Eli Tomac of Cortez, king of the Daytona Supercross, on Saturday night passed Cooper Webb for the lead and a record seventh win at the famed speedway.
The victory also lifted Tomac to third place on the all-time 450SX win list as he notched victory No. 49, surpassing Ricky Carmichael, who had 48 all-time wins and five Daytona wins. Tomac has now won seven out of his past eight races at Daytona International Speedway.
Jeremy McGrath leads the all-time win list, with 72. James Stewart is second with 50.
The main event began Saturday night under the threat of rain.
Tomac won the hole shot, but Webb passed him for the lead at the second turn. Sexton was in third, about 0.714 second behind Tomac as the series’ leaders raced for the lead.
Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson rounded the top five, and 450 newcomer RJ Hampshire raced in sixth.
Tomac briefly took the lead coming out of the sand, but went inside to stay in front. Tomac countered with an hard throttle at the finish line and roared to a 1.371-second lead in Lap 8.
Sexton began to challenge Webb, closing to within 1.16 seconds in third, but dropped back while facing a challenge from Barcia.
By Lap 13, it was a two-man race to the finish line, as Tomac and Webb, separated by less than 2 seconds, led the pack.
In Lap 17, Tomac crossed the finish line 1.791 seconds ahead of Webb for the win. Sexton was third, more than 12 seconds back, and Barcia and Anderson filled out the top five.
The win also tied Tomac with driver Richard Petty, who won a record seven Daytona 500 races.
Tomac entered Daytona on Saturday with a 2-point lead over Webb and a five-point lead over Sexton. He will head to Indianapolis next weekend with a 5-point lead over Webb and a 10-point lead over Sexton.
Tomac took the early lead in Heat 1 ahead of Roczen, Barcia, Justin Cooper and Aaron Plessinger. Chase Marquier of Kawasaki started out front with Tomac, but by the second lap had dropped to sixth.
After three laps, Tomac had a 2.020-second lead over Roczen, which dropped to 1.816 seconds after four laps. Tomac cross the finish line in Lap 6 about 1.94 seconds in front. Roczen was second, and Barcia was a distant third, 8.499 seconds of the pace. Plessinger and Cooper filled out the top five.
Despite his fast start, Marquier dropped to 12th, but won the Last Chance Qualifier to make the main event.
In Heat 2, Hampshire, racing in his first 450 heat, went to the lead at the first turn ahead of Christian Craig. Cooper Webb passed Craig for second place in Lap 2, about 1.191 seconds off the pace, and Sexton passed Anderson for third in Lap 4 as Craig dropped to fifth.
Webb closed the gap to Hampshire, but the rookie held on for a narrow wire-to-wire win, 0.668 second ahead.
Tomac posted the fourth-fastest lap Saturday afternoon, at 1 minute, 13.070 seconds. Sexton was fastest, and the only rider to break 1 minute, 12 seconds, at 1:11.990. Roczen was second at 1:12.399, and Anderson was third. RJ Hampshire was fifth.
Next week, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship series goes to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the ninth round in the 17-round series.
| 1. Eli Tomac | Yamaha | 186 |
| 2. Cooper Webb | KTM | 181 |
| 3. Chase Sexton | Honda | 176 |
| 4. Jason Anderson | Kawasaki | 148 |
| 5. Ken Roczen | Suzuki | 138 |
| 6. Aaron Plessinger | KTM | 135 |
| 7. Justin Barcia | GasGas | 132 |
| 8. Christian Craig | Husqvarna | 103 |
| 9. Joey Savatgy | Kawasaki | 85 |
| 10. Colt Nichols | Honda | 84 |
