DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jordon Smith on the No. 45 Troy Lee Designs KTM250 SX-F led from start to finish to capture his 1st ever Daytona Supercross victory and his 3rd career victory.
“Out of all the races, a win at Daytona is a special one with all the history here. I’ve won somewhere that Dale Earnhardt won now, that’s a pretty cool feeling.” said Smith of the win.
Getting the holeshot after starting 1st in the inside lane, Smith pulled out quickly to a comfortable 2+ second lead on the rest of the pack. In 2nd place was Jeremy Martin in the No. 6 Geico Honda AMSOIL Factory Racing Honda CRF.
Smith would maintain the gap for the lead over the first half of the race. Then with just over 7 minutes left in the main event, Martin cut the gap to just over 1 second. However, the lead would again push 2+ seconds with less than 5 minutes left in the race.
“I could kind of feel and hear Jeremy behind me there, and the mechanic was in a really tough spot there. He was telling me to keep pushing and focus on you. In the middle there, I kind of settled in and I knew that I just needed to keep pushing and powering out the laps.” explained Smith of the situation. “I think I pulled away in the middle a little bit from Jeremy and that gave me a little bit of cushion for the last few laps so I could just be smart there at the end.”
Meanwhile, Austin Folkner on the No. 35 Monster Energy Kawasaki KX 250F and Zach Osborne on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna FC250 were battling for fourth place. This battle ensued for much of the rest of the race with Forker having to fend off Osborne the last lap, for the 3rd place podium finish.
Meanwhile, the battle increased between Smith in the No. 45 and Martin in the No. 6 on the final laps as well, however, the gap would not get below a second as Smith maintained his lead. After leading every lap of the race and never giving up the lead, Jordon Smith crossed the finish line to capture the Daytona Supercross 250SX Main Event victory on his 3rd try.
The win marks his first ever podium finish at Daytona. Smith also now sits 3rd in the season points standings, eight points behind Osborne and Forkner, who are tied for the lead with 89. For Forkner, the 3rd place finish marked his 3rd consecutive podium finish.
The Monster Energy Supercross East 250SX series now sets its sights on their next race at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri set to take place on Saturday, March 17th.
