Daytona, FL (March 10, 2017) – Daytona International Speedway’s edition of Monster Energy Supercross presents an atmosphere unlike any other. The prestige of the race is second to none, but track is also brutally rough. A win at Daytona is hard earned, and it looked like GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin might get it. He ran second early and then stalked race leader Jordon Smith. He never found an opening, though, and had to settle for second.
“It’s Daytona, a real man’s track,” said Martin. “It was the toughest race of the year as far as fitness. I had to slow down a little bit halfway through the main. I’ve been kind of sick the last couple weeks. I was getting close to Jordon there and I was starting to think about where I could make a move on him, then I made some mistakes and he got back away from me. Couldn’t quite get close again, but it’s good. We’re on the podium and we’re in contention for wins again, and that’s something I haven’t been able to say in supercross in awhile. We want to get wins and now we know it’s coming.”
Martin’s podium was a highlight but the rest of the event was rough for the team. RJ Hampshire crashed hard in his heat race and he had to be transported to a local hospital. He injured his back and ribs, but shoulder pain left him with the most concern.
“I felt good on the bike all day yesterday,” said Hampshire via his Instagram account. “Had some pretty good speed and my foot just slid off hitting my shifter in those rollers during that heat race. After seeing the pictures from the crash I’m very thankful I didn’t take that shot to my head. I have some fractures in my T3/T4 in my back and ribs. Also have some damage to my lungs which is why I’ll be spending a couple nights in the hospital. I’ll be getting some more checkups this week on the shoulder also.”
Cameron McAdoo was unable to compete in the race due to a hand injury that was rebroken last week in Atlanta.
The team heads to St. Louis for more supercross this Saturday night.
GEICO Honda Results
Daytona Supercross
250SX East
2. Jeremy Martin
