2024 Daytona Supercross | Race Report

Presented by FXR

By Austin Rohr
Photos by Michael Antonovich

Round eight of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship made its annual visit to the world-famous Daytona International Speedway. Rain earlier in the day made for a deeply rutted, challenging track, but at the end of the night, Tom Vialle and Jett Lawrence navigated to victories in their respective classes.

250 Heat One

Jeremy Martin, in his return to racing after a crash in the opening 250SX East round in Detroit, Michigan, pulled the holeshot and took the early lead. Early in the race, Cameron McAdoo and Pierce Brown began to apply the pressure to Martin. The two riders traded positions with Haiden Deegan lurking in fourth. Deegan eventually found his way by Brown, and McAdoo would catch and pass Martin for the lead.

With less than a minute on the clock, Martin fell while trying to maintain second over Deegan. He remounted in seventh. Out front, though, McAdoo had control of the lead and took the first heat win of the night.

250 Heat Two

Coty Shock snuck to the inside of fast qualifier Daxton Bennick to take the holeshot, but Bennick was quick to take over the lead. Red plate holder Max Anstie made moves immediately, first getting by Schock and then capitalizing on a mistake by Bennick to close in for the pass. Further back, Tom Vialle worked his way through the pack and set his sights on Bennick. A small crash by Bennick would give Vialle the position. Meanwhile, Anstie had built up a gap on the rest of the field and would go on to claim the heat win–his first ever in the 250SX class.

250 LCQ

Marshal Weltin crossed the stripe ahead of the pack, but Christopher Blackmer dove inside and took over first place. However, Weltin took the lead back soon after. Bryton Carroll moved up from third and got by Blackmer. Blackmer attempted to pass him back on the inside but tipped over. Then, Carroll stalled, allowing Jace Kessler to get by for second. Further back, a battle between Bryce Shelly and Lorenzo Locurcio for the final transfer spot was underway. A mistake leading to an off-track excursion cost Shelly fourth place, and a tip-over soon after gave Locurcio room to breathe. Weltin, meanwhile, secured the win and his place in the main event.

250 Main Event

Haiden Deegan narrowly grabbed the holeshot, but Cameron McAdoo had the inside line on him and grabbed first. Deegan, using the split lane, passed McAdoo before the finish line. Shortly after, McAdoo’s outside line choice before the whoops gave him the drive to pass Deegan back. Seth Hammaker and Tom Vialle were quick to take advantage, also passing Deegan on the same lap. Vialle found a good pace and made the pass on Hammaker for second. He wasn’t done there, either, as he began cutting into McAdoo’s lead.

At the halfway mark, a mistake by McAdoo led to an off-track excursion, and Vialle was able to take first place. In a matter of a few laps, Vialle opened up a sizable gap over the rest of the field.

Further back, a battle between Daxton Bennick and Jalek Swoll was underway. Bennick got the better of Swoll, but he went down in a rhythm section near the end of the race. Max Anstie then put in a charge on Swoll with valuable points on the line. The two would cross the finish line side by side, nearly coming together, with Swoll barely holding off Anstie.

There was no contest at the front of the field, however, and Vialle claimed his first 250SX main event win. McAdoo and Hammaker rounded out the podium.

450 Heat One

Ken Roczen got the better of Justin Barcia around the first corner to take the holeshot. Roczen quickly opened up a gap, but tucked the front end and allowed Barcia to inherit the lead. Benny Bloss and Chase Sexton would also get by. However, Roczen recovered and put in a charge, passing both riders back in a single rhythm lane. A lap later, Roczen used the same quad into the rhythm lane to leap past Barcia and take the lead once again. Soon, Sexton also made a move on Barcia and began taking the same line as Roczen.

With two laps to go, a race for the lead ensued between Roczen and Sexton. Sexton reeled Roczen in several times, but small errors would stall his progress. With a few corners to go, Sexton tried an outside line to make the move and laid the bike down. Roczen would ride on to take the win.

450 Heat Two

Jason Anderson, Eli Tomac, and Justin Cooper crossed the holeshot line side by side, but Tomac’s front wheel would edge out his competitors. However, Cooper quickly took the lead in the opening rhythm lane. While Tomac and Anderson looked to settle in and find their pace, Dylan Ferrandis and Jett Lawrence were on their way forward. The two riders would slip past Anderson, with Ferrandis challenging Tomac at one point. However, Lawrence soon established himself in third and began to pressure Tomac.

Tomac responded to the pressure from Lawrence and picked up the pace, making the pass on Cooper. Just a few corners later, though, Lawrence would dive to the inside of both riders and move from first to third. With a clear track ahead, Lawrence kept up his pace and took the final heat race win of the night.

450 LCQ

Grabbing the holeshot was Devin Simonson, but Freddie Noren was quick to take over the lead. Falling in just behind was Kyle Chisholm, Jeremy Hand, and Grant Harlan. However, Harlan fell back to fifth as John Short put himself in the final transfer position. While Short comfortably held a place in the main, he continued his charge forward and made the pass on hand for third. Similarly, Chisholm kept the pressure on Noren, nearly catching him at the finish. Noren would win by half a bike length.

450 Main Event

Rocketing out to the lead was Chase Sexton. Eli Tomac was quick to bring the pressure, and just behind was Jett Lawrence. The opening minutes of the race were a game of cat and mouse, as each rider searched for the best lines and tried to find their flow. At one point, Ken Roczen appeared to be set up to make the pass on Lawrence but later faded back.

Shortly before the halfway point, Lawrence pulled alongside Tomac in one of the more technical rhythms of the track and executed the pass. Capitalizing on the momentum, Lawrence caught Sexton for the lead. Tomac attempted to get by Sexton quickly as well, but he appeared to be struggling with the bike as smoke started to pour out of it.

Behind the top three, Dylan Ferrandis went to work on Roczen for fourth place. He made the pass but ran into an issue with five minutes to go and dropped to seventh. Behind them, Aaron Plessinger came up short in a rhythm section and had to jump through the bars. Cooper Webb then started to close in near the end of the race, setting his sights on Roczen for fourth. Webb would make the move with two laps left.

As for Lawrence, he was able to open up a double-digit gap over Sexton and pull away from the field. Behind him, Tomac put in yet another charge on Sexton and made the move on the outside. Lawrence’s lead would shrink but go unchallenged, and he claimed the win at Daytona.

SX Futures Main

Gavin Towers jumped ahead to the lead early, with Drew Adams and Cole Davies behind. Adams kept the pressure on Towers, eventually making the move. Towers tried to latch on to Adams, but his rear wheel spun out on the face of the triple just a few corners later and he was thrown over the handlebars in a violent endo. He would remount in 17th. Out front, Adams made a handful of mistakes with two laps to go that allowed Davies to close in, but despite the pressure he held on for the win. Casey Cochran rounded out the podium in third.