Josh Herrin Fined and Suspended for Daytona 200

[MikeN02]

DMG: Herrin Suspended For One Event, Team Fined For Daytona Actions
Monday, March 21, 2011

This just in:

AMA Pro Racing Announces Details of Assessed
Penalties and Fine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (March 21, 2011) - AMA Pro Racing announced today that penalties and an accompanying fine have been assessed against Josh Herrin and Graves Motorsports, respectively, as the result of actions during the March 12 Daytona 200, specifically those related to the rider's last-lap approach to start/finish. As per the AMA Pro Road Racing 2011 Rule Book, rules A1.1, A2.1, A2.3.p, and A2.3.u, the details of the penalties and fine are as follows:


Rider penalty: One-event suspension, to be applied at Infineon Raceway Round 2, May 13-15

Rider penalty: Season-long probation, in effect through December 31, 2011, the violation of which shall result in further and more-serious penalties

Team penalty: $7,500 fine, the entire proceeds of which will be applied to the purchase of additional Airfence

Both rider and team were notified of the above details in advance of this release, and the penalties do not prevent them from taking part in the May 2-3 official AMA Pro test at Miller Motorsports Park.

AMA Pro Racing thanks all involved parties for their patience. A copy of the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing rulebook can be downloaded at http://amaproracing.com/assets/AMAPr...1-Rulebook.pdf

Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin suspended for Infineon, put on probation by AMA - Sport Rider Magazine

Video for those who don't know:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYax09u5Bdk&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - 2011 Daytona 200 Last Lap[/ame]

My opinion that you don't care about:
That's just stupid, accidents happen especially at the last lap where everyone is fighting for positions. When you're riding so close like that with elbows out an accident is sure to happen.

 

[JonKerr]

Yeah that's bullshit IMO. That's racing. Personally, I don't think they should be racing bikes on that track period. At least for the 1000cc bikes they've taken them off some of the banking and slowed them down a bit. The 600's should also be off the banks. This crash was a product of the track, not anything Josh did.

 

[Spunky99]

Am I seeing things?
I saw a bike sideswipe another bike 2 times. The second time the guy that was sideswiped took out another bike. This is motorcycles, not NASCAR....
You don't crash another rider on purpose.

Which bike got the fine? The one that did the sideswipe?

 

[MikeN02]

Am I seeing things?
I saw a bike sideswipe another bike 2 times. The second time the guy that was sideswiped took out another bike. This is motorcycles, not NASCAR....
You don't crash another rider on purpose.

Which bike got the fine? The one that did the sideswipe?

Yeah the one that first hit the guy. Josh Herrin in Team Yamaha Blue R6.

There's a rider, then Josh, then josh hits wesby and wesby wipes out taking another rider along with him.

Josh bumped his elbow with wesby's hand I assume causing him to hit his front brake thus wiping out.

 

[Spunky99]

Yeah the one that first hit the guy. Josh Herrin in Team Yamaha Blue R6.

There's a rider, then Josh, then josh hits wesby and wesby wipes out taking another rider along with him.

Josh bumped his elbow with wesby's hand I assume causing him to hit his front brake thus wiping out.

Then I agree with the fine and suspension and if the other rider was hurt, compensation.
If you intentionally crash another rider in a race and they die, is it murder?

Things like this make my blood boil........

The guys that passed me up in the last race did so in such a way as to do it cleanly and not cause me any anxiety although they did so both inside and outside the line...LOL I'm used to motocross where there is lots of contact so being that close is nothing to me. Crashing into me on purpose on a street course at close to 200 mph is a very different.....

 

[JSP]

Hmmm... lookin at the video full screen, you see Josh swerve towards him twice until he folds it under him. Looked intentional to me. But I dont know 100% what was going on, just my opinion.

 

[DragonBlu]

You might get away with it once,but go back in for a second shot and it's going to confirm the intension. Not a good move on his part.

 

[SAFE-T]

Eric Bostrom wasn't too impressed with him...

Soup :: Demolition Daytona: EBoz Gets T-Boned By Ghost-Bike :: 03-12-2011

 

[JonKerr]

Bos is talking about someone else in the superbike class. I can't remember who it was that took him out but it's a totally different class and incident. Herrin is in the Daytona Sportbike class. If you watched the whole race, you would have seen that those bikes are so unstable on that track at that speed, the they were weaving side to side like that every lap. ALL of them were. I still think that was just a racing incident that happened at a speed on a track that those bike just don't belong on. And yes, the issue was that Herrin's elbow hit the front brake of the other bike and locked up the front at 160+mph.

 

[Sage]

I agree with Jon, I don't think it was intentional, but those bikes were all over the place and it escaladed into a dangerous situation with so many bikes so close together on what seemed like a track that kept them unstable from the footage of many of them weaving throughout the video. I don't think he deserves the fine, but it may make him an example to help prevent something like this from happening again.

 

[Detrich]

Is westby and the other rider ok? That crash looked nasty

 

[DragonBlu]

They said minor injuries,bumps and bruises. They walked away.

 

[Detrich]

i watched the video again very closely... and, it's only shot from the front. so, we would need some side view camera footage to really know to what extent Herrin "pushed" Westby into the rider behind Westby on the yellow bike...

Herrin definitely moves to the left repeatedly in a pressuring way- ie squeezing Westby over. but, looking at the footage from the front, the guy on the yellow bike behind Westby was also clearly drafting off him. so, when Westby slows down for that split second, the guy behind him totally clips his rear wheel sending both of them to the ground.

what's really amazing is the control and calm the rider on the white bike behind the yellow guy is as the crash is literally exploding right in front of him. and, he navigates thru completely unscathed...

in a race, all riders put themselves in obviously dangerous positions- ie tailgating/ drafting, squeezing in tight spots etc etc. so, it's true that that is part of the sport.

but, imo, the fine is more of a method of deterring and discouraging outright dangerous behavior or movements that could "potentially" result in a crash... in all fairness, the accident most likely was because the guy on the yellow bike behind Westby was following too close. but, it was Herrin's movement that created the circumstances that forced Westby to slow down and jerk to the left, upon which the accident then occurred like a chain reaction of bad events...

so, i think the fine is more an admonishment to all the riders to not do that kinda shit. good to know none of them were seriously hurt.

 

[JonKerr]

One thing to remember is that in the draft, you can get some very strange turbulence too. Ever go by a car and feel a side draft where you kind of get pulled toward the car then suddenly shoved out away from it? Imagine that at 165mph with 4 other bikes around you feeling the exact same thing. That's why I think they need to get off that track. A 350lb motorcycle is going to, and does, wander all over the place when you get 4 and 5 wide throwing all kinds of unstable air all over the place at those speeds. It's just not worth it to me.

Then again, as a former major NASCAR fan, crew member, and now a very casual fan, I have always hated the big super speedways even for cars. Daytona, Talledaga, California (which I've been to for 3 Cup races) etc... The races are boring, they're about 450 miles too long, i.e. IF anything is going to happen actually produce a tight race it usually happens in the last 20 laps, and always cause more carnage and pose a much greater threat to the safety of the drivers than they're worth IMO.