Kawasaki/Racer X Race Report

Supercross made its annual stop at Daytona's bike week for the Daytona Supercross by Honda, and Ricky Carmichael left with another record for the books and the series lead. It was an exciting and wild day, probably the only supercross ever that will feature a backflip!
 

Stewart gets back up after a very hard crash. He spent the night in his RV in the infield in case he needed to stop by Halifax medical center, right down the street.

Chad Reed toughed out the weekend for second place with a painful shoulder separation due to a crash from the previous day, and Stewart, after winning a heat race against RC, led two laps but crashed hard and had to charge back through the pack, despite taking a hard hit to the gut. He made his way back up to 6th. His teammate Michael Byrne won a battle with Travis Preston for the final podium spot.

Carmichael had a big lead at the finish and now has 2 points on Reed, and Stewart is 26 points back.  

Davi Millsaps led every lap of the Lites main for the win, with Josh Grant riding strong in second. Chris Gosselaar had a battle with Branden Jesseman for third. 
 

Team Honda's Davi Millsaps won the 250F main event

Adding to the excitement was an appearance by Cernic's Suzuki rider Travis Pastrana, and as usual, he was unforgettable. Pastrana has probably done the first and last backflip at an AMA supercross! He won his day qualifier and tried a backflip over the finish line, crashing in the process. The AMA was not amused and gave him a stern warning-even making him sign something acknowledging he was aware his pro license was at risk if he tried it again. Then in the night show, he got into a long and tight battle with Ivan Tedesco in a heat race, which ended in a spectacular crash in the whoops in front of the grandstands.

Hi. You guys bored? I'm Travis Pastrana. Time for some excitement. Pastrana was actually on double not-so-secret probation after doing a backflip in the afternoon qualifier. And yes, he crashed doing it.

 
The track was built by Dirt Wurx this year, and it was a little short with close to 50 second lap times. Dirt Wurx built the takeoffs and landings of the jumps curved like normal, which the riders liked. In the past, the jumps here have been built with flat faces and the riders didn't like them. The whoops broke up by the end of the night, making them hard to race through.
 
Just before the show opening, the speedway gave Jeff Stanton a plaque commemorating his record of four Daytona wins, which would stand until the end of the night. RC now has a record five wins here.
 

Great racing! Fans got to see "the big three" go at it early in the main. Reed toughed it out with a separated shoulder from the day before.

Stewart had the speed, but his hard crash cost him the win and valuable points. Now he is 26 points down. Looking at the math, if Stewart wins the next 6, and Reed and Carmichael both take turns finishing second and third, Carmichael would finish the series two points ahead of Reed and five points ahead of Stewart.