Honda rider Kurtis Roberts feels he could have won the 2002 Daytona 200, but a bad tire put him off the track, in the pits, and out of contention. He eventually finished sixth.

"I don't know what I am gonna have to do here (at Daytona) because when I lead all those laps, it was to slow the pace down. Nicky and I could have done low 50s all day long like we were, but could the tires last? I didn't think so."

According to Kurtis, it was a structural problem with the tire and not a case of too much throttle. He explains: "I was in the lead purposefully to slow the pace down. Unfortunately, we had a tire malfunction of some sort. It wasn't an overheating problem. I wasn't sliding the bike much, any more than anyone else."

"It wasn't a blister because a blister you can feel early," Roberts said. "It just came apart. I was tucked in and the next thing I had to sit up because (the bike) was about to come around."

Before the tire lost a significant portion of its tread, Kurtis felt his strategy was working. One move that grew criticism from Nicky Hayden was Kurtis's wicked turn one pace early in the race.

"I was trying to keep a (reasonable) pace to the first tire stop and then let my guys tell me over the radio how my tires looked," Roberts said, "and if we could go faster or just keep it there."

Roberts felt that there was nothing he could have done to avoid the tire disaster. "Maybe switched tires with one of my teammates when they weren't looking," he said.