Daytona Supercross marks the unofficial halfway point of the Supercross campaign, and the prestigious event went down last night. The famed racetrack has been host to Supercross for many years, and as of late, this has been Eli Tomac’s house. He entered Saturday coming off a win in Dallas, going into a venue where he is 5-for-7 lifetime on a 450. Could Jason Anderson be only the third rider to beat him at his best venue or anyone else for that matter? Let’s find out.
Be sure to catch up on all of our Supercross coverage.
Injuries Mounting Up
Injuries in the 250 class have been a major storyline in 2022, one that isn’t going away anytime soon by the looks of it. Three big names were all sidelined for Daytona, two of which from the Star Yamaha camp. Jeremy Martin suffered a midweek practice crash that may have him sidelined for a little while. While Levi Kitchen, as a result of a crash in Dallas, was also on the mend. As for Austin Forkner, he suffered a broken collarbone after his incident with Jett Lawrence last week, so we will not see him for some time either.
Heat Racing Recap
250 East Class
R.J. Hampshire would open up the night show with a holeshot, and battled in this opening heat with Cameron McAdoo and Jordon Smith for the duration. The later two riders kept Hampshire honest, Smith even took the lead for a brief period, but the Husqvarna rider prevailed. Behind that top three were the ClubMX Yamaha duo of Phil Nicoletti and Jace Owen.
Rockstar Husqvarna then went 2-for-2 in Heat Race holeshots with Stilez Robertson, who had Mitchell Oldenburg and Jett Lawrence in tow. The latter ended up taking the lead but almost made a huge mistake on the final lap. He ended up thinking he had already won the race and slowed down but quickly realized his mistake. Luckily he had enough of a lead to bring it home in first still.
450 Class
Cooper Webb got the holeshot in the opening 450 Heat, but the real surprise was Dylan Ferrandis getting an actual good start. He even gave Webb a run for his money but ultimately ended up second. Ken Roczen got close to taking the No. 2 spot but couldn’t make anything happen once he got close to Ferrandis’ rear wheel. In any event, this was a good race for the German rider.
Despite Vince Friese nabbing the holeshot, this Heat Race was all about Malcolm Stewart, who took off on the field the second he took the lead. After pacing qualifying early in the day, this was a potentially good sign for things to come later on perhaps. Justin Barcia ended up getting by Friese as well but had nothing for Mookie. Chase Sexton meanwhile ended up third.
250 East Class Roundup
No. 18 Jett Lawrence – Honda HRC (1st Place)
After everything that went down last weekend, this is exactly what Lawrence needed. He now regains sole possession of the red plate and is now 2-for-3 to open 2022. More importantly, this win at Daytona Supercross was akin to two weeks prior in Minneapolis, in that it was an absolute no-doubter. Lawrence was the best 250 rider from the moment practice began earlier in the day and he never lost his momentum when the sun went down.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CavwXRVNzNd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 50 Stilez Robertson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (2nd Place)
Robertson matches his career-high, with both of his second-place finishes happening at the same venue. The only difference from 2021 was that the second-year rider never held the lead, as he was chasing Lawrence all race. On the upside though, he never gave up second place either. Outside of that, this result doubles as Robertson’s first top-five and podium of 2022, after a 7th and 10th to open up his year.
No. 48 Cameron McAdoo – Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki (3rd Place)
Although he lost the points lead, McAdoo did enough to firmly keep him in the hunt with a second straight podium at Daytona. This was also his third straight podium of the season, matching him with Lawrence in the 250 East Class. McAdoo will likely be able to keep up, but if Lawrence puts in nights like last night, the question will be for how long?
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CavwBoFgpgR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 80 Enzo Lopes – Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha (5th Place)
Quite possibly the best story of 2022 in this East Series so far is Lopes. The Brazilian rider is fourth in points three rounds in and has steadily been better each race with the ClubMX squad. Only Robertson, McAdoo, and Lawrence have gained more points than Lopes, which is a great sign for the fifth-year rider.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cax25_PuPs4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
250 East Class Daytona Supercross Top 10
1st No. 18 Jett Lawrence
2nd No. 50 Stilez Robertson
3rd No. 48 Cameron McAdoo
4th No. 44 Pierce Brown
5th No. 80 Enzo Lopes
6th No. 90 Jordon Smith
7th No. 24 R.J. Hampshire
8th No. 715 Phil Nicoletti
9th No. 54 Mitchell Oldenburg
10th No. 38 Josh Varize
450 Class Roundup
No. 3 Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (1st Place)
Death, Taxes, and ET3 winning Daytona are the near absolute mortal locks in this world. Tomac is now 6-for-8 lifetime on a 450 at the ‘World Center of Racing’ with the only two non-victories being to Ryan Dungey in 2015, and Justin Brayton in 2018. Although he didn’t look on top of things in his heat race, there didn’t feel like much doubt he would show up for this Main Event. This is also Tomac’s 41st career win, which ties him with Ryan Villopoto for fifth all-time. As for this season, he is up 18 points over Anderson at the halfway mark of the year, making this his best points start of his 450 career to date.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cav1LpAli3H/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 1 Cooper Webb – Red Bull KTM (2nd Place)
Webb looked well on his way to potentially winning last night, but lap traffic in the form of Shane McElrath cost him the lead with just over a minute remaining. Even if Tomac got by anyway, can’t imagine that the former champion was thrilled about how he lost last night. In any event, Webb has more or less returned to form, even if the back-to-back bid is done at this point.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cav0p72gTmb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 94 Ken Roczen – Honda HRC (7th Place)
Given how he has ran this year, a seventh is a good change of pace for Roczen. Technically he did not finish in seventh, but he moved up due to penalties to Stewart and Anderson. This seventh also marks Roczen’s best finish in exactly one month, dating back to his fifth at the Glendale Triple Crown round in February. Now we will see if Roczen can put together back-to-back top 10 results for what would be just the first time this year.
No. 27 Malcolm Stewart – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (8th Place)
We will reach peak ‘Mookie Fever’ one day, but Saturday was not that day. After pacing qualifying and winning his Heat, he managed to tangle once again with Anderson, before retaliating one corner later, taking each other down in the process. Although they both got penalized for course cutting, Mookie outran Anderson by one spot on the evening. At the halfway point of the year, Stewart has a real shot at a top-three points finish as well, currently sitting just six points back of Webb for that third spot.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cavy0gRsD0Q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 21 Jason Anderson – Monster Energy Kawasaki (9th Place)
Not the result that El Hombre was likely looking for here. Anderson with this ninth sits close to 20 points back of Tomac with just over a half dozen rounds remaining on the season. Although there is no reason to panic in the Kawasaki camp, a few wins down the stretch has to be the goal for the No. 21. If Tomac gets his points lead to over a round, it may be game over.
No. 35 Garrett Marchbanks – Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha (15th Place)
The final result doesn’t show it, but Marchbanks was excellent in his 450 class debut. After an issue in his heat, the 250 West rider made it into the Main Event with a second in the LCQ. Afterward, Marchbanks was running in a top 10 spot for a decent amount of time. Sadly he had to go into the pits for some new goggles forcing him back into the midpack area. All things considered, Marchbanks put on a good run that should have impressed some potential 450 teams.
450 Class Daytona Supercross Top 10
1st No. 3 Eli Tomac
2nd No. 1 Cooper Webb
3rd No. 23 Chase Sexton
4th No. 14 Dylan Ferrandis
5th No. 51 Justin Barcia
6th No. 25 Marvin Musquin
7th No. 94 Ken Roczen
8th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (Received one spot penalty)
9th No. 21 Jason Anderson (Received one spot penalty)
10th No. 15 Dean Wilson
Week 9 PulpMX Fantasy Supercross Lineup
250 East: Jordon Smith (All-Star +7), Cullin Park (+11), Derek Drake (+4), Phil Nicoletti (+1)
450: Eli Tomac (All-Star +1), Justin Brayton (+1), Garrett Marchbanks (+7), Vince Friese (+4)
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
