The Bike Week flat track has another, even stranger configuration this year. Before I get onto that a brief history is in order. The Bike Week AMA points-paying races were held at Memorial Stadium on 11th Street for many, many years. It’s a good venue with lots of seating, parking and being a real stadium it’s perfect for flat track.
About 7 years ago (I’m too lazy to Google it) the races were moved behind Home Depot at the west end of the Daytona Speedway parking lot. It was a small track with funky stands and the first year was very slippery. Over the next few years the surface improved until it was an ok place to hold a race but the big V-twin bikes were useless on the tiny circuit.
Recently, the races have been held on a TT track that is located directly under the Supercross track on the front straight of the Speedway infield. The Super cross jumps are removed and an odd, tight cornered TT course emerges a day or two later. This track proved too point and shoot so the turns were widened a bit last year but it was still not flat track as we know it.
This year the track has been reconfigured yet again into a Superbikers type course using the paved section near the start-finish line combined with a dirt section. It goes like this: The start is on dirt and turn one is dirt, mid corner it transitions to pavement and the back stretch is paved, turn three transitions from pavement back to dirt.
It should make for some dramatic grip changes as turn two dirt spills out onto the paved section. Look for a few highsides as the rear tire hooks up onto the grippy pavement. Also chattering may be a problem as the riders dive into turn three. The track at Daytona has been an odd duck for a while now so I guess we should be used to it. The place is so strange results here will have little bearing on the rest of the season’s races held on real flat tracks.
All this weirdness may change if the promoters decide to slather some dirt on the back straight so we will have to wait and see.