Photos by: Chase Yocom
Round ten of the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, and round four of the Eastern Regional 250SX Championship left the comfy confines of the stadiums and headed to the infield of the famed Daytona International Speedway in Florida. For the fourth time in 2017, Monster Energy / Kawasaki dominated both classes. In the 450SX Class, Eli Tomac won his fifth main event of the season, and Adam Cianciarulo put his Kawasaki on the top step of the 250SX podium for the first time since 2014.
In the 450SX class, Eli was joined on the Daytona podium by HRC / Honda’s fill in rider, Jeremy Martin—second in his first ever 450 race—and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson in third. In the 250SX class, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy (2nd) and Star Racing / Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis (3rd) landed on the podium along side Cianciarulo. It was Ferrandis’ first career podium in his rookie season.
After the podium celebrations were over and the points were tallied, some of the top riders talked about their rides in the infield of Daytona. Check out the riders post race comments below. Click here for all 2017 Monster Energy Supercross results.
Adam Cianciarulo: (1st in 250SX) “Yeah, actually I felt really good all day and I was really, really confident in my riding. I knew in the heat race I got a good start, but I went past the corner and was in like sixth. Everybody in my camp too was like, “Dude, you rode really good,” and I got fourth. I knew I was going to have to get a good start to be successful today. It was so one-lined, especially in the sand. It was ridiculous. I was actually running a paddle tire just to get through there a little bit better. I was able to sneak by Joey [Savatgy] there. I actually lined up next to him—which we’re not supposed to do really. Mitch [Payton] isn’t a big fan of that. I was rolling into the gate and my mechanic he got some heat over the headset about me lining up next to Joey. I was like, “Dude, I’m sorry, but this is the only decent rut left available.” Luckily he got actually a better jump than me. I just followed him, and I was able to square under him. I knew if I didn’t square under him there I was probably going to get second. I was able to get that done and I told him, “Every time I went through the sand I was trying to blow those things up to get a little bit of a gap on him,” but it was good.
Eli Tomac: (1st in 450SX) “I went around the first turn there and it wasn’t a really good spot. Tucked the inside and Jeremy [Martin] came ripping around the outside. I honestly couldn’t believe who it was because I knew how far out he was. After that we went at it for those first ten laps. Jeremy was running a pretty fast pace. I kind of had to back off and kind of relax for a minute, and then try to make another run at it. Once we were able to get by that it was all about just maintaining a smooth, clean race.”
Zach Osborne: (5th in 250SX) “Overall, it was a pretty positive day at Daytona. I wasn’t the fastest guy all day, but I turned it around for the night show. I feel good about my results. I tipped over in a corner, and it wasn’t ideal, but I’m overall. I’m just going to keep plugging away until next weekend and will take it day to day. I know what got me here, and I know that I haven’t deviated from it so I’ll just keep my faith in that.”
Justin Barcia: (11th in 450SX) I was pumped on the heat race win. It felt good. It’s been a tough road. I was feeling better. I came back after I hurt my wrist and really did two deep weeks of riding. I think I did a little too much and I was feeling kind of crappy the last two weeks with arm pump really bad. I went and got some blood work done this week and saw a few things that didn’t look how they should look, so I kind of fixed that a little and I felt better today. I wouldn’t say I was anywhere near 100%, but I definitely rode better. There’s good things to take away from this weekend for sure. The main event, I don’t like to say good luck or bad luck or anything, but it wasn’t very good luck. I crashed in the first corner. I don’t really know what happened.
Jeremy Martin: (2nd in 450SX) “Honestly, I was surprised that I qualified good. These guys are really fast and they’ve had a lot of experience. I just had a good feeling today, and that new Honda it’s an amazing bike. Today was my eighth day on the bike and I’ve really enjoyed it and working with the whole Factory Honda team. The bike’s good. I had eighteenth gate pick and I was on the outside, and I knew I had to do something. I threw it into the first turn on the outside and I mono-railed the crap out of that berm. I just tried to do my best and the green machine [Eli Tomac] over here on the right of me, he was coming.”
Joey Savatgy: (2nd in 250SX) “I’m happy with a podium. We started off the Night Show on the wrong foot but I stayed confident in my training and knew I could bounce back. I came out of the gate strong alongside my teammate, but went a little wide in the first turn. I rode close to Adam throughout the race waiting for my time to attack, but the opportunity wasn’t there. I’m happy with the result and I’m looking forward to next weekend.”
Jason Anderson: (3rd in 450SX) Next to me, I had Marv [Marvin Musquin] and on the other side I had Dunge [Ryan Dungey] and Marv hit the gate and I kind of flinched a little bit. I kind of got messed up. Through the first corner I was on the inside so I was able to tuck around and then just kind of hold it wide open. It was like left, left, left, so I was able to take the inside. I was still I want to say I was eighth going around the first lap. Then just started working my way up and was able to get up to the third spot, buy then I was in no-man’s land. I was able to stay there and get a podium. It’s cool to be back up here but at the same time I need to put myself in better situations.
Lorenzo Locurcio: (6th in 250SX) “The track was gnarly out there, just crazy. The team and I came back, watched some tapes, made a bunch of changes and then for the night it all went well. The last qualifying session went really good for me. I went 13th, so that’s the best I’ve qualified in the whole series this year so far. I got a really good gate pick for the heat race and I made a little mistake. I was running 7th and then I went off the track. Then, trying to pass back for 7th I went down. I still finished 8th and made it through the heat. In the main, my rut [off the start] was a little crooked and all that, but it was short so I took a gamble on it. I got off the gate good and seen a bunch of people on the inside of me so I rode the berm. I came out third and me and Joey [Savatgy] were up there. He passed me and then I ran eleven laps in third. Zach [Osborne] passed me around the sixth lap or so, but then he went down in the sand. On the eleventh lap I started tightening up a little bit. This is something new for me, but now I know I belong up there. I’m going to keep working hard and hopefully I back it up soon.”
Cole Seely: (5th in 450SX) “It’s easy to get down on myself that I’m not on the podium, but putting in consistent finishes has helped me get up to third in the championship. I will keep working hard to get back on the podium. I’m a fan of Indianapolis, so hopefully something good happens there.”
Alex Martin: (8th in 250SX) “I really thought the main event was going to go differently. After the tough start, it was hard for me to really get into a groove. I picked off some people right away but then struggled to get back going. I’d like to take the positive learning experience from the top qualifier and heat win into Indianapolis so we can hopefully get back on the podium.”
Ryan Dungey: (4th in 450SX) “Obviously the start wasn’t what we were looking for but we did our best to climb through the pack. The track was actually really difficult to make a pass on, which ended up costing us time in the beginning. Making passes was a lot easier in the second half of the race because we had some more space to work with. Next week is a new week and we’re looking forward to protecting the points lead and changing up the strategy moving forward.”
Jordon Smith: (4th in 250SX) “The start really hurt us but I think I was able to show some good speed out there tonight. I feel like if we had one more lap, I may have been able to get onto the podium, but we’re leaving with a solid result after a few weeks of ups and downs. We’ll see if we can get back on the box next week.”
Dean Wilson: (13th in 450SX) “I never really clicked with the track all day. The bike was running awesome and the team was good, it was just kind of all in my department. I was just off a little bit, but I know what I’ve got to work on and I’m going to stay positive and focus on next week.”
Kyle Cunningham: (7th in 250SX) “The bike was great tonight. We finished seventh and, you know, it started off kind of slow but got better and better as the night went on. I think we had a few bad laps in the main that I would kind of kind like back. But with only three days on the bike and coming out here and doing what we did, I can’t thank Jeremy and Coy enough for this opportunity. The bike was really awesome tonight. I’m really happy with it and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can build up to Indianapolis and the rest of the SX season.”
Josh Grant: (8th in 450SX) “Daytona is already such a great place to race. I’ve always had a good time at this track and today was no different. My start in the main wasn’t what I wanted but I had the pace to move forward through the pack. Daytona was good but it’s time to get back home, back to work and continue to improve next weekend.”
Christian Craig: (14th in 250SX) “Going from a podium last week to this isn’t what I wanted and it sure as hell isn’t where I should be. I feel like a broken record at this point with allmy crappy weekends. The track at Daytona was unlike anything I’ve ever raced before, but that was to be expected so I’m not saying that as my excuse. I have no excuse other than I need to figure my crap out ASAP! The guy I am during the week and even in practice or in heat races isn’t the same one I am in the main. It all starts with a good start and I’ve been absolutely terrible at starts in the main. This week my mechanic is staying in Florida with me and we are going back to where we were last year at this time. I’ve made a lot of changes this past year and I kind of need to get my head back to where it belongs. I belong on top and I hope other people still believe that. I won’t stop till I am. Extremely bummed I haven’t been able to show everyone my worth this year but I’m going to make a change and we have five rounds left. I may not be in the points chase anymore but that doesn’t mean I can’t get wins.”
Justin Brayton: (9th in 450SX) “Daytona, for me, is not one of my favorites ’cause I really like the technical SX aspect of the riding and stuff. But here I’ve just tended to struggle with speed in practice and stuff, but I know not to get frustrated. I was well outside the top ten today in practice. I knew with a good start in the race tonight I could run the pace, I just needed to be pulled along a little bit. In the heat race, I did just that. I transferred right out of the heat and had the fastest lap in the heat race. Which was pretty cool. In the main event, I ran third for over half the race and just got arm pump. There’s no way around it. (laughs) I just straight up got arm pump. I’m a little bit bummed about that, because my speed was actually really good. For, like I said, ten or eleven laps, but then the wheels fell off and I went back to ninth. Still, overall, a lot of positive. I think if I take those starts and the first ten laps of intensity to Indy, Detroit and St Louis, I believe I could be on the box.”
