Austin Forkner was the fastest rider on any sized bike in Daytona all day and night long. Photos by: Chase Yocom

The 2018 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, headed to Daytona, Florida’s Daytona International Speedway for round 10 of the 450SX Championship and round 4 of the 250SX Easterm Regional Championship—the Daytona SX.

In the 450SX main event, Smartop / Motoconcepts / Honda’s Justin Brayton shocked the SX world with his first-ever victory. Monster Energy / Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac finished the night in 2nd and Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Cooper Webb finishing 3rd—his first podium of ’18.

When the 2018 Daytona SX comes up in the future, Justin Brayton will be the first thing we think of.

In the battle for the fastest lap times in the 450SX class, Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (1:12.678) and Eli Tomac (1:12.811) were the only two 450s to dip under the 1:13 mark all night long. Marvin used that speed to get to the lead early on, but two crashes later, he found himself fighting for a top five. Eli used those times to carve through the field from on the ground in dead last all the way to finish just a few seconds behind Brayton in second. Eli was definitely the fastest rider with his average lap of of 1:13.871 being seven tenths faster than anyone, but you have to keep it on two wheels to win.

The third, fourth and fifth fastest lap times were clocked by Webb (1:13.023), Brayton (1:13.739) and Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson (1:13.817), who crashed twice and had his worst finish of the year in 7th.

Eli Tomac (3) and Cooper Webb (2) might have started a personal rivalry in Daytona.

450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Top 15 450SX Times Top 15 250SX Times
1. M. Musquin – 1:12.678
2. E. Tomac – 1:12.811
3. C. Webb – 1:13.023
4. J. Brayton – 1:13.384
5. C. Craig – 1:13.739
6. J. Anderson – 1:13.817
7. B. Baggett – 1:14.052
8. W. Peick – 1:14.247
9. B. Bloss – 1:14.473
10. D. Wilson – 1:14.796
11. B. Tickle – 1:14.897
12. M. Stewart – 1:15.072
13. C. Reed – 1:15.409
14. T. Bowers – 1:15.654
15. K. Chisholm – 1:15.796
1. A. Forkner – 1:12.465
2. J. Martin – 1:12.885
3. J. Smith – 1:12.898
4. Z. Osborne – 1:13.202
5. M. Davalos – 1:14.121
6. K. Peters – 1:14.857
7. L. Renzland – 1:15.850
8. S. Cantrell – 1:15.896
9. B. Hartranft – 1:16.075
10. R. Alves – 1:18.287
11. N. Gaines – 1:18.667
12. H. Harrison – 1:19.131
13. C. Vanbuskirk – 1:19.352
14. J. Cartwright – 1:19.368
15. J. Short – 1:19.858

Full 2018 Daytona SX results here>>>

Jordon Smith was near perfect on what was easily the gnarliest track of the year thus far. The track took Jimmy Decotis and RJ Hampshire out for the year.

In the fourth 250SX Eastern Regional Supercross Championship main event of the year, Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Jordon Smith rode a near perfect main event to score his first win of ’18 and move to just eight points back in the Championship points. He was shadowed the whole main event by GEICO / Honda’s Jeremy Martin and Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner. The three were close the whole main event but never really close enough to battle one another.

The race for the fastest 250SX lap times of the night Forkner (1:12.465), Martin (1:12.885) and Smith (1:12.898) were the only three riders to drop to sub 1:13 lap times. Forkner was actually the fastest rider on any sized bike in the main events. All three podium finishers in the 250SX class were blazing fast, but Smith’s holeshot and consistency proved to be the recipe for the win. The 250s did get a smoother track than the 450s did in the main event, but the front of the 250 class is blazing fast at the moment.

Zach Osborne would have probably won Daytona with a start. His late race speed and fitness was unreal to watch.

The fourth and fifth fastest lap times were recorded by Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne (1:13.202) and Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Martin Davalos (1:14.121). Zach’s single lap was not as fast as the podium finishers in Daytona, but Zach’s average lap time (1:14.100) was on the top of the board overall. Zach’s average lap was faster than the 5th fastest rider’s single lap time, and Zach used that consistency and fitness to come from outside the top ten around the first turn, all the way up to Forkner’s rear wheel. Unfortunately time ran out for the #1e and he will now share the red plate with Forkner in St. Louis.


250SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Updated 2018 250SX West and 450SX Championship Points>>>

Top 15 450SX Avg Lap-Times Top 15 250SX Avg Lap-Times
1. E. Tomac – 1:13.871
2. J. Brayton – 1:14.550
3. C. Webb – 1:14.863
4. C. Craig – 1:15.487
5. M. Musquin – 1:15.799
6. J. Anderson – 1:15.968
7. W. Peick – 1:15.977
8. B. Baggett – 1:16.236
9. D. Wilson – 1:16.267
10. B. Tickle – 1:16.647
11. M. Stewart – 1:16.854
12. B. Bloss – 1:17.125
13. C. Reed – 1:17.499
14. K. Chisholm – 1:18.475
15. T. Bowers – 1:18.630
1. Z. Osborne – 1:14.100
2. J. Martin – 1:14.282
3. J. Smith – 1:14.339
4. A. Forkner – 1:14.457
5. M. Davalos – 1:16.372
6. K. Peters – 1:16.790
7. S. Cantrell – 1:17.251
8. B. Hartranft – 1:17.766
9. L. Renzland – 1:18.141
10. R. Alves – 1:20.615
11. J. Cartwright – 1:22.159
12. C. Vanbuskirk – 1:22.226
13. N. Gaines – 1:22.870
14. H. Harrison – 1:23.262
15. R. Jackson – 1:24.119
Justin Brayton’s first-ever win overshadowed Eli Tomac’s charge from the back, but the #3 was incredible in Daytona.

250SX vs 450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.


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Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.