Photo by: Hoppenworld
For round number ten, the 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship Series, set up shop at the World-renowned Daytona International Speedway pits in Daytona, Florida. The mystique of being in the infield of the Daytona Speedway brings intensity levels to an all-time high. Add in the brutal track conditions designed by Ricky Carmichael, the lights, the grass and the crowd, and you get an incredibly picturesque venue to accompany the drama of the 2014 SX season. Daytona SX has always been a rare beast that tests the riders’ ability to not only ride an SX track fast, but—because of the brutality of the surface and length of the track—also tests strength and fitness.
This year, though, the FOX Sports 1 live TV time constraints led promoters to say that they were going to try to keep lap times near the one-minute mark, which would take some of the fitness element out of play. But in the end, it was still two riders known for their outdoor national fitness getting the wins in dominant fashion. In the 250SX class, it was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett checking out on his teammates and, in the 450SX class, it was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Ryan Villopoto making a huge statement to any riders who had been thinking they might dethrone him. Both won their respective main events by huge 10+ second margins.
In the 250SX main event, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki trio of Adam Cianciarulo, Martin Davalos and Baggett getting the jump on the field once again. Quickly, though, Baggett went from third to first and checked out for his first main event win of 2014. Behind Baggett, Davalos hung strong in second for the first half of the main, but Cianciarulo had too much for the veteran and took over second spot. From there Adam tried mounting a charge, but he quickly realized he had nothing for the 2011 Daytona SX winner and settled in for his fourth-straight podium in second. Also scoring his fourth-straight podium was Davalos. While Davalos did not have the speed to match his teammates in Daytona, he rode a solid race and heads to round five still a serious contender for the Championship.
Behind the Pro Circuit freight train came two GEICO/Honda riders, Blake Wharton and Justin Bogle. Bogle again struggled to get out of the gate and, after checking in after lap one in seventh, fought his way up to Wharton’s rear wheel. Despite the late-race pressure from his teammate, Wharton was able to hang on to finish fourth, while Bogle lost more points than he wanted to to the Pro Circuit boys with a fifth.
In the 450 SX main event, it was all Villopoto, but the holeshot belonged to Discount Tire Racing’s Dean Wilson. Once around Deano, Ryan took off, and even though he crashed late in the race, he was still able to win by a comfortable twelve-second margin. The #1 reminded everyone why he is the defending three-time Champion. With 50% of all Daytona SX winners going on to win the championship, it’s just another in a long list of reasons to think that RV will win his fourth-straight Championship in May.
Behind the #1, The #15 had a great showing in Daytona. After qualifying with the fastest lap of the day and then winning his heat race, he hung tough in second place in the main event until hitting the fitness wall on lap fifteen. After seeing the Red Bull/KTMs of Ken Roczen and Ryan Dungey pass him on lap fifteen, Deano seemed to tighten way up and faded back to finish seventh.
Finishing behind Villopoto on the podium was his training partner, Roczen, in second and last week’s winner, Dungey, in third. Early on, it was Dungey with the edge over Roczen, but Roczen seemed to wear Dungey down at the midway point of the main event. With their podium finishes, Dungey stayed in second place in the Championship but carries only a one-point lead over Roczen heading to Detroit.
Just off the box, with his best ever 450SX main event finish, was RCH/Suzuki’s Broc Tickle. Something has gotten into the #20, and after starting near mid-pack, he fought his way forward to fourth. For a man barely finishing in the top-ten early in the season, it’s been one of the biggest turnarounds of the year.
The last rider in the top-five was BTO/KTM’s Andrew Short. Andrew got a solid start, and hung on for his first top-five of 2014. It may have been Troy Lee Designs/Honda’s Malcolm Stewart in the top-five, but after Malcolm pretty much moved over for Justin Barcia, Barcia went “Bam Bam” on him and took Mookie’s front wheel out. The two had words, and Malcolm even gave Justin a push, but after riding a great 450 debut, Malcolm’s main event ended in a DNF.
The 2014 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM Wolrd Championship series now heads to Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan for round eleven. Check out the Daytona SX results and Championship standings below.
250SX Main Event Results
1. Blake Baggett
2. Adam Cianciarulo
3. Martin Davalos
4. Blake Wharton
5. Justin Bogle
6. Jeremy Martin
7. Matt Bisceglia
8. Vince Friese
9. Kyle Cunningham
10. Matthew Lemoine
450SX Main Event Results
1. Ryan Villopoto
2. Ken Roczen
3. Ryan Dungey
4. Broc Tickle
5. Andrew Short
6. Wil Hahn
7. Dean Wilson
8. Matt Goerke
9. Justin Brayton
10. Josh Grant
250SX Championship Point Standings
1. Adam Cianciarulo – 94
2. Martin Davalos – 87
3. Blake Baggett – 79
4. Justin Bogle – 72
5. Vince Friese – 61
6. Blake Wharton – 51
7. Cole Thompson – 48
8. Kyle Cunninham – 45
9. Jimmy Decotis – 43
10. Matt lemoine – 37
450SX Championship Point Standings
1. Ryan Villopoto – 209
2. Ryan Dungey – 181
3. Ken Roczen – 180
4. James Stewart – 157
5. Justin Brayton – 155
6. Andrew Short – 125
7. Justin Barcia – 118
8. Chad Reed – 111
9. Broc Tickle – 111
10. Wil Hahn – 108
