Steve Rapp (#15 Latus Motors Racing Ducati, third place):

Q Obviously, there was some disruption and some break in the rhythm of the evening with the accident at the beginning of the race. What does that do to your mindset as you have to stop, re-start and go through the process all over again?

A That didn't bother me at all, really. It was kind of nice to give us an extra lap to kind of get the nerves out and kind of re-start. I didn't get a very good start anyway, the first one, so I didn't mind starting over. The Ducati was awesome. George Latus is the owner of the team, and he basically formed this team last year. It was their first year. We put a crew together, some experienced guys, some new people, a good bike, a good platform to start with, and it was pretty good to be able to get on the podium.

Q Terrific job. Over the course of the evening, how do you maintain a rhythm while you're driving [sic], and knowing you have a pit stop, and encountering lapped traffic? How hard is that to maintain a rhythm?

A Oh, to be honest with you, it's not hard. This was actually easier than most years, because the field was about half of what it used to be, and there wasn't very many people out there once you got up to speed. You pretty much felt like you were riding a big long practice, in a way, because every couple laps you might pass one or two guys at the most. So it was pretty easy and non-eventful, which is good. That's good in Daytona. We had good pit stops. They weren't probably the fastest, but they didn't make any mistakes, and that's all I could ask for out of the team like that.

Q Great night. Congratulations.

Dane Westby (#2 Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha, second place):

Q Dane, your night was interesting. You guys pretty much battled quite a bit during the evening. What was it like when you two were going back and forth, back and forth, lap after lap?

A I just knew that was not for - before - well, okay. I knew it was before the last pit stop, so we were just going to draft each other through the train thing and battle it out in the last stop. He went out of the pits. I saw him going out right when I was hopping on. I was like, "Oh, there he goes. This is going to be a job." It just wasn't quite doable. I didn't want to throw anything away.

Q How much does the handling of the motorcycle change over the course of the fuel load?

A Everybody says it changes, but I didn't notice anything. I just tried to ride it.

Q Pretty good setup, I'd say.

Josh Herrin (#8 Graves Yamaha, winner):

Q Well, Josh, what a terrific victory for you, coming so close last year. It's just got to be fantastic. Over the course of the race, you two guys really set yourselves apart. But once you broke away, did you have to concentrate to a different degree? What happens when all of a sudden you're riding by yourself?

A It was kind of awesome, actually. I don't really know how to describe it. It was just peaceful, I guess. I didn't have to worry about anything. All I had to concentrate on was my downshifts. I was telling my girlfriend on the way over here, I just found myself in this weird rhythm, and I was like going into the corners counting my downshifts like three times before I even got to the corner, and I felt like a weirdo, but it was helping me just keep my pace going, and I guess it worked. I was expecting Dane to catch me, just because I was stressing so bad about dropping the bike, that I wasn't going to make it around. When I saw the pit board give me a little bit more of a gap, it was kind of a relief to be able to just relax and do my own pace and concentrate on getting to the checkered flag safe. It was a really awesome race, uneventful like Steve said. I couldn't really ask for anything more.

Q It's a terrific performance, and you should be congratulated, joining a long list of very famous names to win this race. Any questions?

QUESTIONS FROM THE MEDIA:

Q How did you separate yourself from everybody, or get away from everybody there at the end there?

HERRIN: You know, honestly, the past two months, we've been going to Van Nuys, California, to work at Graves Motorsports' shop and practice pit stops, and I honestly owe this whole race to my team. Everybody that came out and worked with us. Some guys that weren't even on our crew. There's guys from factory Yamaha, guys from Supermoto, guys from Tommy's team. It was just practice after practice, and it ended up paying off. Me and Dane came in at the exact same time. Pit lane, when we was in there, we were sitting there thinking, "Who's going to move? I'm not topping off, because I don't want to lose time." And I came out probably a second or two seconds faster than him, and that right there helped me with the entire race. Coming out the last 20 laps of the race not having to worry about somebody right next to you, it pays off big time.

Q The first lap, when seven riders went down, did that spook any of you guys at all?

HERRIN: I didn't see it all. All I saw was Cardenas go down right in front of me, and that spooked me, because I almost - I felt like I was going to hit his bike. It's kind of nice to get the restart, just like Rapp said, it just got the nerves kind of going.

WESTBY: It was pretty interesting to see Martín go down. It was like he said. It was like, "Whoa!" Dude, right there. I didn't know what happened behind us, but everything was cool. I was like, "Wow, cool, I'm fourth!" And then they red-flagged it.

RAPP: I didn't know who went down, actually. I didn't know who, and I knew it was just - I actually thought it was one of the Yamaha guys, because there are so many Yamahas out there. It was actually better, because it's the first start of the first race, it's night, it's cold, and I kind of was hoping everyone would take it a little bit easy, just so we could get through the first couple laps, and then when that happened, I was like, "Well, I guess that's not going to happen now." And then when they red-flagged it, I didn't really know why. I actually didn't know there was more accidents behind us.

Q Josh, did you see - it looked like you might have seen some of the gas around from Tommy's first pit stop. Were you wondering what was going on?

HERRIN: It kind of freaked me out, because I came in, and there was a little spot where, like where the tire goes in, they mark, and I couldn't go there, because Tommy's bike was there. At first I was kind of freaked out that their hoses wouldn't reach, because they were attached to the ground so that - I don't know, something, I don't know. So that kind of freaked me out. And then they said, "Don't go in it! Don't go in it!" I thought it was oil. So when they - when they released the stand, I started the bike, they started pushing me, and I couldn't turn away from it, so that kind of freaked me out that whole warm-up lap, because I went through it. Other than that, it kind of made some excitement to the race for me.

Q Josh, on your last lap, did anything go through your mind as far as the motorcycle making funny noises, or did you think they were going to get you?

HERRIN: Oh, no. I just tried to run it as smooth as I could. I saw +5 on my dad's board, and he was just shaking it to make sure I saw it, and I did. I was thinking about going way up high on the trioval to freak the guys out and make them think something was wrong, but I decided I should stay down just in case.

Q Josh, you had a problem with your shoulder twice this weekend. How was it in the race?

HERRIN: It was pretty good. I guess the adrenaline just made it go way down. It's kind of hurting me. But I guess it was meant to be. I took a crash in practice and then took a crash in the pits, so I got my crash out of the way today, I guess.

Q Josh, what do you think it's going to take to carry this momentum into the next round, to keep your momentum up to the next round and maybe through the entire season?

HERRIN: I don't think it's really going to keep anything. Just having the win at the end of the year last year was enough to keep me going through the whole winter. And then to be fast at the test helped, and coming here and doing this, it's awesome. I don't really think it's going to take anything. I think it's just hard work and commitment and keeping my head straight. And it's just Daytona. It's a big circle. So we'll get to the real racing at the next round.

Q Josh, you're a young rider, but the Daytona 200 has a lot of history. Are you familiar with that, or what are your thoughts on winning this race?

HERRIN: Oh, it's awesome. Me, I came into it just thinking of it as any other race. I was so bummed out yesterday that I didn't get the watch. For some reason, I cared more about that than the race or something. But now that I've won this, I'm not even thinking about the watch. It's really an awesome accomplishment for me. I know it's a goal that a lot of people have forever, and to be able to do it is just an awesome feeling.

Q Josh, can you describe the conditions out there? Because it was kind of nippy. I don't know if the course was a little slippery. Can you talk about that?

HERRIN: The course felt good. It felt the same as it did all week. My hands were getting really, really cold. I didn't put any rubber gloves on underneath. I was trying, with Rapp's tailpipes up high, I was trying to get as close as I could to him on the banking, to get the fumes to go on my fingers so that they wouldn't go numb, because I was so afraid of that happening. It kind of worked, actually.

Q Josh, last year, Ben [Bostrom] and Josh Hayes were really the guys Yamaha expected to win. Did it change your approach at all, knowing that it was up to you and Tommy?

HERRIN: Yeah and no. I really wanted to come in and win, just because three years in a row I've gotten shut down right at the last second. I knew that it was up to me to try and get a win for them here. I know it's really important to them. I think they're really happy with it. I think Dane did an amazing job, better than anybody thought he would. My hat goes off to him and to Yamaha.

WESTBY: Josh definitely deserved it this year. Last year, getting edged out by that much, I mean, you learn something after three years of that.