To say Eli Tomac has dominated Daytona International Speedway’s hybridized Supercross and Motorcross infield track would be an understatement on par with saying Richard Petty was pretty good on the oval. Both racers have accumulated numbers on this track that stagger the imagination. As for Tomac, he won a record-extending seventh race last year as part of a current five-race streak.
Tomac also won in 2016 and 2017 and in the one race he did not visit victory lane in that span, he was second in 2018. He was also the runner-up in 2015. Should he podium this weekend, he will have a decade worth of top-three results.
MORE: 2023 Daytona by the Numbers: Is Eli Untouchable
But this season could be his biggest challenge. Without a victory in his last 11 attempts, this is the longest Tomac has ever gone without winning. He’s come close with second-place finishes three times this year, including last week in Arlington, but has been well outside the podium an equal number of times. Daytona will tell if his season can turn around and put him more firmly in the championship discussion.
In fact, the season often changes its complexion at Daytona. The rider leading after Daytona has won 79 percent of the championships since 2000 and 77 percent since 1977. Notably the last two leaders, Ken Roczen in 2022 and Tomac last year, have not contributed to that total.
Daytona is deeply entwined with Supercross. It is the only event on the schedule to run every season in the 50-year history of the sport - and the SX race is one part of one of the most iconic weeks in motorcycle race. Supercross kicks off Daytona’s Bike Week, which includes speedway racing, flat track, major amateur races and this year, the re-inauguration of the Women’s Motocross Series. Within driving distance, Arenacross will run three races in a nearby convention center and the GNCC off-road racers host an event an hour up state in Palatka, Florida.
There won’t be a lot of sleeping going on this week.
Gunnar Lindstrom won the first Supercross race held in Daytona, three years before the official birth of the series as a sanction body. Heats were abbreviated because there was a road race later that same day. Feeling the need to stretch the schedule, Bike Week was eventually created.
Pierre Karsmakers won the first official “Yamaha Super Series of Motocross”, which would eventually evolve into its current iteration, in 1974, according to Clinton Fowler at WeWentFast.com.
Fans are living through a bit of history. The points’ gap between first and seventh is only 19. The previous best at this stage of the season was 32 points and the average is in the mid-60s. Moreover, last week showed a lot of jockeying for position with only two riders holding onto their positions in the standings. Once of these was the leader Jett Lawrence, but Cooper Webb was able to cut into that advantage and reduce it to three points.
The 250 class will also generate a lot of interest. It was just last year that Haiden Deegan scored his first career podium. Since then, he’s won the inaugural SuperMotocross Championship and last week he earned his first Supercross victory in Arlington.
As with the 450 division, there is a lot to be settled as many of the top riders crashed in a Lap 1 incident in Detroit and then finished strong at Arlington. There will be a clearer picture after Daytona.
Previous Daytona Winners
450s
2023: Eli Tomac (Followed by Cooper Webb, Chase Sexton)
2022: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Chase Sexton)
2021: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Aaron Plessinger)
2020: Eli Tomac (Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb)
2019: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Marvin Musquin)
250s
2023: Hunter Lawrence (Max Anstie, Haiden Deegan)
2022: Jett Lawrence (Styles Robertson, Cameron McAdoo)
2021: Cameron McAdoo (Styles Robertson, Pierce Brown)
2020: Garrett Marchbanks (Chase Sexton, Jeremy Martin)
2019: Austin Forkner (Chase Sexton, Justin Cooper)
By The Numbers
Arlington
Glendale
Detroit
Anaheim 2
San Diego
San Francisco
More SuperMotocross News
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Austin Forkner suffers spine and scapula injuries | Provides emotional update
Cooper Webb wins in Arlington after Jett Lawrence crashes
Christian Craig out of Arlington with elbow injury
Two Texans return in Texas: Ty Masterpool and Grant Harlan
Freestyle Motocross rider, Jayo Archer dies
Arlington by the Numbers
Manufacturers contribute more than $10 million in MX contingency
Jett Lawrence on Eli Tomac | Tomac on Lawrence (August 2023)
