Daytona, Eli's Personal Playground

only if he crashes again. Ill be their saturday should be good weather says possible rain .

Eli has a chance of beating Eli....   

That's not a dig at all...just a simple truth, he's been really strong this season with a few WTF moments. 

Coop had a hell of a chance last year....I expect the same this year. 

The names Sexton and Webb and Anderson come to mind.

They don't know anything about the bike on that type of track. Anderson for the W. 

With him being a bit off lately could see web taking the win 

Webb, then vital melts down. 

A supercross track? They’ve done 7 of them already. Daytona is just a long supercross track in a speedway 

Yeah, that's what really held Eli back at Daytona last year aswell, right?

Watch out for Webb. he is really good at Daytona, even in his Yamaha 450 days when he sucked every where else he managed to do well at Daytona, and last year he probably would have won if not for McElerath blocking him with 2 minutes to go.

Webb wasn’t going to win last year 

No. No they don’t. 

I’d never bet against Eli at Daytona. 

6 out of 7 wins is a lot. But I’d bet on Sexton or Webb this weekend. 

Same exact track as last year where Anderson finished 9th. I bet AP finishes higher tomorrow.

I know but new bike 🤷‍♂️

It was a new bike for Eli last year too...

I was talking about AP finishing higher than Anderson. Contract year, something to prove, and was leading for a good chunk of the 2021 race, which I got confused for last year's race. But I just checked the Vault and he was on the Star 450 in 2021. But he has been coming on this year and then had a bad race in Arlington last week. I can he see him coming out swinging at Daytona. Track is right up his alley. Either way going to be some good racing.

And she suited him well because she was wider and he could squeeze de bike better. She was also very stable and Eli love stability. In my humble opinion, I think nimble platform is not that great for a rider like Tomac and the new Yami is just not as stable as the previous model. That could explain why he had basically no craches last year and why he had some craches this year. Just my 2 cents. 

I'll will say he did look a bit faster last year on the older frame. But at this point in his career I think he is going the Dungey route of consistency which was working. But now that Webb is coming on,  whether he likes it or not he may have to breakout "Beast Mode" and I could see him doing it tomorrow if need be. I think he's only had 3 crashes this year right? The big one in San Diego and then the other 2 involved jumping the over/under bridge. Weird. Either way I think he takes Daytona.

You may be right, I respect the opinion, but let's say you are right... couldn't Star could dial out any stability deficit between old and new platforms pretty easily between suspension, fork height/offset and maybe wheel base tweaks before even dipping into any other factory magic they can work?

Yeah the '23 bike is new and different, but it's not like Yamaha were like "Ok cool, this old bike that just won us titles, let's scrap the lot".

To back up your opinion some more, I know KTM may well have gotten their new bike 'wrong' for their fast guys and taken a while to figure it out, but the Yamaha seems much more universally liked by its riders and immediately on the pace. Just thinking out loud... 👍

While it would be cool to see Eli win and continue dominance, I'd like to see Kenny, Jason, and AP start ahead of Chase, Eli, and Cooper and not get passed quickly. A dogfight rather than a crash gimme. 

It could happen.

I still want Eli to get #7 tomorrow, but I'd love to have Anderson and AP go 2 and 3, or vice versa in front of Webb and Sexton. Kenye? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You know who could be a dark horse for a top 5? And yes, I know I'll get shit on and downvoted just because, well that's what the internet tough guy cowards here at Vital do. But Justin Cooper. He is on a "let's see what ya got kid!" 450 audition run for Star and any other team looking for a rider next year. This off season is going to be nuts with all the big dogs becoming free agents. A guy like Justin could get lost in the mix of where everyone is going. Is Eli going to retire after this year? Being the first question. What if Webb wins the Sx title? Does KTM keep him or let him go for, what word on the streets is Sexton coming over to KTM? What if Sexton wins both SX and the Nationals? Does Honda let him walk to cater to an unproven 450 rookie on the verge of a burnout and his donut obsession? AP is going to be available as well. Whoever doesn't win in the Webb and Sexton lottery will grab him quick. Does Marv come back? Yes he is more proven then a lot of these guys. Not sure on Dylan's deal. I know AC, who is hurt again, after battling for top 10's this year has a deal through 2024 which I'm sure Kawasaki would love to get out of. You just know Kawi would want some young blood as the #2 to Anderson after all the money they've wasted on #9. Sorry but it's true. So back to Justin Cooper. In all the speedway races he's done between 2 Daytona and 3 Atlanta races the lowest he's finished is 4th. He's went 1, 2, 2 at Atlanta and 3, 4 at Daytona. Granted all on a 250, but he's in shape, auditioning for a ride, and has been way more impressive than the other 450 rookies so far this year.

Some interesting stats; shows the 2000s were the pinnacle of SX to date, but also that this season has the potential to be all time:

I'd like to see some pre RC stats! 😂 The mid 90's to early 2k's were awesome! In McGrath's book there was a section about a mudrace at Hangtown which I was at. He said how him and Jimmy Buton crashed in the same turn and said they were just gonna say their bikes died. So they could leave early and beat all the other guys to Havasu. Then god damn Ricky came along and ruined the one of the greatest professions ever.

I bet most guys would love to have their “off” be where eli is right now . Most wins and the points lead lol. Daytona,6/7 and he almost caught brayton from miles back. Im hoping for a battle but Good luck.

Webb got second last year, so, Webb.

Sexton will win and take over the points tonight.

I hope Eli wins but the track really isn’t much of Daytona like it used to be and I think that style of track is what Eli really dominates on. 

Sexton has an early lead..throws it away..

Barcia pulls a Kook move and takes out Anderson.

Tomac or Webb wins.