SDK ON POLE FOR THE DAYTONA 200 AGAIN
Sean Dylan Kelly is now two for two, scoring his second career pole position for the fabled Daytona 200 on Friday afternoon aboard his M4 Palm Beach Police & Fire Foundation 1-833-CJKNOWS Suzuki GSX-R600 built by Team Hammer. The talented teen will contest the 79th Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.
‘SDK’ — who became the youngest ever Daytona 200 polesitter as a 16-year-old in 2019 — notched up his second consecutive pole for the historic race with a blistering lap of 1:48.896 around the unique 3.51-mile combined banked oval/road course. That time was nearly four-tenths-of-a-second stronger than any other rider in the star-studded field could muster.
Kelly’s fastest lap honor came despite his concentrated focus on his race pace and preparation ahead of the grueling 57-laps that await him in Saturday’s 79th Daytona 200.
The Floridian is highly motivated to stand atop the podium after falling just 0.213-second short of the achievement as a rookie in 2019. Checking that box would also serve as the perfect springboard ahead of what he hopes will prove to be a great season in MotoAmerica Supersport competition.
“First of all, I’m super excited about getting pole for the Daytona 200 — that’s the second one for me,” Kelly said. “It’s been something special so far this weekend. I am happy with the lap time for pole position, but the team and I have just been working on getting the best bike possible for a long race and the quick lap just came out of that. We’re looking forward to the race for sure.”
About Team Hammer
The 2021 season marks Team Hammer’s 41th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 108 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 291 times and have won nine AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
