John Kocinski looks very happy on the podium of the 1989 Daytona AMA 250 Grand Prix race and well he should. His ride at Daytona in ’89 was one of the most dominant in the long history of what was once called the Daytona International Lightweight race.
Kocinski took over the lead from Rich Oliver on the first lap and never looked back, going on to win by a massive 43.87 seconds and pocketing $5500 of the $30,000 purse.
Even though his winning margin was huge, it wasn’t that big of surprise when you consider Kocinski clocked a lap at 2:00.754 on the Team Viceroy Yamaha in qualifying. Second fastest qualifier was Doug Brauneck with a 2:04.684. You read that right. Kocinski was nearly four seconds per lap faster.
After leading for a half-a-lap Oliver ran to a lonely second. Richard Moore made a stellar charge after bogging his bike at the start. He came from nearly last to score third, getting by Donny Greene and Danny Coe on the final lap. Moore was helped to his podium by the fact that Thomas Stevens and Alan Carter rammed into one another on the last go around, sending them both off the track at the chicane.
