Blow by blow reports from 250-450 AMA SX Daytona Mains

2024 AMA Supercross Championship

Round Eight – Daytona Speedway, Florida

450 Main

Ken Roczen came back from a small tip-over in the opening 450 Heat to win that contest ahead of Chase Sextn and Aaron Plessinger. Hunter Lawrence seventh in that opening Heat.

The second Heat saw Yamaha’s Justin Cooper and Eli Tomac break away early on. Tomac eventually overhauled Cooper before just seconds later Jett Lawrence blew past both of them with apparent ease. The track is heavy and technical, treading the line between caution and aggression finer than ever on the dark sand base.

Drama on the gates as Honda mechanics couldn’t get the tyre cover off the back of the CRF450F of Jett Lawrence. The tyre blanket finally came loose, perhaps a second before the gates dropped.

Chase Sexton got away well to take the early lead from Eli Tomac.  Jett Lawrence recovered from that start-line drama to quickly move up to third place. Jett looked to be struggling with vision as he continually reached for his goggles over the opening lap.

Ken Roczen then closed in on the Aussie youngster and started to challenge for third place. Hunter Lawrence moved past Dylan Ferrandis for fifth on lap two. He stayed there for a few laps before going out of the race at the five-minute mark.

Up front Chase Sexton looked to be running away with it. Four-minutes in and he had almost four-seconds on Tomac but the Yamaha rider then started to pull some of that ground back. Coming with him was Jett Lawrence…

Jett Lawrence then took Tomac for second.

A few turns later Jett was into the race lead and immediately started to pull away.

As the race approached the halfway mark Jett Lawrence led Sexton by three-seconds. Eli Tomac was two-seconds further back in third, his YZ450F was now consistently trailing smoke… His mechanics signalled him to take it easy on the clutch in order to make it to the flag but Tomac never saw the signals.

Ken Roczen was ten-seconds further back in fourth place and had his hands full with a charging Dylan Ferrandis. Aaron Plessinger had been running fourth before coming up short on a jump and taking a hefty tumble.

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Jett Lawrence was now lapping two-seconds quicker than his closest pursuers. With five-minutes left on the clock Jett led Sexton by 12-seconds. Tomac was still within striking distance of Sexton. Cooper Webb had moved past Ferrandis and was shaping up to challenge Roczen for fourth place.

With two laps to run Eli Tomac was all over Chase Sexton in the battle for second place. Tomac got it done and immediately pulled a gap over the defending champion.  Further back Webb got the better of Roczen for fourth place as he continued to recover from a poor start.

Jett Lawrence backed it off on the final lap as he dealt with plenty of lapped traffic, taking the chequered flag six-seconds ahead of Tomac. Chase Sexton rounded out the podium ahead of Cooper Webb. That was Jett’s third win of the season.

The Daytona victory extended Jett’s championship lead to ten-points over Cooper Webb. Chase Sexton now 13-points off the lead in third and three-points ahead of Eli Tomac.

450 Main Results

450 Championship Points

250 Main

Haiden Deegan bounced back from a big off during practice to finish second to McAdoo in the opening 250 Heat to secure a good gate pick.  Max Anstie won the second Heat ahead of Tom Vialle and Seth Hammaker.

Cam McAdoo got the early lead in the Main ahead of Haiden Deegan and Seth Hammaker. Deegan briefly took the lead from McAdoo but the Kawasak rider came right back at him to move straight back into the lead.

Deegan then briefly stalled his machine which saw Hammaker demote him to third. Tom Vialle then pushed Deegan further back to fourth.  Championship leader Max Anstie was outside the top ten.

At the halfway point of the 15-minute plus one-lap race Cam McAdoo enjoyed a two-second lead over Tom Vialle but the KTM rider was starting to reel him in.  Seth Hammaker was a further four-seconds back in third place, with a two-second buffer over Haiden Deegan.

A mistake from McAdoo then allowed Vialle to sweep through to the lead with just under seven-minutes left on the clock.

Haiden Deegan then made another mistake, but pulled off a miraculous save that was almost like an enduro style pivot-turn and lost little time to Hammaker.

With two laps to go Vialle led McAdoo by seven-seconds. Hammaker was a further two-seconds back in third, but with a handy six-second buffer over fourth placed Haiden Deegan.

Tom Vialle went on to secure his maiden AMA Supercross round victory. The 23-year-old Frenchman took the chequered flag five-seconds ahead of McAdoo and was by far the fastest rider on what was a tough and heavy track.

Seth Hammaker tried hard to chase down his team-mate over the final laps but couldn’t get the better of McAdoo, rounding out the podium six-seconds ahead of fourth-placed Haiden Deegan. Pierce Brown fifth.

Championship leader Max Anstie finished eighth to retain his lead by a single-point over Cameron McAdoo and Pierce Brown. Tom Vialle moved up to fourth in the championship chase, only three-points from the lead and equal with Haiden Deegan.

Tom Vialle

“It was nice to grab the win after having my first podium last week and now my first victory here in Daytona. The track was tough, but I actually feel good. I didn’t have a great start, but I passed a lot of guys and it feels so good – it’s amazing to win. I want to thank my team and everybody who works with me and supports me. It’s amazing to race at Daytona and to get this result!”

250 main Results

250 East Championship Points

250 Qualifying Results

250 Heat One Results

250 Heat Two Results

250 LCQ Results

450 Qualifying Results

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two Results

450 LCQ Results