Eslick, the reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike champion and current points leader, dominated the time sheets all weekend, but had his hands full during the back-and-forth 10-lap race, nipping Holden at the line to take a narrow 0.055-second margin of victory with a last lap drafting pass at the finish line.

“It’s a super fun bike to ride, and I had a really fun race with Jake,” Eslick said. “He was struggling in a few spots to get it turned and on the last lap he missed a shift and hit the limiter. That killed his drive and kinda handed me the win. But I’d been practicing drafting him to the line on a few laps so I think I had it figured out anyway.”

The battle for the third step on the podium was equally thrilling, with brothers Kyle (Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing /RMR) and Travis Wyman (Harv’s Harley-Davidson Racing) battling with Jones Brothers Racing’s Eric Stump. The trio put on an impressive battle, with Stump eventually prevailing over Kyle Wyman by a mere 0.025-second gap. Travis Wyman finished fifth, followed by Shawn Conrad (WFOracingonline.com/Spyke’s Harley-Davidson), Joseph Rozynski (Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR), Aaron Frank (HOG Magazine/Vance & Hines), and John Ashmead (Brady-Schwemmer Racing).

Sunday’s race finished late in the afternoon after a four-hour delay caused by two separate red flag incidents, the first of which was caused by a loose oil filter on Kyle Wyman’s bike that resulted in he and another rider crashing in Turn five on the third lap of the race. During the restart, James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing rider Paul James got tangled with another bike just past the start/finish line, causing a second red flag. James returned to the track after a medical check, but was unable to join the final restart.