the Suzuki of David Anthony, and will start on the third row with a lap of1:26.810.

"Yesterday we almost had Superpole. We missed it by a couple of tenths, and the track wasn't as good this morning, but it's still a good, solid spot on the grid," Knapp said. "The bike is really handling well in the back part of the track, and really puts the power down well, so I hope I can get a good start and take advantage of that. It's definitely going to be tough keeping the 1000s behind us on the straight."

Higbee will start the American Superbike race in 19th position on his Buell 1125R.

Founded by visionary motorcycle designer and former privateer racer Erik Buell in 1983, Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel, including the 1125R superbike, 1125CR cafe racer, and air-cooled XB-series Ulysses, Firebolt, and Lightning. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, or to locate the dealer nearest you, log onto www.buell.com