DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Erion Honda rider Josh Hayes had perfect pit stops and avoided mishaps aboard his No. 1 Erion Honda on his way to winning the 67th Daytona 200 By Honda AMA Formula Xtreme Series race on Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

Rounding out the podium was Attack Kawasaki’s Chaz Davies and Steve Rapp, the 2007 Daytona 200 By Honda winner.

The margin of victory for Hayes over Davies was 32.762 seconds. He led a race-high 53 laps.

“My race just couldn’t have gone better,” said the 32-year-old Hayes of Gulfport, Miss. “I had the best team. I had the best crew. I had the best motorcycle. I definitely had the best tires.

“On the 23rd and 24th laps of my stints I was able to put down some good times to try to drive the nail in the coffin on those guys. To have two No. 1 plates,­ it’s about time we finally got one of these. I’m pretty stoked about it.”

Hayes, whose previous best result in the Daytona 200 By Honda was a second in 2006, delivered Honda its 12th Daytona 200 By Honda win.

In the opening round of the AMA Superbike championship, six-time Superbike champion Mat Mladin led all 15 laps on his way to a 3.368-second victory over his Suzuki teammate Ben Spies.

Rounding out the top five were Pegram’s Racing Larry Pegram and M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas

Mat Mladin Gets Third Win in the AMA Superbike Opening Round at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin made his way to Gatorade Victory Lane for the sixth time at Daytona International Speedway after winning his third AMA Superbike Opening Round at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, leading the entire 15-lap event.
 
“It was good fun,” Mladin said. “We got a really good start and put our head down and got out to about one second, or a bit over one second, when Ben (Spies) got there into second place. He had a little bit of a go there, so we dropped it a few more tenths and almost got down to qualifying time for a number of laps.”

The 2007 AMA Superbike Opening Round winner Ben Spies finished 3.368 seconds behind Mladin, taking second.

“The race was pretty good,” Spies said. “We didn’t get a great start and I’m pretty unhappy about that, but got pushed out a little bit. By the time we got to second, I kept my head down and kept plugging away and made one pretty good mistake of my own. Other than that, the race was good. I can’t complain.”

Rounding out the podium was Yamaha’s Jason Disalvo.

“I’m really fortunate Yamaha gave me this opportunity to come out here and ride this bike,” DiSalvo said. “The YZF-R1 was ripping today and like I said, it’s really great to see all of this hard work pay off — both the crew and myself.”

Mladin’s victory marked Suzuki’s fifth straight Superbike win in Daytona (including the 2004 Daytona 200 By Honda).

Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking finished fourth and fifth, respectively as Daytona 200 Week By Honda comes to a close.

Ticket information for October’s Fall Cycle Scene, including the 8 Hours At Daytona SunTrust MOTO-ST Series race, are available at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.