In surprise news this week, Shane McElrath will enter the 450 class on his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM….250 SX-F. The team is down several riders due to injuries and won’t even have a 250SX East entry tonight—Mitchell Falk and now Jordon Smith are out for the evening, so McElrath allows the team to have a bike out there, even though he’s not eligible for the 250SX class on the East. Team Manager Tyler Keefe says the decision was made way too late for Shane to get up to speed on a 450, and there’s very rarely a big lap time difference between the bikes anyway. Should be interesting to see how it goes when he’s out on the race track with the big bikes. 

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner has been perfect in the East Region, as he has three wins, and, not including the 250SX East/West Showdown in Atlanta last weekend, has led all but one of the laps the East has raced. GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM’s Jordon Smith have been close to Forkner, but miscues have resulted in the #24 separating himself from the rest of the class. But Smith is out today due to a lingering wrist injury that he suffered during a crash in Arlington. Today it will be important for Sexton and the other 250SX East riders who don’t want Forkner to have an easy path to the East Region title.

Ryan Sipes is going for the trifecta this week, as the supercross veteran makes his return to the field today for the first time since 2013. The #264 will also race in the first race of the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Series tomorrow at the Wild Boar in Palatka, Florida, and on Thursday, he will compete in the Singles class when the 2019 American Flat Track kicks off. It will be great to see Sipes back in the mix today and showcasing his versatility throughout the rest of the week.

CTR Motorsports’ Joey Crown is out for today’s racing, due to an ankle injury. Bradley Taft has been signed to fill in for Crown.

As for specifics in the Daytona, great weather is expected throughout the day and night, as the high temperature is 75 degrees and no rain is expected. Ricky Carmichael’s track design appears to be another good layout for this year’s race. Yesterday during media day practice, riders tried different lines through the sections of the track that they were allowed to test on—which was about half of the track. The track is may of several different types of dirt, has several sand sections, and has some tough sections. The soft dirt might deteriorate as the night goes on but either way, we should be in for a good night of racing. 

Stay tuned for all the highlights from the day and night here on the Race Day Feed.

250sx east FIRST TIMED PRACTICE

Chase Sexton had the top time through the first five laps, but then Austin Forkner took the top spot. Forkner went down once in the sand and had a few close calls in the long rhythm section. Sexton had the top time when the checkered flag came. Sexton was clean again through the second part of the long rhythm section. He has been the cleanest rider through that section in the class. Justin Cooper had a Tuff Blox cover stuff in his rear wheel but eventually dropped the second fastest lap time. Ryan Sipes was solid through his first timed session. His 1:14.009 currently puts him seventh overall in the class.

450sx FIRST TIMED PRACTICE

Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen were battling back and forth for the top time early, but Marvin Musquin came in to take the top spot away. Justin Hill moved into the top spot briefly, but Musquin dropped the first lap under 1:10 with a 1:09 and Webb quickly dropped a 1:09 of his own.

Musquin is pretty clean through the long rhythm section and really seems to find ways to just go through sections faster than others can. He wheelied the landing of the double into the finish line and continued the wheelie through the take off of the finish line jump, which looked cool but was also super fast. He was next to Webb in the section following the long rhythm section but Musquin took off and left Webb behind because he got through the section so quickly. His ability to find these quick lines and simple techniques to gain speed and cut down on time early might help him later on today.

250SX EAST SECOND TIMED PRACTICE

Chase Sexton and Austin Forkner battled back and forth for the top spot but Sexton eventually took the top spot. Forkner was trying different lines in the long section to see what worked best, but Sexton appears to be working the same line he was doing earlier today. Justin Cooper had snuck into the mix for the top but both Sexton and Forkner busted off laps under 1:10.

450SX SECOND TIMED PRACTICE

Eli Tomac cased a jump early in the long rhythm section—which is the second time he’s done this in that section. He seems to be struggling figuring out that section, as his best lap was good enough for fourth. In the meantime, Ken Roczen had the top time with a 1:09, that he took from Dean Wilson. Then Cooper Webb took over by dropping a 1:08.769 until then Marvin Musquin dropped a 1:07.725 to take the top spot. Like earlier, Musquin is absolutely flying.

250SX East Region Heat 1

Austin Forkner grabbed the first holeshot of the night, barely ahead of Mitchell Oldenburg, who makes his return after missing last week, and teammates Kyle Peters and Alex Martin. Martin got around Peters early. It looked like Forkner might get a huge lead, but Oldenburg started to catch Forkner, closing in the gap between the two. However, Oldenburg went down in the turn where the sand section starts. Oldenburg got back on his bike in fifth place, but it was too late as Forkner had set sail. Behind Forkner, Oldenburg got back around Peters in the turn after the sand. Josh Cartwright also went down in the sand section and finished in 14th. Forkner executed the long rhythm section as good as ever today and finished 17.6 seconds ahead of Martin.

250SX East Region Heat 2

Chase Sexton grabbed the holeshot but went down in the first turn. Jordan Bailey took over early when Sexton and other riders piled up in the first turn. Justin Cooper positioned himself in second behind Bailey. Cooper passed Bailey in the rhythm section and put some room between him and Bailey. Anthony Rodruguez goes down near the triple landing and needed help by the medical staff to get off of the track. Sexton made his way up to fourth place. He was second to last after falling in the first turn. Martin Davalos was dead last early in the first turn but made up a lot of ground as well and finished in fifth. Sexton dropped the fastest lap of the heat. Ryan Sipes finished in seventh place to transfer into the main event.

450SX Heat 1

Eli Tomac grabbed the holeshot over Ken Roczen, Dean Wilson, and Zach Osborne. Chad Reed came through the first lap in fourth place. Osborne fell to fifth and Aaron Plessinger and Justin Bogle battled for sixth place early on before Bogle got sixth and held on. Shane McElrath rode in ninth place for a majority of the race but finished in eighth. Tomac had the fastest lap early on, but Roczen battled the #3 for the fastest lap. Osborne went down in the sand section but got up and didn’t lose any positions.

450SX Heat 2

Blake Baggett got ahead of the pack early and just made it out of an early pile up. Cooper Webb, Marvin Musquin, Mike Alessi, and Kyle Chisholm all went down in the turn where the sand section starts. Cole Seely took the lead going into the finish line jump, right in front of the fans, and threw a huge whip in Baggett’s face. Joey Savatgy sat in third behind the battle for first and Webb caught up to the front pack. Webb almost got around Savatgy in the sand section—he completed the pass in the sand section a lap later.

On the fourth lap BB4 went James Stewart style and absolutely launched it off of the wall that crosses the starting line and breaks up the long rhythm section. The move paid off as Baggett was able to pass Seely in the rhythm section to take over. Seely, Savatgy, and Webb battled for second until Seely slipped up in the last turn, allowing Webb to make the pass. Musquin, who worked his way up to fifth place by the end, had the fastest lap of the heat race.

250SX East Region LCQ

Pile ups in the first two turns caused a medical red flag for the race to be restarted. However, Josh Cartwright and Lane Shaw were both able to get up and get off the track under their own power—Cartwright even lined up again at the gate.

Once the race restarted Lorenzo Locurcio—who had gotten the holeshot before the bad wrecks took his lead away—retook his early lead and lead TJ Albright and Steven Clarke. There were about four riders battling for the final transfer spot, including Luke Neese, James Weeks, and Ramyller Alves. Clarke moved around Albright with two laps to go and then Weeks went for it all in the last turn but went down. Locurcio held on over Clarke, Albright, and Neese, who snatched the last transfer spot.

450SX LCQ

Mike Alessi came from the third farthest outside gate to grab the holeshot but Alex Ray took the lead over the #800 through the sand section. Kyle Chisholm latched onto the back of Alessi and Ray, but Ray had several miscues, and fell back into 14th, moving Chizz into second. Carlen Gardner and Cedric Soubreyras went down in the first turn and needed medical attention, so riders had to watch going through the whoops section after the finish line jump. Alessi started to get a lead of his own, and built over a three and a half second lead over Chisholm. Chris Blose made his way through the pack and into third place. Scott Champion held off a last-second charge by Dakota Alix to take the last transfer spot. Alessi celebrated his LCQ victory with a heel clicker right in front of the fans.

250SX East Region Main Event

Austin Forkner snagged the holeshot but Kyle Peters and Justin Cooper passed the #24 in the sand section. Cooper came up short early in the long rhythm section and allowed Forkner to take over second place behind Peters. Chase Sexton made his way into fourth place and Martin Davalos moved into fifth. Forkner made the pass on Peters through the long rhythm section and then Sexton passed Cooper in the following section. Sexton snatched second from Peters in the sand section. The #23 dropped the fastest lap halfway through the race, but a small miscue over the long rhythm section slowed his roll, causing Forkner to get a four second lead.

Jace Owen went down exiting the whoops before the wall. Mitchell Oldenburg got Davalos in the sand section. Although he didn’t fall, Peters dropped back to eighth place. In front of him, Alex Martin and Davalos were battling for sixth. Davalos dropped back to ninth. Forkner had a six second lead on Sexton. Kyle Cunningham passed Davalos for ninth with one lap to go and Davalos finished 10th. Forkner finished with a five second lead over Sexton and then did a burnout on an asphalt section near the fans. Jordan Bailey had a solid race as he came from about last to 11th place. Cunningham, who passed Davalos for ninth late in the race, also made his way from the back of the pack to ninth place.

450SX Main Event

Blake Baggett grabbed the last holeshot over Dean Wilson, Ken Roczen, and Cole Seely, who went down in the first sand turn. Wilson would come through lap one in 17th, Roczen in 19th, and Seely in 21st. Baggett aired out the wall jump on the first lap and looked like he would be building a lead of his own, but Marvin Musquin and company had other planes.

Musquin got around Tomac early in the second lap and then made up time early on Baggett. Tomac caught up to the leaders and passed Musquin in the sand turn. Baggett continued to launch over the wall jump. Tomac passed Baggett on the turn before the finish line section, but Baggett returned the favor in the same spot on the next lap. The two battled back and forth for the next lap or two and then Tomac finally took the lead for good—starting his takeover by launching off of the roller wall. Musquin would follow Tomac and quickly get around Baggett. However, Musquin went off the track, falling from second to fifth place. Aaron Plessinger went down and needed help from the medical staff.

Tomac then started to build his own lead—he had put five seconds between Webb and himself. Roczen had made his way up to 10th place on the ninth lap, which is impressive considering he was basically last in the first turn—he finished in eighth. Musquin overtook Webb momentarily, but Webb struck back in the next section. Musquin's line was quicker out of the turn but a disadvantage in the long-run, which allowed the points leader to retake his position. 

The other rookies all had solid nights—Savatgy had a solid fifth place ride; Zach Osborne finally avoided the bad luck he had encountered early on and finished in sixth; and Justin Hill had his best finish of the season and his first top-10 finish, coming across the finish line in seventh. At one point Osborne and Hill, who were running sixth and seventh at the time, were starting to catch Savatgy in fifth, but the #17 was able to hold off the late charges. Wilson—11th—and Seely—13th—made their way up through the pack as well. Shane McElrath, who was quiet during the night show, finished in 12th in the 450SX class—while on his 250 SX-F.