The Honda ace had enough of an advantage to hold onto second and started rebuilding his lead over third, but his dreams of a debut Daytona 200 podium were shattered with just five laps remaining when he pulled off the course due to a mechanical issue.

Attack Kawasaki riders Chaz Davies and Steve Rapp had problems of their own, but still managed to back up the team’s ’07 1-2 with a 2-3 in ’08. Davies lost time early while suffering vibration in the rear of his ZX-6RR and later mistook Rapp’s pitboard for his own, coming in right in front of his teammate, who was forced to slowly cruise through pitlane and then return for another slow trip into the pits on the following lap. Both men kept their cool and put in commendable rides to start their title challenges off on the box.

Another early frontrunner, Michael Barnes on a M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600, crashed heavily and was transported to the Halifax medical center.

Only three riders finished on the lead lap.

Leo Vince Ducati’s Larry Pegram picked up a fine fourth on his first competitive ride on the Ducati 848, while Colombian Martin Cardenas rounded out the top five following a lonely ride for the former Spanish Supersport champ.

Prior to the race BMW held a press conference stating they hoped to 1) finish and 2) break the top 20. It seemed overly optimistic when two BMWs went down on the opening lap, but they ultimately did much better than that. Richard Cooper and Brian Parriott finished in sixth and seventh aboard their BMW HP2 Sport machines.

Safety First Suzuki’s Bobby Fong took eighth, followed by Bostjan Skubic from Slovenia and Cycle News’ Steve Atlas on the Corona Honda.

The second round of the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship will take place at Barber Motorsports Park when the series travels to Alabama on April 18-20.