Miguel Duhamel won the 1991 Daytona 200 while racing as a fill-in rider for the injured Randy Renfrow.

With the news that MotoAmerica is headed to Daytona International Speedway in March of 2022 for the Daytona 200, we decided the perfect way to build excitement for the event would be to start digging through the history books and memory banks. Since Paul Carruthers is literally as old as the Speedway itself and covered almost 30 Daytona 200s as a journalist while working at Cycle News, it was a no-brainer that it would be him who would take on the task of trying to recall the good and the bad. And since we are the home of the AMA Superbike Series, we figured we’d have him start his look back with the 1985 Daytona 200 – the first of the 200s to feature Superbikes – and go from there. This week, we focus on the 1991, 1992 and 1993 Daytona 200s.

1991

Winner: Miguel Duhamel, Honda RC30

Miguel Duhamel didn’t even have plans to compete in the Daytona 200 in 1991 much less winning it. Drafted in as replacement for the injured Randy Renfrow, Duhamel made the most of the opportunity given to him by Commonwealth Honda team owner Martin Adams as he put the Camel-backed Honda out front for 32 of the 57 laps and stormed to a 10.290-second victory.

Duhamel celebrates in Victory Lane.

The Turning Point: Fast By Ferracci’s Doug Polen was the fastest of the fast all week at Daytona International Speedway, but the polesitter was out of the race on the opening lap of the 200 when his Ducati threw a chain. Polen earned pole position with his 1:53.638/112.779 mph lap on Wednesday of Bike Week and it was the first for Ducati at Daytona and the first pole position for a non-Japanese motorcycle since England’s Paul Smart put his Triumph on pole in 1971.

Newsworthy: Duhamel beat the Vance & Hines Yamahas of Jamie James and Thomas Stevens. Duhamel’s teammate Rich Arnaiz was fourth, despite riding with a broken finger and a badly battered left hand, with Muzzy Kawasaki’s Scott Russell finishing fifth.

Six riders took a turn at leading the 200, helping make the 50th running of the race one of the most exciting in recent memory. In addition to Duhamel, James, Tom Kipp, Steven and Arnaiz all led at some point in the race.

Duhamel’s winning average speed was only 93.471 mph as some 13 laps were run behind a pace car and under caution flags.

Duhamel not only won the Daytona 200, but he also came out of the 600cc Supersport race with a victory. “It feels great to win Daytona,” the 23-year-old French Canadian said. “The names that come to your head are Freddie Spencer and Kevin (Schwantz) and those guys. I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I won this race. This is the greatest feeling you can have.”

Scott Russell won his first of five Daytona 200s in 1992 on a Muzzy Kawasaki ZX-7R.

1992

Winner: Scott Russell, Kawasaki ZX-7R

The man who would go on to be known simply as “Mr. Daytona” won his first Daytona 200 in 1992, the Georgian winning a near photo finish over Fast By Ferracci’s World Superbike Champion Doug Polen. Russell won the race with a record average speed of 110.669 mph to best Polen by just .182 of a second.

The Turning Point: As has been the case in a zillion races at Daytona International Speedway, the race came down to the final lap with Russell following Polen through the chicane and setting himself up for a slingshot pass just before the finish line.

Newsworthy: As the 110.669 mph average speed shows, the pace car was never needed in the 1992 edition of the Daytona 200.

The crowd for the 51st running of the Daytona 200 was estimated to be 40,000.

Scott Russell won the ’92 Daytona 200 with a record average speed of 110.669 mph.

With Polen finishing a close second to Russell, third place went to another Georgian – Mike Smith – in what was his debut race on the Camel-backed Commonwealth Honda RC30.

“I knew coming into this race that I could win if everything went well,” Russell said. “I’m glad we put on a show for the fans and for the finish to be that close. It was pretty exciting.”

Doug Polen smashed the track record at Daytona during Wednesday’s qualifying with the Texan lapping at 1:50.388 on the 3.56-mile road course. His lap was three seconds faster than his pole setting lap from the year before. His qualifying session was cut short when he crashed the Fast By Ferracci Ducati in turn one, escaping without injury.

An 18-year-old Texan by the name of Colin Edwards won the International Lightweight (250cc) race in his Bike Week debut at Daytona. Third place went to another 18-year-old making his AMA professional debut – Kenny Roberts Jr. on the Wayne Rainey Racing Otsuka Electronics Yamaha.

Miguel Duhamel, the winner of the 1991 Daytona 200, was contesting the 500cc World Championship and didn’t compete at Daytona in 1992. Although Miguel Duhamel wasn’t racing at Daytona, his father Yvon certainly was. The elder Duhamel won the BMW-sponsored Battle of the Legends race, which was held in conjunction with the AHRMA Classics Day.

Eddie Lawson came of retirement to win the 1993 Daytona 200 on a Vance & Hines Yamaha.

1993

Winner: Eddie Lawson, Yamaha FZR750RR OW-01

Four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson came out of his brief retirement to win the 52nd running of the Daytona 200, the Californian besting 1992 Daytona 200 winner Scott Russell on the run to the flag by just .051 of a second on his Vance & Hines Yamaha FZR750RR OW-01.

The Turning Point: For the first time in Daytona 200 history, the leaders actually stopped for new tires on three occasions. As it turns out, the first four finishers all needed three sets of rear tires to go the distance at the pace they were running. When Lawson pitted for a third rear tire, it looked like the race would go to Russell as he led by 36 seconds on the 49th of 57 laps. But just when it appeared Lawson’s hopes were dashed, Russell was also forced to get a third rear tire.

Newsworthy: With Lawson barely beating Russell for the victory, third place went to Miguel Duhamel on the second Muzzy Kawasaki. Duhamel’s third place meant that all three of the riders in Victory Lane were former winners of the Daytona 200. Lawson previously won in 1986, Duhamel won in 1991 and Russell had tasted victory in 1992.

Lawson pleaded ignorance when asked what Dunlop rear tire had been fitted on their bikes in their final stops. “I don’t know,” Lawson deadpanned. “It had yellow letters on it, and it was black.”

Victory Lane in 1993 featured three former winners of the Daytona 200 – Miguel Duhamel, Eddie Lawson and Scott Russell.

The race was marred by the death of AMA road racing fixture Jimmy Adamo, who suffered his fatal crash on the sixth lap of the 200. The 36-year-old’s death was just the fourth motorcycle-racing-related fatality in Daytona International Speedway history.

Following his second-place finish in 200, Russell was slated to head to Europe to contest the 1993 World Superbike Championship.

Russell smashed Doug Polen’s one-year-old lap record at Daytona when he ripped off a 1:50.194 lap in Thursday’s qualifying session. Polen ended up qualifying second for the race while Lawson’s Yamaha blew an engine during qualifying, forcing him to start on the back row for his Twin 50 qualifier.

Website |  + posts

This Post Has 20,560 Comments

  1. https://123winbiz.com/

    I have read so many articles or reviews about the blogger lovers but this piece of writing
    is truly a nice post, keep it up.

  2. balondor88

    Hello to every one, the contents present at this website are actually remarkable for people
    knowledge, well, keep up the nice work fellows.

  3. Studiobet78 Login

    Thank you for some other fantastic article. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal
    way of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the look
    for such info.

  4. https://nohu90s.com/

    I was suggested this blog by my cousin. I’m not sure whether
    this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my problem.
    You are wonderful! Thanks!

  5. girl on top

    I was recommended this blog by means of my cousin. I’m no longer certain whether or not this post
    is written via him as nobody else know such particular about my difficulty.

    You are amazing! Thank you!

  6. מתן גיא

    I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post
    was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you are
    going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!

  7. https://uu8898.com/

    What’s up everyone, it’s my first go to see at this website, and paragraph is truly fruitful
    for me, keep up posting these articles.

  8. bowels

    Great article.

  9. godsdamn

    Howdy, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious
    if you get a lot of spam feedback? If so how do you
    prevent it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any help is
    very much appreciated.

  10. gayfuckist

    I think that is among the so much vital information for me.
    And i am glad reading your article. But want to observation on few general issues,
    The web site taste is great, the articles is in reality nice
    : D. Just right task, cheers

  11. tainted love

    Hello, its nice paragraph regarding media print, we all understand media is a impressive
    source of information.

  12. pleasure chest

    We stumbled over here by a different page
    and thought I might as well check things out.

    I like what I see so now i am following you.
    Look forward to looking over your web page again.

  13. Hello there, I do believe your blog might be having web browser compatibility problems.
    Whenever I take a look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening
    in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping issues.
    I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads up!
    Apart from that, fantastic site!

  14. pool filteranlage

    superb post.Never knew this, thanks for letting me know.

  15. Bokep

    I love it when folks come together and share opinions.
    Great blog, stick with it!

  16. situs togel online

    We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
    Your web site provided us with valuable information to work on.
    You have done a formidable job and our entire community will be
    grateful to you.

  17. mapa astral

    I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, but I by no means discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is lovely worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made good content material as you probably did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.

  18. bokep mesum indonesia

    When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment.
    Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
    Cheers!

  19. Yvonne

    I’m really loving the theme/design of your website.
    Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems?
    A few of my blog readers have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome.
    Do you have any suggestions to help fix this problem?

  20. sex lick vagina

    Excellent, what a web site it is! This website presents helpful
    facts to us, keep it up.

  21. facebook.com

    If some one needs to be updated with most recent technologies afterward he must be visit this web page and be up to date all the time.

  22. quickratey.com

    This design is spectacular! You certainly know how to keep a reader amused.
    Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.

    I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented
    it. Too cool!

  23. Tracey

    I wanted to thank you for this wonderful read!! I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it.
    I have you book-marked to look at new things you post…

  24. basket168 login

    Hey there, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, terrific blog!

  25. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website.
    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come
    here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme?
    Fantastic work!

  26. porn

    Hi there! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a
    quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading your articles.
    Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics?
    Thank you so much!

  27. If you are going for best contents like I do,
    just go to see this web site everyday for the reason that it offers feature contents, thanks

  28. https://88fck.net/

    Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest
    writing a blog article or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe
    we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to send me an e-mail.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Fantastic blog by
    the way!

  29. toto macau

    great issues altogether, you simply received a new reader.

    What would you recommend in regards to your submit that
    you simply made a few days in the past? Any sure?

  30. sydney lotto

    Loving the info on this site, you have done outstanding job on the content.

Leave a Reply