Justin Brayton Has Career Breakthrough – Wins DAYTONA Monster Energy Supercross

As if getting the chance to qualify and race DAYTONA wasn’t enough of an accomplishment in itself, Justin Brayton went out and smashed the competition en route to not only his first ever Supercross victory, but Brayton also set the record for the oldest racer to ever win a Supercross (33 years, 11 months), edging out both Chad Reed (32 years, 11 months) and Mike LaRocco (33 years, 1 month). Justin Brayton made motorcycle racing history in epic fashion Saturday night. Joining Brayton on the podium was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and Monster Energy Yamama’s Cooper Webb in second and third, respectively. Tomac and Webb had a run-in together during their heat race that saw both riders go down – could this be a new rivalry? Probably so…

Troy Lee Designs / KTM rider Jordon Smith also had a stellar night, winning both his heat race and the main. Last year’s DAYTONA winner, GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin, finished in second with Monster Energy / Pro Circuit’s Austin Forkner in third. Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne finished just off the podium in fourth with a crazy charge at the end. He and Forkner will now share the points lead and red number plate going into St. Louis.

Press Release

Justin Brayton Daytona Supercross 2018

Begin Release:

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – March 11, 2018 – Veteran rider Justin Brayton had a career breakthrough Saturday night on one of motorsports’ biggest stages, winning the DAYTONA Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship at Daytona International Speedway for his first victory in Supercross competition.

Brayton, a 33-year-old privateer entrant from Mint Hill, North Carolina, rode a Honda CRF 450 to the upset victory in the 450SX main event. He held off two-time defending Daytona champion Eli Tomac (Kawasaki) of Cortez, Colorado by 4.450 seconds. Tomac dramatically charged back to a runner-up finish after a first-lap accident sent him tumbling – and also sent him to the rear of the field. Cooper Webb of Newport, North Carolina, finished third on a Yamaha.

“I usually struggle so bad at Daytona, like, I come to get a top 10 but today I just felt great,” Brayton said. “I cannot believe it. I’m a Supercross winner. I’m in the record books, at freaking Daytona. Are you kidding me?”

Tomac was attempting to become the fourth rider to win the DAYTONA Monster Energy Supercross three consecutive times.

“I never gave up,” Tomac said. “I did what I could but Justin was riding great, so congrats to him. When you’re that far back all you can do is charge forward. And I was just like ‘let’s get to this podium.’”

The two 450SX heats, which each advanced nine riders to the main event, were won by Brayton and Christian Craig of Orange, California. Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki) of Elsinore, California took the Last Chance Qualifier, which filled out the main event field by advancing four riders.

Jordon Smith of Belmont, North Carolina, won the 250SX main aboard a KTM, edging 2016 Daytona 250SX champion Jeremy Martin (Honda CRF) of Millville, Minnesota at the finish by 0.979 seconds. Earlier, Smith won one of two 250SX heats while Zach Osborne (Husqvarna) of Arlington, Virginia – the fourth-place finisher in the main event – took the other heat. The 250SX Last Chance Qualifier went to Richard Jackson (KTM) of Holdenville, Oklahoma.

“It was a crazy race to win at Daytona – there’s no better place to win,” Smith said. “I got to do a burnout by the checkered flag and that’s just amazing to be able to check that off my list.”

The DAYTONA Monster Energy Supercross was the first racing event of the 77th annual Bike Week At DAYTONA. Racing continues at DIS on Sunday and Monday with the Ricky Carmichael Amateur Supercross, followed by the FLY Racing ATV Supercross on Tuesday, the DAYTONA TT American Flat Track on Thursday night and the historic, 77th annual DAYTONA 200 on Saturday, March 17.

Register at feldmediaguides.com/supercross to view official Monster Energy Supercross race highlights:
Videos
Photos

For official race results, please visit results.amasupercross.com.

450SX Class Results

  1. Justin Brayton, Mint Hill, N.C., Honda
  2. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
  3. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha
  4. Christian Craig, Orange, Calif., Honda
  5. Marvin Musquin, Clermont, Fla., KTM
  6. Weston Peick, Menifee, Calif., Suzuki
  7. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna
  8. Dean Wilson, Clermont, Fla., Husqvarna
  9. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrance, Calif., KTM
  10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., KTM

450SX Class Championship Standings

  1. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna (223)
  2. Marvin Musquin, Clermont, Fla., KTM (183)
  3. Justin Brayton, Mint Hill, N.C., Honda (170)
  4. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrance, Calif., KTM (164)
  5. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (160)
  6. Weston Peick, Menifee, Calif., Suzuki (153)
  7. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (146)
  8. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., KTM (131)
  9. Cole Seely, Newbury Park, Calif., Honda (124)
  10. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha (113)

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Results

  1. Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., KTM
  2. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda
  3. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki
  4. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna
  5. Martin Davalos, Clermont, Fla., Kawasaki
  6. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C., Suzuki
  7. Sean Cantrell, Murrieta, Calif., KTM
  8. Brandon Hartranft, Brick, N.J., Yamaha
  9. Ramyller Alves, Coconut Creek, Fla., Yamaha
  10. Luke Renzland, Hewitt, N.J., Yamaha

Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship Standings

  1. Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki (89)
  2. Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna (89)
  3. Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., KTM (81)
  4. Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Honda (70)
  5. RJ Hampshire, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Honda (57)
  6. Luke Renzland, Hewitt, N.J., Yamaha (55)
  7. Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (54)
  8. Martin Davalos, Clermont, Fla., Kawasaki (52)
  9. Kyle Peters, Greensboro, N.C. Suzuki (51)
  10. James Decotis, Peabody, Mass., Suzuki (47)

For more information on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, please log onto SupercrossLIVE.com, the official website of Monster Energy Supercross, or follow via social channels:

Facebook: facebook.com/supercrosslive
Twitter: twitter.com/supercrosslive
Instagram: instagram.com/supercrosslive
YouTube: youtube.com/supercrosslive

Comments

 
Terms of Use
Copyright
Privacy Policy