The results were clear as Eli Tomac grabbed the holeshot and walked away from the field in Monster Energy Supercross Round 9 at Daytona International Speedway.
Tomac has struggled with his starts this season, but that did not effect him Saturday night.
After all, this is Daytona where Tomac has always been at his best. He walked away from the field to win his fifth race on this track and third consecutive. With the win, Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for the most at Daytona - a record Carmichael was happy to concede seconds after the gate dropped.
The victory also keeps Tomac in contention to defend his 2020 Supercross championship after he shaved seven points from Roczen’s lead.
Hear from your 450SX Main Event winner, @EliTomac 🗣#SupercrossLIVE #DropTheGate pic.twitter.com/fzNoaIRHow
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 7, 2021
Aaron Plessinger had the right rhythm for Daytona. He finished second in his heat behind Cooper Webb, who remains second in the points. To take the runner-up spot, Plessinger was forced to pass the driver who beat him earlier in the night.
Plessinger eventually lost second to Webb at the checkers, but this was the his first career podium in the 450 class.
Webb and Ken Roczen became embroiled in a fierce battle for the final step on the podium at the halfway point. Webb found overdrive when Roczen pulled up on him - not once but twice.
RESULTS: Click here for 450 results; Click here for 250
Midway through the race, Roczen overjumped the rhythm section and landed on the face of one of the jumps, killing his momentum and allowing Malcolm Stewart to get around him.
Roczen regained his composure and retook the position from Stewart. As he chased down Webb, however, he reinvigorated the rider who wants to overtake him in the points and watched as the points slipped away.
Roczen retains the points lead, but now his advantage sits at only two markers.
Tomac closed to within 24 points of Roczen.
Stewart held onto fifth.
Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson took the next two spots in sixth and seventh.
Returning from injury, Chase Sexton finished eighth.
Justin Bogle in ninth and Dean Wilson rounded out the top 10.
Click here for Round 8 450 Main results | 450 points standings | 450 Manufacturer points
After winning his heat, Cameron Mcadoo took the lead with five minutes remaining in the 250 Main and stretched his advantage to nearly 10 seconds at the checkers to win his first race in class. Daytona is special for Supercross riders and Mcadoo showed why with a burnout on the banked tri-oval in front of socially-distanced fans.
With his win, Mcadoo took the points lead by four over Justin Cooper and 10 over Garrett Marchbanks.
Last week Stilez Robertson started the race catastrophically. He jumped onto the back of Jeremy Martin when the field stacked up in front of him. The two collected Jeremy’s brother Alex.
In Daytona Robertson got the hole shot and led until the five-minute remaining mark. He faded in the closing laps, but was shocked and pleased with his runner-up finish.
Pierce Brown rounded out the podium in his first race after ACL surgery to his knee. Brown passed Martin for position late in the race and held off a determined charge by the winner of the first round of the 250 West season, Cooper.
Cooper got a bad start. As he tried to close the distance on the leaders, his bike stepped out on him exiting the tunnel to drive him momentarily off course. This put him even further behind then-leader Robertson. Cooper restarted in 12th after than incident, but was able to rebound to fourth, which allowed him to salvage significant points.
Last year’s winner of this event, Marchbanks claimed the last spot in out the top five.
Hunter Lawrence won the second heat of the night before settling into sixth in the Main.
Martin rebounded from his hard crash last week to finish seventh.
Jalek Swoll, Coty Schock and Jordon Smith rounded out the top 10.
The preliminary races were filled with excitement. Ryan Sipes went down on Lap 1 while battling for third. He brought out the first caution of the night.
Joey Crown crashed into the face of a triple while leading Last Chance Qualifier to bring out the third red flag of the event.
Next Up: AT&T Center, Arlington, Texas March 13.
Click here for 250 West Main results | 250 points standings | 250 Manufacturer points
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 1 AT HOUSTON: Justin Barcia, Christian Craig take early lead
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 2 AT HOUSTON: Eli Tomac close gap, Jett Lawrence wins his first
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 3 AT HOUSTON: Ken Roczen earns one-point margin; Colt Nichols, Christian Craig share 250 lead
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 4 AT INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen wins to extend points margin, Colt Nichols doubles down
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 5 AT INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen makes it two in a row; Colt Nichols threepeats
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 6 AT INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen continues to roll; Christian Craig stops Colt Nichols
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 7 AT ORLANDO: Cooper Webb gets second win as Jett Lawrence also doubles
POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 8 AT ORLANDO: Cooper Webb wins again to close the gap on Ken Roczen