Danny Eslick made a take-out move on Josh Herrin in Sunday’s Daytona SportBike season finale at Barber Motorsports Park. That is a fact and Eslick basically admitted as much in the post-race TV interview.
Eslick is a great personality, a wonderfully talented rider, a deserving champion and a major asset to the series, but punting fellow competitors into the weeds is about the lowest thing a racer can do and it shouldn’t be accepted by AMA Pro Racing.
Earlier this season Clinton Seller was suspended primarily for flying into a crowded turn one at warp speed at the start at Virginia International Raceway, essentially turning his Project One Yamaha into a bowling ball. A case could be made that Eslick’s take out of Herrin at Barber was even more egregious. At least with Seller it was a rider trying to gain positions and simply getting over excited and waiting too late to brake. With Eslick he had full intentions of inflicting punishment on Herrin.
Eslick tried to defend his move by saying that throughout the race Herrin was leaning on him from the outside, but from my view Herrin was simply establishing a line through a turn and wasn’t going to give it up easily. Eslick wanted the same piece of asphalt and he didn’t back off either and contact was made. To me that’s fine, that’s good hard-nosed racing, but I saw Eslick cross the line of sportsmanship by intentionally leaving his line to move over and bang on Herrin coming into a turn, not once, but twice a few laps before slamming into the side of Herrin causing Herrin to crash.
The move Eslick made was exactly the thing that got Sammy Halbert suspended in the Grand National Series. So the precedents are there with Seller and Halbert.
The season is over and nothing can be done now, but if AMA Pro Racing is to be consistent it would mean Eslick should be suspended for at least one round for next season. Doing anything else would put the sanctioning body in the position of playing favorites, or put it in danger of being viewed as having its officials intimidated by a powerful team owner. If AMA Pro Racing is going to prove to all teams in the paddock that it has integrity and fairness in its decision making, Eslick’s actions at Barber will not go unpunished.
Rider Files 
Thats the same way I saw it,Eslick intended to push Herrin off line or even hit him as he then pretty much stated in post race.
I think what Danny did was very serious and AMA should have warned both riders before hand if they didn’t as there was bad blood floating around.I’d like to see at least a two event suspension.
Danny sounds like a school yard bully (punkass) looking for a fight while some else walks away with the girl or Championship
I think the best man won the Championship while Danny rode for so called pay back,I’ll teach you,you whatever.
Herrin didn’t run a very smart race against Danny and let Danny make him a victim
I’ve been around this racing game too long and seen too many guys hurt bad or killed without someone trying to punt a fellow rider off the track.
Congrads to Martin,a deserving winning who came to race for the title
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I think someone is still upset at Danny for winning on the Buell last year. Watching all the replays it was basic racing for a championship. Josh left the door open everytime and Danny took the postion. It wasn’t like Danny t boned Josh into the grass. Plain and simple. Some of the best racing of the year.
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I think its bull that Seller (a foreigner) gets punished and made out to be a dangerous rider when all he was doing was RACING hard, which is what people come to watch and the American gets no punishment whatsoever. That’s unbelievably unfair and the AMA should be taken to task for playing favorites.
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“Some of the best racing of the year?” Whaaaaaaaat? If you define “best” as the tension that was building up lap by lap by us fans as Herrin caught up to Eslick in that race knowing that Eslick was gonna do just what he did then, maybe it was the “best” of the year but, to call that good racing is not IMHO the proper call. It seemed that Eslick wondered around the track with one goal: Keep Herrin from winning either race. Even if I have to take him out to accomplish it. Then after the 2nd race, his punkass just talked to Greg White all proud and full of himself for what he had done. I think he was aggresive because, he knew Josh wasn’t gonna stoop to that level so, he just kept on and on. Had that been Jamie Hacking that he tried ANY of that foolishness with, I bet Eslick woulda been drinking through a straw for the rest of this year. On top of being one of the best riders in the AMA in recent years, Hacking also seemed to be the type of guy who wouldn’t take that kinda treatment. Not for a milisecond. Ask Jason DiSalvo. Hopefully Herrin will grow a set (Like the AMA or DMG won’t do)and stand up to this guy next year. If they would do their job like the supposedly done with Sellers, then riders wouldn’t have to worry about being punted into orbit by other riders. Hopefully they will get a hold on this guy fast or things will get worse I’m sure. They always do with bully types. I’m sure Geico is proud to have such “Wreckless” rider riding for them. I didn’t like Eslick as a rider last year and I dang sure don’t like him after his clown show at the end of this year.
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