View From the Floor: A Perfect Ten 9

Justin Brayton's first win capped off a classic Daytona Supercross.

Props are due to Ricky Carmichael for this year's course design. It was a lot more wide open than in previous years, which opened up the options for passing. Designing the course there is difficult, with a maze of underground features (like an irrigation system) that have to be worked around. Also, the track will get reconfigured for amateurs, an ATV SX, and there was already a pad of dirt laid down for a flattrack race later in Bike Week.

The good news is, Zach Osborne scored the first 250 heat win after taking over the lead from his teammate, Michael Mosiman. The bad news is, this heat was red-flagged after RJ Hampshire went down. This had some bearing on things later on in the night, with the 250 main event lineup.

Michael Mosiman came out swinging in the first 250 heat, and led a lap, but things didn't go so well for him during the main.

Having the red cross flag on the jump where riders are taking off may not be ideal...

The Alpinestars Mobile Medical crew was quickly on the scene when RJ Hampshire went down. At first things looked okay, but they later red-flagged the heat to get him off the track. The latest report is that he has some fractures in his T3/T4 and ribs, and will spend a few days in the hospital. Get well soon, RJ.

For some riders, making the main is a huge accomplishment. Lane Shaw was pumped to make the main at Daytona.

The second 450 heat heads toward the first turn. A second later, GuyB was eating a bunch of roost.

Marvin Musquin had a bit of an off night. He couldn't hunt down the new and improved Justin Brayton in the heat race, and had a couple weird crashes in the main. He did fight back to a fifth, though, after dropping as low as ninth.

You may not always be able to tell via the final results, or by sitting on your couch and watching on TV, but Chad Reed's getting racier week by week.

Christian Craig was hot on Cooper Webb's heels early in the second 450 heat. He scored the heat race win, though, after Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb went down in a heap.

After the racing was done for the night, Eli Tomac admitted he took out Cooper Webb after Cooper was doing some cross-jumping. Coop admitted that he may have come across Eli's line a time or two. Coop also did some standing on Eli's bike while remounting. It'll be interesting to see if cooler heads prevail in coming weeks, or if this turns into some kind of rivalry. Either way, Cooper turned in his best race of the season, with a third in the main.

There was a little drama before the start of the 250 main. Normally the fastest heat race scores first gate pick. Zach's heat race was faster due to the fact that it was shortened, so the first pick should have gone to Jordon Smith, since his race had more laps. Unfortunately, the riders had already made their picks, and had to be backed off, so that Jordan (and everyone else) made their gate selection in the correct order. Jordon opted to go with Zach's gate on the inside of the box, rather than where he was already at, on the outside. Zach then went several spots to the right and got a fairly terrible start, while Jordon got the holeshot. Throughout the night, every holeshot came from either the right or left side of the box, and we had riders tell us that hearing the valve release was a definite advantage.

This is Zach's Not Impressed face, while getting the explanation of what happened from John Gallagher.

Jordon Smith nailed the start and went wire-to-wire in the main.


You can listen to a post-race chat with Jordon Smith by clicking the start button below.

Jeremy Martin has been on it the last couple of weeks, and kept the pressure on Smith throughout the main.

Zach Osborne was 14th at the end of the first lap, and put in a great race to make it back to fourth at the finish.

After a pair of wins in the previous two rounds, Austin Forkner was third this week. We dug the Fox gear that the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys were wearing for this weekend. With Osborne finishing off the box this week, Austin and Zach will be the co-leaders of the 250 East next week in St. Louis.

Ah yeah, maybe the most universal reminder in MX and SX. It was good to see Jeremy Martin pressuring Jordon Smith for the win. Neither one of them could back down.

With his first win of the season, Jordon Smith is now within eight points of the lead duo in front of him.

Cue the pyro...

Marvin Musquin and Justin Brayton were doing some serious elbow racing as they headed into the first turn.

An early crash dropped Eli Tomac to the back of the pack, with a seriously tweaked clutch lever. His charge to the front was amazing.

Justin Brayton sprinted through the first several laps, got away from Christian Craig, and built himself a nice cushion.

A seventh was not a great race for Jason Anderson, but he still has a 40-point advantage on the field.

What do you think, was Smartop MotoConcepts Racing Team Manager Tony Alessi stressing much with Justin Brayton in the lead?

After starting at the back of the pack, Eli Tomac made it all the way back to second spot...and if the race had gone 20 laps, like in previous years, rather than 20+1 this year, he might have had his third Daytona win in a row. At times, it looked like he was riding a different track than everyone else.

This was such a huge moment for Justin Brayton and Smartop MotoConcepts Racing, it's hard to put into words. To see Justin grab his first SX win at Daytona was extremely cool.

Eli Tomac still had the energy after the main to give some love to the fans along the edge of the track. Fans here get a very different perspective of the action.

Here's what Eli Tomac's clutch lever looked like as he carved through the pack. Hmm...new configuration?

That's nothing but pure elation. Way to go, Justin.

Yep, JB10 was as excited as you'd expect. He went through a full range of emotions on the podium.

Click the start button below to listen in to a cool post-race chat with a very excited Justin Brayton.

The good news is, you've won one of the gnarliest Supercross races out there. The "bad" news is, you have to hoist this extremely heavy trophy afterwards. Justin got it done.

The top three in post-race impound. Several riders (including Eli Tomac) were drug tested by WADA here. They also had a visit from them in San Diego.


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