Supercross Statistics | Daytona in Numbers 10

Another round of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross series is in the rear-view mirror and that means that it's time to dive into even more statistics, so settle down and prepare to digest many facts and figures. It is a shortened version this week, seeing as there were not many changes in the main event in the premier division. Perhaps there could have been, had some riders realized that they were onto a good things in the whoops? We will get into that. Give it time!

• Eyebrows were raised when Eli Tomac was off the pace in the daytime at Daytona – there was not a lot for him to be happy about heading into the night show. It was uncharacteristic of Tomac to struggle at the iconic facility. Well, was it? Tomac has qualified in first place at Daytona just three times since he jumped onto the 450F (2020, 2018 and 2016). Being 01.080 down was not even the worst that he has performed in timed qualifying in "his house" as it has now been named.

• Tomac did not turn that +01.422 deficit in 2015 into a main event victory, of course, as he ended second in the main event behind Ryan Dungey, but he found +01.571 in 2019 and won the main from none other than Cooper Webb! The year before, when he qualified on top, was the night that he lost to Justin Brayton. Is this the ultimate reminder to not read too much into what goes on in the daytime? Perhaps…

• Chase Sexton was dominant throughout the timed sessions in Daytona, which was not a shock at all. Sexton has mastered the art of a fast lap and qualified inside of the top three in his last twelve starts. Pole position has been secured at nine of those events, so it is quite the record. To put the number into perspective, Eli Tomac has qualified first in nine of his last forty-two starts and Cooper Webb has been on pole just four times since moving into premier division.

• Fans were pleased to see Ken Roczen qualify inside of the top two for the second week in a row, as it was a sign of progress aboard his RM-Z450. It is fair to state that Roczen is known for being able to unleash some raw speed, right? Well, surprisingly, this is the first time that he has qualified inside of the top three on consecutive weekends since the fourteenth and fifteenth rounds of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross series. Coincidentally, Daytona was involved in that streak too.

• Tomac has had five victories in eight races, which is a fairly dominant ratio. It is uncommon for a rider to have such a high percentage through the first eight stops of a Monster Energy Supercross season. When was the last time that someone won five? It was Ryan Dungey in 2016. The closest that Tomac has come to that, before now, was when he won four of the first eight events back in 2020, which was the year that he claimed his first title in the premier class.

• Daytona marked the ninetieth time that Tomac has climbed onto the 450SX podium, which means that he could hit a centenary by the time that this 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season ends. There is not much room for error though, if he is going to hit one hundred, as he must earn a trophy at all but one round. Will he achieve that? It will be interesting to follow, as other milestones like fifty victories will inevitably happen.

• There was another round number that Tomac hit in Daytona, Florida, as he finished in the top ten for the one hundred and fortieth time in his premier-class career. Tomac has missed out on a spot in the top ten in just fifteen of his starts aboard the 450F. When was the last time that he appeared outside of the top ten? It was at round one of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season – his current streak of top-ten finishes sits at forty.

• The triumph that Tomac had in Daytona dropped his average finish to second. Webb dropped his average to second in Arlington last weekend and it is still sat at that number, after another second place at the rather historic Daytona International Speedway. There has been no change to Sexton's average since round three, in comparison, as it has stayed firm at third place. '23' needed a victory in Daytona to drop his average to second, like his peers.

• Tomac struggled in the whoops from the moment that his heat race started, even though he that comfortably. How did his whoop speed compare to his peers? The fastest times that were set in the whoops, across both of the 450SX heats, are listed below. For clarity, the heat race that each rider rode in has been highlighted. Apologies for the rather large table, but it had to be this long in order to include the eventual winner.

• It is no wonder that Tomac opted to play it safe and jump the whoops from the start of the main event. Jumping did not erase the issues that he was facing though and, in hindsight, one could argue that he was fortunate that his competitors moved away from skimming so early, as there was such a differential in speed. The times below are from the start of the main. The laps that riders were skimming have been made bold.

• If you are not convinced that skimming was faster for those elite riders, despite those times, then this will hammer the point home. Sexton jumped on laps three and four, but reverted back to skimming on lap five and saved a second. It was so much better. Would the results have changed, had either Webb or Sexton kept skimming? The dynamic would have shifted – they may have forced Tomac's hand and put him in a situation where he felt vulnerable.

• It was not too bleak for Webb and Sexton, once they started jumping, as they still gained time on Tomac whilst jumping each lap. Sexton did it the best, but I think that there was a reason for that. Tomac and Webb used the inside rut, whereas Sexton hit the second rut from the inside and that was nowhere near as deep. '23' carried more speed through the corner and into the whoops. That made a difference in the times, even when everyone was jumping.

• Tomac was clearly losing a lot of time in the whoops, so where did he gain time? There had to be somewhere – he won the race! Well, he was unbelievable in segment three. Unbelievable! Segment three was from the start of the triple that led under the bridge to the whoops. Tomac gained time by going wide and tripling. Seeing as that section did not start until the take-off, the time that he lost by going wide did not contribute to his sector time. Sector three times are below.

• To underline the point about the speed in the whoops, Cooper Webb ended with the best average time on that portion of the track (04.144). It was Ken Roczen who had the second-fastest average, as he skimmed a lot and actually had the fastest individual time too (04.170 was his average). To cap this discussion off, Tomac had an average of 05.103. That is a significant difference! Hey, it really was a clutch win for the current championship leader.

• Tomac recorded the second-fastest lap in the main event (1:14.089), which was much faster than the best time that Webb set (1:14.742). It is a shock to see such a gulf between their fastest laps, especially seeing as there was nothing separating the pair for a lot of the main event. Tomac went faster than Webb's best on four laps (four, five, seven and fourteen). Tomac, Sexton, Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson and Justin Cooper set better times than '2' in the main event.

• It was actually Barcia who recorded the best time in the main event (1:14.073) – he edged Tomac out by 00.016. Unbelievably, the last time that he set the best lap in a main event was at Daytona last year. Despite his apparent speed at the Daytona International Speedway, Barcia has not stood on the podium at the venue since his rookie term aboard a 450F in 2013. 3647 days have passed since he got to stand on the Daytona podium.

• It would be easy for one to latch onto the fact that Sexton lacked pace on Saturday night, but his times were far more competitive with Tomac. It was truly the errors, which happened on laps nine and ten, that put him out of contention. '23' was very much in the fight for the lead prior to those and, for whatever reason, that seems to have been overlooked by most. Sexton, Webb and Tomac were the only riders with an average lap time in the 01:15.000 range.

• Remember this feature in the days after Arlington, where the insane speed that Justin Cooper had in some sectors was highlighted? It happened again. Cooper had the fastest time in sector one – that covered the finish to the last jump before the sand – and was just as competitive in the final sector. '32' was second on that portion of the circuit. The results have been superb, but have his times been even more encouraging?

• Cooper was one of the few riders who recorded a season-best finish at the iconic venue of Daytona International Speedway. Cooper (sixth), Shane McElrath (thirteenth), Grant Harlan (fourteenth), Josh Cartwright (seventeenth) and Justin Starling (eighteenth) fell beneath that subheading.