Watching Danny Eslick on TV tonight make that pass on Tommy Aquino at Topeka made me think of Dale Quarterley. Aquino spun up his Yamaha just a bit coming out of the Topeka esses and lost his drive coming to the next turn. Eslick saw just a few inches of space and, without hesitation, shot up inside to take over the position.
Dale Quarterley was the king of taking a mile if one of his competitors gave an inch. (Larry Lawrence photo)
That’s exactly what Quarterley used to do back in the day. Once he famously stuffed up on the inside of Honda Superbike star Fred Merkel on the last turn at Loudon and made a pass so popular they made t-shirts from the photo.
It has to be incredibly intimidating to have a rider like Eslick behind you. If you make one mistake, or take a slightly wide entry line into a turn, you can expect the big No. 9 Buell to rub up against you with Eslick prying away your position.
He’s an exciting rider to watch.
Danny Eslick at Mid-Ohio a few weeks ago. (Larry Lawrence photo)
The asphalt at Topeka looked old and worn. That made for some amazing power slides out of the turns, especially Eslick using his flat track experience and sliding the powerful Geico Buell out of the big sweepers leaving long black rubber marks on the track.
Congratulation to Eslick. He won the race and took over the Daytona SportBike points lead. It was a fitting tribute to the team’s sponsor, Harley Davidson mogul dealer Bruce Rossmeyer who on Thursday died in Wyoming highway while riding with a pack of friends on his annual trip to Sturgis.
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