REIGNING CHAMP ESLICK CLOSES ON POINTS LEAD AT LAGUNA SECA

GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki's Danny Eslick closed to within a single point of the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship lead at Laguna Seca on Sunday.

Racing in front of a massive crowd that descended on the famed venue for the combined MotoGP/AMA Pro event, the defending class champion once again battled at the front of the pack. Getting away strongly from the second row after qualifying sixth quick aboard his GSX-R600 at 1:28.166, Danny swiftly moved into second position and fought off a hungry pack of SportBike challengers for the opening three laps.

However, the Oklahoman found himself shuffled back in the multi-rider pack a short while later. He pushed hard while avoiding taking any unnecessary risks, given his hard-earned championship position.

Eslick, sponsored by GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil, settled into sixth place and then gained a position when the title leader temporary ran off course and re-entered the fray behind him. Danny kept him at bay to the checkered flag, vitally gaining a net championship point with his fifth-place result and narrowing the gap to just a single point, 264-263.

The result was the eleventh top five finish in twelve races of Eslick's remarkably consistent championship campaign. After the race, he said, "I got a good start, but it was a little bit different out there--we'd only been on track once in those kind of conditions.

"I got into second and there were a few of us up there at the front. Someone stuck a wheel in on me and the little lead freight train went by me. I just tried to hang in there at the tail end of it and see how it was going to play out, but I just didn't have anything for them today. We were chasing the front-end around a little bit. We just flat-out got beat this weekend but in terms of the big picture we ended up doing all right. I picked up one point in the championship and now it's only separated by one point. It's a really tight championship with three rounds to go.

With only 12 points separating the top three in the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike title standings, Eslick is anticipating a thrilling conclusion to the season.

"We've had some really good races and with the three of us there's no telling what's going to happen. It's going to be a real knock down, drag out fight."

GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki will head to Round 8 of 10 at Virginia International Raceway on August 13-15.

GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki is sponsored by GEICO Powersports, Lucas Oil, Suzuki, Millennium Technologies, Vortex Sprockets, EBC Brakes, and Pilot.