Flat Track: Sammy Halbert Ready For Daytona
Cycle News Staff | March 7, 2014
Sammy Halbert has won 12 AMA Grand National Championship races in his career and three of those have come at the Daytona Short Track. Naturally, Halbert is looking forward to the Daytona doubleheader that kicks off the 2014 AMA Grand National Championship next week in Florida.
“I’m excited to be heading back to the track that accounts for a quarter of my Grand National wins,” said Halbert. “It would be great to sweep both nights, like I did in 2011, especially after watching from the sidelines last year following knee surgery.”
Injuries plagued Halbert last year and he ended up 13th in the Grand National Championship with just one victory.
All of Halbert’s wins at Daytona have come since the track moved to the purpose-built track on the east side of Daytona International Speedway from Municipal Stadium in 2010. Nobody else has won at the track twice, let alone three times. He missed the two races there last year after undergoing off-season knee surgery.
Halbert will race Daytona aboard his Yamaha Racing/Fredericktown Yamaha/Vans Yamaha/Millennium Technologies-backed YZ450F. Halbert’s teammate for the doubleheader will be his older brother Jethro, who will be racing one of Sammy’s Yamahas with additional support from Drew Massa Transportation.
“We’re a close-knit family, so being teammates with my brother means a lot to me,” said Halbert. “Sweeping Daytona and sharing the podium with Jethro would be like a dream come true. Hopefully, we can make it happen.”
