View From The Floor: Epic (Again) at Daytona 2

The location is iconic, and the action's always good at Daytona. This year was no exception.

GuyB
3/11/2019 9:29pm
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Since it's run by the Speedway crew, Daytona used to have a completely different feel than other rounds of the Feld-produced Monster Energy Supercross series. There was a different primary sponsor (Honda), and less Monster visibility. In the past few years, however, it feels a lot more like one of the regular rounds.

Before the race, much of the chatter was about the long straightaway that some compared to the Red Bull Straight Rhythm. During press day, some rider were knocking out big combos, but the start of the mid-to-end section was modified before the start of practice to try and minimize some of that. The only major casualty we saw in here was Aaron Plessinger's crash. Last year's winner, Justin Brayton, was ninth this year.

One of the better battles of the night was in the second 450 heat, between Cole Seely (who ended up fourth), and Blake Baggett (who won).

To keep things hopping, nearly everything is on a timer. (That's the right hand.) The left hand? That's dropping the gate.

Eli Tomac liked railing around the second turn and entering the sand straight that way.

Ken Roczen looked like he was feeling better this week, after a couple of weeks of dealing with the flu.

Watch out, gang...Blake Baggett is getting his starts figured out. He led the way in both of his races Saturday night.

It's cool to see some of the iconic bits of Daytona lore sprinkled around the SX track, like the Rolex arch as you enter the track.

The crowd was large, and many of them were on their feet all night long. It's cool to see all the familiar numbers up on the Speedway's scoring pylon.

Duke Finch has been doing this for a good long time.

Part of the different flavor of the event is due to the announcing crew. Rob Buydos was handling a chunk of the activity from the floor, with Kevin Kelly up above.

Ha! We like the message on the back of Chris Blose's helmet.

It's always good to see Ryan Sipes' pop at the races, and the expression rarely changes.

It looks like Austin Forkner had control of the start in the 250 main, but Kyle Peters railed around the outside to lead the first two laps.

Kyle Cunningham was down at the entrance of the second turn, and he fought his way back to ninth, despite some nice burnout marks on his back.

Ryan Sipes was going for the Florida trifecta...250 SX, GNCC the next day, and there's a flattrack event back at the speedway later this week.

Kyle Peters led the first two laps before he got zapped by Forkner as they went over the wall jump.

Mitchell Oldenburg caught in the blast zone. He missed the 250 podium by one spot, but that was a whole lot better than the week before when his arm and shoulder were so bruised up that he couldn't race in Atlanta.

Chase Sexton is close to Forkner's speed...but so far not close enough. He was second this time around.

Forkner thoroughly enjoyed his post-race burnout, catching gears on his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki in front of some very happy fans.

Bad idea of the night? "Where's Mitch!" The Boss isn't a big fan of getting sprayed with champagne. He might make an exception for a title, though.

The riders pretty much lined up from the inside to the outside like they qualified. It was a lot shorter line from the inside to the apex of the first turn.

Looking at the original track map for the event, it appeared that there were whoops exiting the first turn. Luckily, that turned out to not be the case. Oh, by the way, Blake Baggett's starts are on point.

Ugh, it was a bummer to see both Team Honda HRC riders tangled together in the first turn, trying to wrestle apart their bikes. Ken Roczen made it back to eighth after remounting.

Here's how the pack was stretched out early in the 450 main. Blake Baggett out front, with Eli Tomac behind him, followed by Marvin Musquin, Cooper Webb, and Joey Savatgy.

Marvin Musquin is right in the mix, and we wouldn't be shocked to see him score a win.

Chad Reed got a big nod from the Speedway during rider intros for his long career. He was tenth this week.

Joey Savatgy continues to be impressive in his rookie season, grabbing a fifth this week.

Marvin Musquin was fastest in practice, but just a tick off the speed needed during the night show. He did grab another podium finish, though

Blake Baggett is one to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

Cooper Webb got bumped off the top of the podium this week, but he still has the red plates for the series points lead. The gap is now 19 over Eli Tomac.

Zach Osborne's sixth was his best 450 result so far. Unfortunately, Aaron Plessinger crashed out and ended up with a broken heel.

Blake Baggett ran up front early in the main, and Tomac had to go by him twice during the race.

Reedy was 10th this time around. We're pretty sure censored is Australian for CBD.

Light 'em up. Burnouts are a much-loved tradition at Daytona, and Eli took care of business.

Justin Starling shutting down the LITPro after the 450 main.

The podium at Daytona always brings the heat.


Related:
Blake Baggett
Chad Reed
Cole Seely
Cooper Webb
Eli Tomac
Joey Savatgy
Justin Brayton
Justin Starling
Ken Roczen
Kyle Peters
Marvin Musquin
Mitchell Oldenburg
Austin Forkner
Ryan Sipes
Chase Sexton
Daytona
Chris Blose
View From The Floor
2019 Monster Energy Supercross
Duke Finch
Rob Buydos
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