2020 Daytona Supercross | Race Report

250 Heat One

The first start in Daytona went to Star Yamaha’s Shane Mcelrath, as RJ Hampshire got tangled up in a first turn pile-up. Jordon Smith and Jordan Bailey made their way into second and third place after the first whoop section. Just before a rider went down in the whoops, causing a huge pileup. RJ Hampshire began making moves, as he passed into a transfer spot and continued to race toward the front of the pack. After being held up in the pile-up, Enzo Lopes passed into the final transfer spot and settled in just behind Hampshire. With a minute left on the clock, Jo Shimoda made the pass on Jace Owen and then Thurman for fifth place. On the final lap, Jo continued to move forward and secured fourth place after a pass on Carter Halpain, while RJ Hampshire moved into the sixth place spot. Shane Mcelrath took the heat race win after a dominating performance. 

250 Heat Two

The second start of the night went to GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin, with Gaines just behind him. Going into the sand, Garrett Marchbanks made a pass for second place on Gaines. Then, Gaines made a mistake in the whoops and went down hard. He then got ran over by Chase Sexton and yet another pile-up formed, taking out a majority of the field. Back up front, Marchbanks made the pass on Martin and quickly opened up a lead. On lap two, more drama unfolded in the whoops as riders flew off track and Chase Sexton began picking up positions. With a minute left on the clock, Chase Sexton passed into third place after blitzing past Marquier in the whoops. Garrett Marchbanks took the second heat race win in Daytona. 

250 LCQ

The start in the 250cc LCQ and early lead went to Jalek Swoll, with Pierce Brown just behind him. Short unfortunately went down on the inside of the sand corner while running in the top-five. A lap later, Brown went down in the exact spot while running in second and dropped back into seventh place. Harlan then moved into the second place position, nearly 8-seconds behind Swoll. Dustin Winter dove to the inside and made a pass on Moranz for third. Moranz then came up short on the on-off, allowing Brown to make the pass and secure a transfer position. Jalek Swoll took the LCQ win after a dominating performance. 

250 Main Event

The 250cc Main Event start and the early lead went to Garrett Marchbanks, with teammate Jordon Smith right alongside. Shane Mcelrath quickly made a pass on Smith entering the sand, but then Smith took Shane and himself out trying to regain second place. Jordon Smith was extremely slow to get up with some obvious injury bringing his night to an end. Back up front, Marchbanks sat upfront with a comfortable lead one Sexton and Hampshire. Meanwhile, Shane Mcelrath was charging through the pack. Enzo Lopes went down while running in fourth place, allowing both Martin and Mcelrath by. Back up front, Marchbanks continued to lead with Sexton a few seconds behind, but both had over a 10-second lead on Hampshire and the rest of the field. With two laps to go, Jeremy Martin made the pass on RJ Hampshire for third place. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks put together a flawless race from start to finish and took home the win in Daytona.

450 Heat One

The first 450cc start in Daytona went to Aaron Plessinger, followed closely by his teammate Justin Barcia and Ryan Sipes. Ken Roczen quickly got past Sipes and then blitzed by Barcia in the whoops. Exiting the sand, Roczen went for the pass on the outside but Plessinger was able to take the line away and hold onto the lead. Ken Roczen tried to pass in the same section a lap later but was again denied. However, just a few seconds later Roczen blitzed by Aaron Plessinger in the whoops and took the lead. After a few more perfect laps, Ken Roczen took the heat race win in Daytona.

450 Heat Two

The second 450cc heat race start went to Chad Reed with Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson alongside. Going into the sand, Cooper Webb jumped by Reed and into the lead, as Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson had a drag race to the corner. Both Anderson and Tomac jumped by Reed in the rhythm section and secured the pass. A lap later, Eli Tomac came up short on an attempted triple and lost a fair amount of time on the leaders. With less than a minute on the clock, Cooper Webb got a little sideways through the whoops and allowed both Anderson and Tomac to close up on him. Anderson got close, but not close enough, as Cooper Webb took the final heat race win.

450 LCQ

The final start of the night before the main events went to Ryan Breece, with teammate Adam Enticknap just behind him. Martin Davalos entered third place in the sand and set his sights on the leaders. Weeks made a pass on Ronnie Stewart in the rhythm section, moving him into the final transfer position. Back up front, Davalos made the pass on Enticknap for second place. Just as it looked like Weeks was about to make the pass on Enticknap, Weeks hit the ground hard after casing an on-off. On the final lap, R. Stewart, Herrlein, and Ray battled for the final spot into the main, but Herrlein would end up securing the transfer position. Ryan Breece took the LCQ win. 

450 Main Event

The 450cc Main Event start and early lead in Daytona went to Jason Anderson with Ken Roczen right alongside. Blake Baggett went down hard after going off-track in the second turn. Ken Roczen quickly got by Jason Anderson and took the lead. The Yamaha teammates Aaron Plessinger and Justin Barcia sat in third and fourth, while Eli Tomac began pressuring Cooper Webb for fifth place. While second through sixth battled it out, Ken Roczen began checking out upfront. Cooper Webb jumped into the sand and made the pass on Justin Barcia,  and just a few seconds later made the pass on Plessinger for third. Justin Barcia then followed Webb by Aaron Plessinger, and then Eli Tomac also made the pass on AP. Justin Barcia tucked the front end exiting the sand and went down, allowing Tomac to get by. Cooper Webb started feeling some pressure from Tomac, so he began challenging Anderson for second place. It took a couple of laps after initiating, but Webb was able to make the pass on Anderson and move into the second place position. Eli Tomac tripled into the rhythm section when Anderson did not, giving Tomac the leverage he needed to make the pass, and like that Eli Tomac entered third place. A few laps later and Tomac sat bar to bar with Cooper Webb, battling for the second place position. Cooper Webb bobbled going into the sand and allowed Eli Tomac to make the pass. Immediately after passing Webb, Tomac began reeling in Roczen and caught up to the rear wheel after just a lap. After feeling the pressure for a few laps, Ken Roczen bobbled in an inside rut and Eli Tomac took the lead. Ken Roczen tried to respond but wasn’t able to regain the lead, and like that Eli Tomac took the win in Daytona and the points lead.