Just to keep you up to date on injury news, in the 450SX Class Justin Brayton and Zach Osborne are out for today. Both riders were hurt during the week between Orlando 1 and Orlando 2. Honda HRC rookie Chase Sexton is making his return to racing today after a bruised shoulder sidelined him for six rounds.

Jace Owen, tenth in the 250SX West Region opener, is out of the 250 class due to a knee injury. Carson Brown suffered a dislocated elbow at the opener and the JMC Motorsports Racing team has brought in Ramyller Alves (14th at the opener) for the remainder of supercross. Alex Martin and Jordon Smith crashed out of the opener in Orlando but both are back to race today, Jeremy Martin is not, as he is still dealing with a shoulder injury. Pierce Brown is making his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing debut today as he returns from a knee injury he suffered back in September 2020. See our full injury report for today's race if you missed it. And in non-injury news, veteran Ryan Sipes is also lining up on his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing MC 250F this weekend. Sipes is expected to race his GasGas MC 250F today and compete in American Flat Track, GNCC/other off-road events, and more throughout the year.

It’s tough to know exactly what to anticipate heading into today’s race—especially if the weather has a bigger impact than expected. In the 250SX West Region, we’ve only seen one race so far and with a weekend off following the first round, lots of riders had time to rest and recover and to test coming into the typically brutal conditions that the speedway brings. After a broken foot injury suffered in January, Justin Cooper came out to take the Orlando 2 Supercross main event win. For the second year in a row, Cooper won the opening round of his region and he enters the day with the red plates on his Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing #32 YZ250F. He’s hoping to hold onto those plates for longer than he did last year though as he wants to win the title this season. After only one 250SX West Region race we can't say the title is easily his but we do know that Cooper has the points lead and is an impressive outdoor rider/is good when the tracks are tough, so he could easily be a favorite to take the win today. He finished third in the 2019 250SX main event here in his only visit to the speedway. Garrett Marchbanks, winner of the 2020 Daytona Supercross, main event finished third at the opening round aboard his ClubMX Yamaha YZ250F and he's hungry to repeat at the speedway tonight. Could Marchbanks become only the sixth two-time Lites/250SX two-time Daytona Supercross main event winner tonight? If weather continues to go south, the #48's chances might improve significantly. 

Most teams and riders have Florida bases to use throughout the year, but the Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing gang is known for doing their work exclusively out in California. That’s finally changed, as the team purchased the GOAT Farm from the Carmichael family a few months ago and finally started working there over the last few weeks. The hope is by the 2022 season, the team will operate exclusively out of Florida, but for now they will just ride there during these few weeks and then head back to California.

From that Star Racing team, Dylan Ferrandis has admitted he lost valuable testing time in the off-season due to a hand injury. After this testing time in Florida, Ferrandis said they made huge breakthroughs with the motorcycle and he really feels good on the bike coming into this weekend. Ferrandis also loves this track—he has raced here once before, in the 250 class in 2017, and that race marked his first podium in the U.S.

At the top of the 450SX class, Ken Roczen leads the points by six over Cooper Webb. Neither of these riders have ever won here at Daytona, but both said they love the track. The problem for everyone in the 450SX Class over the last few years is Eli Tomac is nearly unbeatable here. Eli has won four of the last five years, and if he takes his fifth tonight, he will tie Ricky Carmichael’s record of five Daytona wins. Tomac told us he looks at Daytona as a must-win situation, because the track is good for him and also because he needs a win to get his season on track.

New Schedule

With rain expected on and off throughout the day, today’s race schedule has been adjusted. Word from our colleagues is that there is also hail coming down across the road from the speedway, so we are off to a wet start to the day but so far the rain has not damaged the track. At the moment, the night program has not changed, only the qualifying schedule has changed. Check out the weather revised schedule below. And just in, the riders were unable to view the track earlier so they are now giving riders the opportunity to view the track and the start of the first practice will be bumped from 12 p.m. EST to 1:25 p.m. EST. Below is the updated schedule.

First Timed Practice

250SX 

Once the riders took to the track for the first time today, Pierce Brown led the 250SX group B session early. Jordan Bailey took the top spot away from Brown but then veteran Ryan Sipes jumped to P1. So far the track seems to be in great condition, even after not being covered during this morning’s thunderstorm. The track looks pretty fast as riders navigate different lines. When the session ended, Sipes topped the session with Bailey and Brown claiming the second and third times. Ty Masterpool snuck into the top four towards the end of the session. 

When the 250SX group C took to the track, Blaine Silveira and Carter Halpain led the group around the track. Halpain held the top time and then he bettered it to stay at the top of the session. Halpain was the only rider to drop below the 1:17.000 mark as he put down a 1:15.293 to top the session.

Justin Cooper led the 250SX group A around the track for the first lap. On his first timed lap, Cooper dropped an immediate heater, a 1:10.884. Jordon Smith had the second-fastest first lap with a 1:12.141. Rookie Seth Hammaker then passed his teammate Smith for P2 with a 1:11.047. Garrett Marchbanks looks comfortable on his ClubMX Yamaha YZ250F. He was flowing well and had an impressive wheel-tap triple before the finish line. His 1:11.270 sits fourth at the end of the session. On the eighth lap, Cooper dropped another heater, this time a 1:09.227! Cameron McAdoo put in a 01:10.3780 to be the only other rider under the 1:11.000 mark once the session ended.

“Yeah, left it a little bit dry yesterday, so it’s actually really good right now,” Cooper said on the track afterwards. “It has some good traction. It’s just really hard to see right now with the light drizzle. Gone through a lot of tear-offs. So we’ll see, we’ll try maybe the roll-offs for the next one. Vision got pretty blurry if you didn’t pull a tear-off pretty quick. All in all the track is great. It’s going to be pretty tough once it gets rough. Just really like this venue, looking forward to it. Looking to carry the momentum from the last race.

450SX

Justin Barcia led the 450SX group A into the first turn but then slide out exiting the second turn! He almost collected Eli Tomac in the process but Tomac was able to get a ride over the Tuff Blox and avoid going down. Once everyone went around Barcia, he remounted and cut part of the track before almost getting taken out by a Tuff Block. He went to the mechanics’ area but only to get his front end re-aligned. Marvin Musquin recorded the first fast time (a 1:09.408) but then Tomac jumped to a 1:09.289 Dylan Ferrandis out in a 1:10.030 and Dean Wilson’s 1:10.110 bumped him into the top five. A few minutes later and Jason Anderson moved under the 1:10.000 mark as he put in a 1:09.898. Then Ferrandis put down a 1:09.341 to move to second behind Tomac's 1:09.341. Ken Roczen's 1:10.195 was sixth-fastest and Cooper Webb's 1:10.634 was ninth in the first session. Chase Sexton's 1:10.798 was 11th in his first qualifying session since his shoulder injury at the Houston 2 Supercross.

“Right now we still have good conditions, the dirt is perfect, but obviously if it keeps up with what it’s doing right now it’s going to get slicker later on,” said Tomac. “So that was huge for us to go out there and get that first-place in that first practice session. I’d be surprised if qualifying two is faster.”

In the 450SX group B session, Austin Politelli’s 1:14.619 was bested by a 1:14.241 from Justin Starling. Then Brandon Hartranft’s 1:13.955 jumped to the top of the board. Then, late in the session Fredrick Noren put in a time of 1:13.162 that topped the session.

There’s a handful of 250SX East Region riders in the 450SX group C session today. Grant Harlan (250SX East Region rider) was leading the 450SX group C session by over two seconds as he had a 1:14.451 and the second-fastest time is a 1:17.650 by Curren Thurman (another 250SX East Region rider). Devin Harriman (250SX East Region rider) jumped into second at the end of the session. Harlan’s time bested all but the top three riders in the 450SX group B.

Second Timed Practice

250SX

During the break between practice, the track crew reshaped several parts of the track, including the whoops, the sand sections before the over-under bridge, and some of the rutted up turns. The track looked to be in great condition once again as the rain held off. Once the 250SX group B took to the track, Hardy Munoz, Dominque Thury, and Ryan Sipes shuffled around to lead the field around during the first few laps. Again, Jordan Bailey had the fastest time of the session. Then Ty Masterpool put himself into the top two times when he found a flow. Jerry Robin moved in behind Ty Masterpool and then Pierce Brown and Jake Masterpool move into the top five. Moments later and Sipes shuffled his way into fourth and Carson Mumford slide into fifth.

In the second 250SX group A session, Jordon Smith grabbed the "holeshot" but went down and was holding his back and was seeking help by the Alpinestars Medical Crew. But on the time sheets, Justin Cooper was absolutely flying once again. He put in a 1:08.913, which wasn't touched, topping the 250SX qualifying chart for the day.

“We have a really good racetrack, I think, tonight and it looks like it’s going to break down pretty gnarly," said Cooper. "So it’s going to be about consistency, I think, tonight.”

Once again, Hammaker is looked great in qualifying. He raced here a ton as an amateur and that’s translating over well so far in his first go here in the pro ranks as he looks to best his sixth from his debut at the Orlando 2 Supercross. And Hunter Lawrence quietly snuck into the top-five at the end of the session. He could be a sleeper tonight when the track gets rough so keep your eye on the #41.

450SX

When the 450SX group A session got out of the gates for the final time, Aaron Plessinger grabbed the "holeshot.” Plessinger was passed by Ken Roczen right before the finish line and Roczen took off on a heater. The #94 put in a blistering 01:08.0190. Dylan Ferrandis (1:08.725) and Marvin Musquin (1:08.871) were the next fastest and then Ferrandis lowered his time to a 1:08.1290. Behind them, Eli Tomac bumped Musquin back to fourth with a 1:08.260. Chase Sexton (1:08.808), Jason Anderson (1:08.927), and Cooper Webb (1:08.927) all dropped heaters under the 1:09.0 mark, shuffling around from fourth and back. After the trio of heaters, the top seven were all under 1:09.0.

In the final 450SX group B session, Justin Starling edged out Brandon Hartranft for the top time of the session. In the 450SX group C session, the final qualifying slot of the day, Grant Harlan had over two seconds on the rest of the field but he crashed hard and needed assistance from the Alpinestars Medical Crew. The crash called for a red flag by the AMA officials in order to allow Harlan to be helped off the track. Once the group was given the green flag, they had four minutes remaining. Although Harlan topped the session and qualified 24th overall, his status for the night show is unknown at the moment.

250SX Heat 1

Jalek Swoll and Seth Hammaker came through the first few turns side-by-side. Hammaker quickly took sole possession of the lead. Cameron McAdoo made his way around Swoll and then went for his teammate and the race lead. Both Joey Crown and Pierce Brown were able to get around Swoll. Then a mistake by Crown in the long rhythem section allowed Brown to take over third place. A few turns later, as Brown went to the outside to triple, Crown went to the inside to roll-double but made a mistake and lost his momentum going up the steep first jump. He stayed up but fell to the right and lost several positions, dropping out of transfer position. Out front, McAdoo grabbed the lead from Hammaker and checked out to take his second heat race win of the season.

250SX Heat 1

The second heat got out of the gates and Hunter Lawrence grabbed the holeshot and lead but it didn’t last for long because the race was quickly red flagged by the time he made it to the finish line. Ryan Sipes got a top-five start and cut the turn early to go underneath and to the inside. As Sipes cut down, Hardy Munoz ran directly into the side of him. There was also a separate crash that involved several riders over the first supercross triple, which called for the red flags and a full-gated restart.

When the gates dropped on the restart, Lawrence once again grabbed the holeshot and the lead! Championship leader and fastest qualifier Justin Cooper was outside of the top 12 off the gates of the restart but he quickly made passes to position himself in a transfer spot. Behind Lawrence out front, Mitchell Harrison and Ryan Sipes battled back and forth for second place until Harrison’s bike cut out when he was in the whoops, ending his race. Lawrence claimed his first career 250SX heat race win.

“That was probably one of the coolest races of my life,” he said afterwards.

450SX Heat 1

Out of the gates, Cooper Webb grabbed the lead, followed by Aaron Plessinger. In the fourth turn, Justin Barcia came in quick and fast on Plessinger, who didn’t see it coming but was able to check-up at the last minute. Plessinger was able to make his way back into second place and he left Barcia in the dust as he charged forward towards Webb. The #7 was able to catch up to Webb’s rear fender and he was trying different lines, going inside as Webb went outside and vice versa. But Plessinger wasn’t able to get close enough to pull off a full pass as Webb held on to take his first heat race win of the season. Dean Wilson crashed late in the race while in a transfer spot and will go to the LCQ.

450SX Heat 2

In the second 450SX heat race, Ken Roczen grabbed the holeshot and was challenged by Malcolm Stewart throughout the entire race. Eli Tomac was hindered by a bad start and he was only able to charge to third place, despite being the fastest rider. Tomac had caught up to the rear fender of Stewart but a mistake in the sand section stalled his bike and his run for second place. Eventually, Roczen finished with a two-second lead. After Webb earned his first heat race win, fastest qualifier Ken Roczen earned his seventh heat race win of the season. Jason Anderson, who was bumped wide off the start and was dead last, ended up finishing eighth.

“The track is going to be gnarly…it’s going to be interesting," Roczen said. “I’m pumped just to get away with another heat race win. It sets the tone for the night. …I just had fun out there.”

250SX LCQ

The last chance qualifiers are typically hectic but tonight’s 250SX LCQ had carnage like no other. Initially, Joey Crown grabbed the lead ahead of Ryan Surratt. Surratt was slow to the inside of the 180-degree sand turn and Ty Masterpool blasted by after railing the outside of the berm. Hardy Munoz made a pass on Masterpool and was charging hard until he was launched off his Yamaha in the landing before going through the over-under bridge. He got up and remounted quickly but the race was red flagged as recent JMC Motorsports Racing rider Ramy Alves was down hard. 

The race was restarted and Crown got the holeshot and lead again. However, he suffered a crash of his own, which resulted in a red flag and restart. He was eventually helped to his feet by the medical crew before waving to the crowd and riding off on the back of the medical cart. Bummer to see Crown's night end the way if did after his great start in his heat race.

On the third and final try, the race was not restarted. Ty Masterpool grabbed the lead but was eventually passed my Munoz. Colten Eigenmann was in a transfer spot until a crash in the big sand-pit turn ended his hopes of qualifying. Eigenmann's crash also collected an unfortunate Jerry Robin, who was running fifth and had nowhere to go when the #815 went down ahead of him. Munoz and Ty Masterpool would finish 1-2 to qualify for their first respective AMA Supercross main events. Behind them, Mitchell Harrison and Ryan Surratt held on to transfer to the main event as well.

450SX LCQ

Luckily, the 450SX LCQ didn’t see quite as much carnage. Kevin Moranz (a 250SX East Region rider racing his KTM 250 SX-F in the 450SX Class) holeshot the race but would eventually get shuffled out of a transfer spot. Dean Wilson caught and passed race leader Mitchell Oldenburg on the last lap to take the checkered flag. Cade Clason lead early before finishing third. Kyle Chisholm was slammed into early in the race but he managed to finish in fourth.

250SX Main Event

When the gate dropped, supercross rookie Stilez Robertson’s race started off completely different from his first AMA Supercross main event. At the Orlando 2 Supercross, he laned on Jeremy Martin in a clearly accidental racing accident. Tonight, the #67 found himself in the lead of the entire field. Robertson went on to lead the field around with clear air as everyone shuffles around behind him. Hunter Lawrence started inside the top five but dropped back to eighth after going down in the 180-degree sand turn. Cooper continued to make pass after pass as the race continued but it wasn’t easy. He started to slide out in the turn coming out of the turn below the over-under bridge, which cost him some time he had just made up on those ahead of him.

Back out front, Cameron McAdoo (who started fifth) made his way around Coty Schock (third) and Alex Martin (second) before catching up to the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider out front. Robertson ended up leading the first eight laps of the main event before McAdoo caught him and passed him for the lead. Behind them, championship leader Justin Cooper had to fight through the pack after a poor start (15th after the first lap).

When the checked flag flew, McAdoo earned his first career 250SX main event win, becoming the fifth rider to earn their first career win at Daytona International Speedway. Behind him, Robertson held on for second and Brown held off a charging Cooper to claim the final spot on the podium in his return to racing.

"This is unreal," McAdoo said. "The list of people I have to thank is too long for this interview...That was unreal. That was what we work for, I have such a great group of people behind me. …I can’t thank everyone around me enough. This is only the beginning!”

With McAdoo's win he takes over the points lead. He'll have a four-point lead over Cooper and the red backgrounds on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250 at the Arlington 1 Supercross next Saturday. 

“I got a good start and I was out front and I was like, ‘Well what do I do now!?’" said Robertson. "…I just tried to put in solid laps. …yeah, we did it!"

“It’s all worth it," Brown said on his long recovery process form his knee injury back in September. "I haven’t been behind the gate in eight or nine months. ...First race back, podium dude, this is awesome. Im so stocked. I can’t thank the whole team enough. ..got into the pace, people started falling and I started making passes. …Justin was right on me, I knew I had to make it happen.”

450SX Main Event

Eli Tomac said coming into this weekend that he was in must-win mode and he really wanted to take the win today. Well for someone who struggled to get starts when he needs them, Tomac did exactly what he needed to tonight: get a start. When the 450SX field came into the first turn, Tomac (from a rather far inside gate) shuffled in behind Cooper Webb going into the first turn. While Webb was the first into the second turn but appeared to go too wide in the second turn, which allowed the defending champion to slide up the inside and into the lead. That move into the lead was all Tomac needed as he got out front. Webb held onto second place but his wide second turn held up Ken Roczen just enough to push him out of the top five.

Webb and Plessinger engaged in another battle just as they did in their heat race. Plessinger got a great drive through the whoops and made a clean pass on Webb. They continued to jostle for second place but eventually, Webb dropped back a little and was feeling heat from Roczen, who charged through Chase Sexton, Malcolm Stewart, and Justin Barcia to hold tight over fourth place. Webb and Roczen engaged in a battle for third place but then their battle was caught by a battle between Stewart Musquin. Roczen made a mistake in the long rhythm section before the finish line and Stewart snuck past him. Musquin was trying to navigate around Roczen as well but the #25 was unable to. The #94 would return to fourth place and Stewart would eventually finish fifth.

Out front, Tomac and Plessinger were yo-yoing around 2.5 to 4 seconds between one another. There was a six-second gap back to Webb, but the #2 charged until the checkered flag. On the last lap, Webb managed to pass Plessinger coming out of the final turn before that long finish line section to steal away second place.

Broc Tickle suffered a crash on the 14th lap when he went down right in front of the takeoff for the over-under bridge. Late in the race when inside the top five, Musquin pulled into the mechanics’ area and his night was over. He completed 14 laps (Tomac did 18 total laps), officially recorded 21st.

With Tomac's win, he tied Ricky Carmichael for the most premier class Daytona Supercross main event wins as they each have five 450SX wins at the speedway.

"Oh I was so pumped on that start," Tomac said. "All I can say is that Daytona is our house, I love it. I just love riding my dirt bike here and it shows. That was crucial for us to get out there and get that win. ...just had so much fun on my bike tonight. And thank you to Monster Energy Kawasaki. Like I said before, that was so big for us to get this win!” 

Webb finished on the podium for the sixth time this season and he gained four points on Roczen in the standings. 

"Yeah, it was a great night," Webb said. "Overall, I kinda struggled all day and struggled this week. Man, I was trying to hang with Eli but he was hauling butt. And then AP was riding awesome, he got around me and was riding some great laps. Definitely rode pretty tight in that main event but it is what it is. I put my head down there at the end and made some good lap times it started clicking later in that main event. And I was able to get AP there at the end, which was nice to get a second place tonight and another podium, so that was great. It’s always fun coming to Daytona. It’s always a great event. And it’s cool to Eli to get that record, so hats off to them.”

Although Plessinger got caught by Webb on the last lap, he had his best 450 race to date.

“Me and the team, we’ve been working hard,” Plessinger said on his first premier-class podium. “The last two years they’ve been real tough. To come up here and just get back up on the podium, it means a lot to me. I can’t thank them [the team] enough. They’ve stood behind me and they see my potential and they never gave up. I couldn’t ask for more. I’d like to thank them 100 times over.

"You know, my wife back home is 37 weeks pregnant. And I’m ready to go home and become a dad again. It’s tough to fight back the tears. …I wish I could have kept Coop behind me those last few laps but you know, it happens. It’ll come easier now. I wanted to come up here to show the mustache off, to show the mullet off, I mean,  I’ve been waiting to do that for a while. Ah, shoot! Do it for Dale! Wooo!”