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Third Consecutive Daytona Sweep for Monster Energy® Kawasaki
Round 9 of the Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship arrived at Daytona International Speedway where Kawasaki showed its championship character sweeping both classes for the third year in a row. Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac captured his record-tying fifth victory at Daytona Supercross, while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Cameron McAdoo captured his first career 250SX win with teammates Jordon Smith and Seth Hammaker finishing 10th and 11th respectively.
Despite rain and lightning causing a delay in the schedule early in the day, Tomac didn’t let that stop him from laying down an electric lap time of 1:09.2 and qualifying first in the first timed session. Tomac went on to qualify third overall for the day.
450SX Heat 2 saw Tomac in third out of the gate, where he battled both for the lead and the challenging track eventually finishing in third.
As the gate dropped on the 450SX Main Event, the No. 1 KX™450 charged out of the starting gate aggressively and took the lead by the second turn of the first lap. Tomac continued showing great speed as he led the race for all 18 laps from start to checkers, earning his second win of the season. Saturday’s win marks the third consecutive year Kawasaki has won Daytona Supercross and Tomac’s fifth time to claim the top spot, tying Ricky Carmichael for the most wins of all-time at the legendary Daytona International Speedway.
“That was fun! I always enjoy riding at Daytona and it’s always been good to me. I was pretty strategic when picking my gate in the main because I was watching the other class and heat races and realized the inside might be my best shot at getting up front, which is exactly what I did. I fought for it too. Once I got out front, I wasn’t looking back. We’re still in this championship, so I’m not going down without a fight. I think we’ve found a good groove and I’m looking forward to our next stop in Dallas. I’m grateful for all the hard work and support from my entire Monster Energy Kawasaki team, I couldn’t have done this without them, especially five times!” - Eli Tomac
Round 2 of the 250SX Western Regional championship kicked off strong for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki trio of McAdoo, Hammaker, and Smith as they qualified second, fourth and ninth respectively.
As the gate dropped on 250SX Heat 1, it was the rookie, Hammaker who nearly grabbed the holeshot and swiftly took over the lead on the first lap. He quickly felt the pressure from his teammate McAdoo who lurked right behind him to eventually race side by side just briefly before stealing the lead. McAdoo went on to grab the checkers as Hammaker followed in second. Proving to be as tough as nails, Smith rode with fresh stitches following a crash in qualifying and rocketed out of the gate of Heat 2 aboard his KX™250 in second, where he went on to finish the race.
The 22-rider field lined up for the 250SX Main Event all vying for the victory, but as the gate dropped, the Kawasaki teammates found themselves around mid-pack. Just as Hammaker looked to be making moves in fifth place, a costly error in the sand section saw him drop to the back of the pack. Meanwhile, McAdoo began picking off riders one by one and creeping up on the race leader halfway through the race, while Smith had a bit of a rollercoaster race changing positions from seventh to 13th, and then eventually settling into 10th. Hammaker showed great determination as he clawed his way back through the pack and catching up to his teammate Smith to finish right behind him in 11th. It was McAdoo with the standout performance of the night though as he went on to make a pass for the lead by Lap 9 and grab his first career 250SX win. The victory is the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team’s third year in a row to win at Daytona Supercross and moves McAdoo into first in points for the 250SX Western Regional Championship.
“That was unreal. That is what we work so hard for. I can’t thank all of the guys at Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki enough for providing me all of the tools to get here. I have such a great team behind me. I have to give a special shout out to my mom because in 2016, she drove me all the way out here to Daytona in a van and now this is where we are. This is just the beginning and I look forward to continue working my butt off for more nights like this.” - Cameron McAdoo
“Tonight was definitely a rough one. After crashing in qualifying and really being unsure if I would even be able to race the rest of the day, I would say we pulled off a good result. I did my best to fight through the pain and ride as smoothly as possible. I’m thankful for all of the team’s efforts and support I’ve received even throughout my injuries, so I put it all out there for them tonight. I’m hoping to get some rest and then back to work.” - Jordon Smith
“I felt great all day and thought I was riding well, especially in my heat race. I definitely had some confidence built up after the results of the last race, so I was looking forward to racing today. Unfortunately, I made an error in the sand section in the main event which cost me big time, but something I never do is give up and I just kept trying to make up positions as fast as I could. I want to thank Mitch and the entire Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team for all their support this far and I’m already looking forward to lining up next weekend in Arlington.” - Seth Hammaker