The heavy clouds decided to wait until they were over Daytona before they let loose on the Florida speedway. The notoriously rough Daytona track once again turned into a full-on mudder. The officials ended up cutting the Lites Main down to twelve laps and the Sx Main to sixteen.
Once again, Justin Barcia ripped the holeshot in the Lites Main and pulled an early lead. This time, though, no one could be sure if he could throw down the typical start-to-finish up front ride that he has put in previous rounds. The inclement conditions left the door wide open for disaster to strike at any time. Although anything is possible in a mudder such as tonight, starts were as valuable as ever. Barcia barely edged out Blake Wharton on the holeshot with Blake Baggett, Alex Martin, Ken Roczen, Jake Canada, Darryn Durham, Malcom Stewart, and Kyle Cunningham rounding out the top ten. Barcia was able to pull a sizable lead--and Baggett was able to move into second--by the end of the first lap. The two remained out front and fairly consistent, although Blake Baggett took a digger coming out of a corner mid-race. Ken Roczen was able to hold on to third for some time after passing Alex Martin early on, but in the end it was the hard-charging Darryn Durham that would come from seventh and take the podium position from the young German.
As for the SX Main, it would be Davi Millsaps that would grab the holeshot again. His Teammate James Stewart was close behind with Kevin Windham, Marvin Musquin, and Brett Metcalfe rounding out the top five on the start. Ryan Villopoto wasn't able grab the start he was looking for and ultimately paid the price when he pressed the panic button after cross-rutting. He would ride side-saddle through a corner and over the next obstacle before laying it down. Stewart looked to make a move early on for the lead, and did so after Millsaps made a slight mistake on the triple. Villopoto sat back in thirteenth position at this point with thirteen laps to go. He gradually made his was through the pack on the brutal track to seal a fifth place finish. James Stewart had no problem cruising to victory this year, and his teammate Davi Millsaps followed him in second with a season best finish. Kevin Windham was ever so close to making it up to second, but another season best finish would see him at third. Marvin Musquin also finished a surprising fourth.
