2020 AMA Supercross
Round Ten – Daytona Supercross
Images Hoppenworld
Saturday night at the Daytona International Speedway saw Eli Tomac make take victory at the 50th annual running aboard his Kawasaki, to become the fourth rider to win the Daytona Supercross four times, including in 2016, 2017 and 2019, while the 250SX main was won by Garrett Marchbanks.
Racing started Saturday night with heat events – two apiece for the 450SX and 250SX classes with each heat sending nine drivers to the main events. Roczen and Webb won the 450 heats, while Shane McElrath (Yamaha) and Marchbanks took the 250 heats.
Following the heats, respective Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) races advanced the top-four finishers from each going to the mains. Jalek Swoll (Husqvarna) took the 250SX LCQ; Ryan Breece (Suzuki) was the 450SX winner.
450SX
Victory did not come easily for Eli Tomac, who fell behind Ken Roczen early in the 20-minute/plus one lap main event, with the gap growing to nearly nine seconds at one point. With just less than two minutes left before the white-flag lap, Tomac completed a long, steady comeback by taking the lead when Roczen’s Honda bobbled slightly in a tight turn and he nearly went down.
Ken Roczen
Ken Roczen rallied to finish second, only 0.707 seconds behind, while defending series champion Cooper Webb, also from Clermont, finished third on his KTM bike. The 1-2-3 finish mirrored the current standings in 450SX class of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
Eli Tomac – P1
“Tonight it was just a little bit of patience in the beginning because the pace was hard early on. Somewhere about halfway I realized I had to get going and make the moves and the passes. It was tough to make up the time. Gosh, that was close. Big night. We’re in a really good spot in the points, a spot we haven’t been in. So, we’ll just keep trucking along.”
Eli Tomac
Outside the top three, Cooper Webb grabbed a top-five start and raced his way into third by lap three. Determined to reach the lead battle, Webb diligently climbed into second, setting his sights on the leader ahead. He made a couple of mistakes and lost the second-place spot with six laps to go, but he maintained a solid pace in the final laps to secure his seventh podium finish of the season with third.
Cooper Webb – P3
“I felt like I put myself in a good position – I was in second and a little way back and Eli [Tomac] was able to get me. I started making a lot of mistakes and let him get away. It’s good to be on the podium, so I’m stoked on that but I’m going to work this week. I think I’m at a point where I’ve finally healed up good enough to try to contend, so I’ll take the podium but I really want to get another win.”
Cooper Webb
Jason Anderson led the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team efforts in the 450SX class, qualifying in the top five and going on to finish fourth in the main event after the early holeshot and dicing for the podium, before dropping to fourth on lap 11, a position he maintained.
Jason Anderson – P4
“My weekend went alright, the heat race went well, I almost got into the lead there but I ended up finishing second. In the main, I got the holeshot and fell back to fourth but I pushed forward and almost had third. All-in-all it, was a good race for me and I just have to keep racing out there with the boys.”
Jason Anderson, Eli Tomac, Chad Reed
Justin Barcia completed the top five, as top Yamaha, followed by Aaron Plessinger, while Dean Wilson was seventh. Malcolm Stewart was eighth, Justin Hill ninth and Justin Brayton completed the top ten. Aussie Chad Reed was 13th.
Source: MCNews.com.au