Kayla Yaakov makes history during Women's History Month with a Daytona 200 podium
· Yahoo Sports
Brian J Nelson / MotoAmerica
Brian J Nelson / MotoAmerica
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On March 7, Kayla Yaakov did what no female rider in motorcycle road racing had ever done: She stood on the podium in the prestigious Daytona 200.
It was not Yaakov's first "first", and undoubtedly will not be her last. In 2022, Yaakov became the first female to win in the MotoAmerica series, beating Joseph LiMandri, Jr. in Race 2 of the Sportbike Junior Cup that weekend; she also stood on the podium in Race 1, giving her a weekend sweep.
With 15 years of experience, the 18-year-old was already well-prepared to enter the Daytona 200. Climbing up the ladder, she amassed more than 400 regional race wins and 47 championships, but none of those garnered as much attention as Yaakov's 2026 Daytona 200 podium. That race has been held 84 times, dating back to 1937, with a few years off during World War II.
"The Daytona 200 is probably our craziest race all year," Yaakov told NBC Sports. "It's very unpredictable. Really, anything can happen, and a lot of people will say, which I completely agree with, it's not really a rider track, so you kind of go there not really knowing where you're going to stack up."
Kayla Yaakov beat Darryn Binder to the line for third with a thrilling last-corner pass. Brian J. Nelson / MotoAmerica
Kayla Yaakov beat Darryn Binder to the line for third with a thrilling last-corner pass. Brian J. Nelson / MotoAmerica
Against the Odds
The Daytona 200 is a race in which riders need to roll off the hauler quickly and then work to become even faster. That was not the path Yaakov trod.
Her Rahal Ducati Moto team experienced trouble from the beginning with electronic, mechanical, and motor issues. The road course at Daytona International Speedway features long straights and high-banked turns, which place a premium on horsepower. In qualification trim, Yaakov was 10 miles per hour slower than the leaders in some of the trap speeds.
She would have been happy simply to score a good finish. That was especially important in 2026 because the Daytona 200 was a points-paying race for the first time since MotoAmerica first sanctioned it.
"But I was very confident in myself, and I knew if I had a good bike under me, which we ended up pulling out in the end, that something like this was definitely possible," Yaakov continued. "I'd say aside from our pit stops, which were a little bit hindered because of a fueling problem that we had, our first fuel can, which had the dual fueling system, broke during a red flag, so we had to go back to a single fueling system, which obviously takes it quite a bit longer.
"Aside from that, it was a very smooth race. The pace was really good, and it just kept fighting forward after qualifying eighth with that issue. And yeah, just kept going forward, never was complacent, and in the end, finishing on the podium was definitely a dream for that, especially how the weekend was going."
Yaakov's climb through the field was amazing in its own right, but securing the final podium position gave goosebumps to even veteran motorcycle racing fans.
Yaakov and Darryn Binder, 28, swapped positions multiple times in the closing laps. With five laps remaining, Binder rode wide in the infield section of the track. Yaakov pounced. Binder held the lead once again coming to the white flag, but Yaakov took it from him at the finish line. Binder used a slingshot move to get around Yaakov and retook the position immediately.
It's the final lap that matters in motorsports, however. Yaakov grabbed the position in the run to the checkers and won by an official margin of 0.166 seconds.
Brian J. Nelson / MotoAmerica
Brian J. Nelson / MotoAmerica
Bigger and Better
Scoring 16 points in the Daytona 200 was important. It has caused Yaakov to set her sights even higher.
In her second season full-time in the Supersport division, Yaakov finished sixth in the standings in 2025. She earned two fourth-place finishes last year, at Road America and the Circuit of the Americas, scored eight top-fives, and another four sixth-place finishes in 18 races.
Scoring a podium in the 2026 season-opener has Yaakov believing that a victory is in the cards this year. Equally important, Yaakov wants to finish among the top three at the conclusion of the championship.
"The goal is to try to finish in the top three in the championship," Yaakov said. "That's definitely a possibility, and I don't want this to be kind of a one-off podium of the year. I really feel like I'm riding at a good level, and I've really invested in myself this year. I've felt really good on the bike [and been] pretty quick at our tests, so I'm really hoping that we can be consistently on the podium."
The icing on the cake came when Yaakov's historic ride occurred during Women's History Month. Not only was there additional attention paid to the victory, but it also underscores just how difficult it can be for female racers to compete in male-dominated sports.
"I remember before the race, thinking to myself, even before this weekend, how cool it would be if I did well this weekend because of Women's History Month," Yaakov said. "Thinking to myself how amazing that would be if I could do well, how incredible the story really [would be] for everybody. And to see that to come to fruition, I couldn't really believe it."
Round 2 of the MotoAmerica Supersport division will take place April 17-19 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, and, as the top support class to Superbikes, there will be as many eyes on Yaakov then as now.
"I would just say that there are a lot of stereotypes when it comes to motorcycles, when it comes to, really, women in general," Yaakov said. "And I'm really hoping to break a lot of those walls, those barriers down, because I really do believe that women can be competitive, especially in motorsports. ... I finished third [in the Daytona 200] and maybe people don't see that as being amazing, but I feel like we're breaking those walls down and more results will hopefully come with stuff like this. I really feel like we can have a great year this year."