Jake Johnson Tops Daytona 2 Flat Track
Cycle News Staff | March 12, 2016
Jake Johnson concluded the two-night AMA Pro Flat Track tour at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night by winning the 25-lap Harley-Davidson GNC1 Expert Singles Main event.
Staged on the quarter-mile Daytona Flat Track located just outside the “World Center of Racing,” Johnson, riding a Honda, battled and held off second-place finisher Kenny Coolbeth Jr. by a 1.851-seconds margin. Sammy Halbert – Thursday night’s winner – finished third.
The victory was Johnson’s sixth at Daytona. Coolbeth was trying for a third consecutive Daytona victory.
“To go 1-2 with my teammate…it was nice enough for Kenny to let me have this one,” Johnson said. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. It almost feels like my first win.”
In the main GNC2 Pro Singles event, Dylan Morin, aboard a Kawasaki, got his first career AMA GNC2 Pro Singles win. Morin claimed a late lead from Justin Jones, eventually winning by .612 seconds. Rounding out the podium was Dalton Gauthier.
“I’m really pumped,” Morin said. “I can’t believe it right now. Getting up here from the last row (14th place), I can’t believe I just did that.”
Honda riders swept the GNC1 Expert Singles Heats and semifinals. Winning the heats were Briar Bauman, Coolbeth and Johnson. In the semifinals, Cory Texter and Jake Constantine brought home victories. In the GNC2 Pro Heats, Gauthier (Yamaha), Jones (Honda) and Parker Norris (Honda) were victorious. In the semifinal heats, Andrew Luker (Honda) and Morin (Kawasaki) came out on top.