2018 Daytona Supercross Results:
Brayton Wins Shocker

Less than a week before his 34^th birthday, Justin Brayton took his career-first Supercross win at the 2018 Daytona Supercross. Brayton, who now sits third in the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series standings, was joined on the podium by Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb in a wild Main Event on the Daytona International Speedway infield. Tomac, Jason Anderson, and Marvin Musquin all crashed in the Main.

1. Justin Brayton earned his win by leading all but one lap of the Daytona Main. Passing holeshotter Christian Craig on the first lap, Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda) led all but one lap of the Main. Musquin passed Brayton on Lap 4, but crashed on the following lap. From there, Brayton was never challenged—his lead peaked at nearly six seconds on Lap 12—and he rode a steady race to the finish. Brayton ran 1:14s almost every lap of the race, after sprinting early with two 1:13 laps, and then turning it on for the penultimate lap for another 1:13 to hold off a charging Tomac. Not only was this Brayton’s first Supercross win ever, but it is also Honda’s first 450SX win of 2018. Brayton is now the oldest rider in history to win a Supercross, taking the title away from Mike LaRocco.

2. Jason Anderson made the best of a bad night, though he needed some help. In the first lap of his Heat, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) hit a Tuff Block that was knocked onto the track by Musquin. Anderson remounted and had an epic ride that transferred him to the Main. With a poor gate pick, Anderson was caught up in the pack in the first turn and finished Lap 1 (of 18) in 14^th Things got worse for Anderson, as he fell on the following lap, getting passed by Tomac who went down on Lap 1. Anderson regrouped and worked his way into the top 10 by Lap 6. Anderson found himself just one position behind Musquin after Musquin fell a second time, but couldn’t follow Musquin through the pack. Anderson eventually got by Dean Wilson and Blake Baggett to finish in seventh place, Anderson’s worst result of 2018.

3. It was a what-if night for Marvin Musquin. When Musquin (Red Bull KTM) took the lead momentarily on Lap 3, he was just 26 points (one race) behind Anderson as they ran at the moment. However, Musquin had a tear-off stick to his left hand, and with that distraction he missed a jump, ran off the track at the mechanics’ area, and went down. With the tear-off still attached to him, Musquin missed the chicane less than two laps later, going off the track and hitting the deck again. That dropped Musquin to ninth place, but he regained his focus and was able to work his way up to fifth place, passing Weston Peick with three laps to go. However, instead of taking a huge chunk out of Anderson’s lead, Musquin gains just two points on Anderson in the standings—he’s an even 40 back.

4. Eli Tomac crashed early, but stormed to the podium. A huge favorite coming into Daytona, Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) made an overly aggressive pass attempt on Webb in their Heat and they both went down. That gave Tomac the 12^th gate pick, making a holeshot highly unlikely. Tomac got caught up in the pack, and crashed, putting him in last place. In just two laps, Tomac was up to 12^th place, and from there he methodically picked off riders while putting in consistent 1:13 lap times, and dropping into the 1:12s twice. With three laps to go, Tomac looked like he might catch Brayton for the win, but Brayton turned it up on Lap 17, and Tomac responded with his worst full lap of the night on the final lap. With his second place, Tomac is closing in on Baggett for fourth in the Supercross season standings, though Tomac is still 63 points behind Anderson with seven rounds remaining.

5. Cooper Webb had an impressive ride after a mediocre start. After getting t-boned by Tomac in the Heat, Webb had the eighth gate pick and was eighth at the start. On Lap 3, Webb passed Malcolm Stewart and a downed Vince Friese. A lap later, Webb passed Wilson to get into the top 5. When Musquin went off the track for the second time, Webb moved up to fourth, and grabbed a podium spot by passing Peick just before the halfway point. Webb went by Christian Craig on Lap 13 for second, but surrendered the spot to Tomac on Lap 15 when they came upon a stopped Malcolm Stewart. It’s Webb’s first podium of 2018, and his fourth consecutive top 6 finish.

6. Team Honda HRC must be wondering why Christian Craig wasn’t on the team all year. Craig grabbed the holeshot winning his Heat, and was quickly passed by eventual-winner Brayton. However, Craig hung tough for the first half of the Main. After running in the 1:14s early, Craig dropped into the 1:15 to 1:17 range for the second half. Craig held second until Lap 13, when he was passed by Webb and Tomac. With a fourth place at Daytona and a fifth last week in Atlanta (where he led two of the Triple Crown Mains), Craig is looking strong. If he can up his endurance, he will certainly be a podium threat, and a potential Main winner.

7. Fox Sports did not treat the Daytona Supercross well. The Heats were pre-empted by some sort of NASCAR race on FS1, with Supercross shuffled off to FS2 and the inconsistently streamed Fox Sports Go. At the end of the night, FS1 cut away from Brayton’s victory celebration for a meaningless NCAA basketball promo. Plus, there were no podium interviews for Tomac or Webb. Get it right next time, Fox Sports!

   Photo by Simon Cudby

2018 Daytona Supercross Results, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach

1. Justin Brayton, Honda
2. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
3. Cooper Webb, Yamaha
4. Christian Craig, Honda
5. Marvin Musquin, KTM
6. Weston Peick, Suzuki
7. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
8. Dean Wilson, Husqvarna
9. Blake Baggett, KTM
10. Broc Tickle, KTM
11. Benny Bloss, KTM
12. Chad Reed, Husqvarna
13. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha
14. Tyler Bowers, Kawasaki
15. Kyle Cunningham
16. Malcolm Stewart, Suzuki
17. Vince Friese, Honda 5
18. Bradley Taft, Yamaha
19. Dakota Tedder, KTM
20. Ben Lamay, Honda
21. Carlen Gardner, Honda
22. Cedric Soubeyras, Suzuki

2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 10 of 17 rounds)

1. Jason Anderson, 223 points (4 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 183 (1 win)
3. Justin Brayton, 170 (1 win)
4. Blake Baggett, 164
5. Eli Tomac, 160 (4 wins)
6. Weston Peick, 153
7. Cooper Webb, 146
8. Broc Tickle, 131
9. Cole Seely, 124
10. Justin Barcia, 113
11. Ken Roczen, 102
12. Dean Wilson, 100
13. Malcolm Stewart, 89
14. Vince Friese, 87
15. Josh Grant, 83
16. Chad Reed, 81
17. Tyler Bowers, 69
18. Kyle Cunningham, 57
19. Benny Bloss, 51
20. Ben Lamay, 45
21. Kyle Chisholm, 40
22. Christian Craig, 37
23. Jeremy Martin, 36
24. Alex Ray, 22
25. Cole Martinez, 20
26. Justin Hill, 18
27. Matthew Bisceglia, 15
28. Dakota Tedder, 14
29. Adam Enticknap, 12
30. Justin Bogle, 12
31. Cedric Soubeyras, 7
32. AJ Catanzaro, 7
33. Bradley Taft, 5
34. Justin Starling, 5
35. Jake Weimer, 5
36. Henry Miller, 5
37. Austin Politelli, 4
38. Brandon Scharer, 3
39. Carlen Gardner, 2