American Superbike Championship 2004 - Daytona

Larry Pegram was on top of the world in 1999. He made a successful move from AMA Grand National Flat Track racing, was riding for the factory Ferracci Ducati team and he won his first AMA Superbike race.

Instead of that success serving as a launching pad into a championship-winning career, things began to slowly unravel for the rider from Baltimore, Ohio.

First Ducati downsized its U.S. Superbike effort leaving Pegram scrambling for a ride. Since 1999, he has had stints with non-factory teams such as Competition Accessories Ducati, Hooters Suzuki and the ill-fated Dream Team Ducati squad.

Dream Team Ducati came to Daytona last year with high hopes and a seemingly unlimited budget. Pegram took 12th in the Daytona 200 By Arai, then went on to earn a hard fought third-place finish in the rain at Road America. Then the wealthy restaurateur sponsor backed out of the deal mid-season and Pegram was forced to sit on the sidelines the second half of the year.

"It was disappointing the way things ended last year," Pegram said of the collapse of Dream Team Ducati. "I proved what I could do with a good bike, but I guess that wasn't good enough."

Despite all the ups and downs in his 14-year professional career, the 30-year-old Pegram still harbors a positive outlook on his racing future.

"I'm putting together a Yamaha deal for Formula USA and I'm going to do some AMA Superstock and Supersport races as well, he said after winning the CCS Expert Unlimited Supersport final at Daytona International Speedway last week. The Yamaha R1 is so good stock that were thinking about racing it in the 200 next week. Hopefully if we do well Yamaha will step up the support of our program."

Pegram, who has been racing at Daytona since 1992 and has six top-10 finishes in the Daytona 200 By Arai, has also kept his long-standing relationship with Ducati intact. Earlier this week he tested Eric Bostrom's factory Ducati Austin bike.

"I try to keep the line of communication open with Ducati," Pegram said. "If Bostrom were to get injured and have to miss a few races I think Id be able to step in and fill in the gap. Plus Ducati is looking to expand its program in 2005 and I think there's a chance I could end up with them next year."

The new USB Power Commander is already available for the ZX-10R, as is a powershifter