Justin Brayton becomes oldest rider to ever win Supercross with Daytona 450SX win

(Photo Credit: SaJorden Miller / The SkyBoat)
Written by Joey Vail

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As the checkered flag flew, Justin Brayton captured his first ever Daytona Supercross win, with a great start and rode consistently from the beginning to finish. The victory marks his first career main event win after 131 starts, and Daytona is certainly a great track to achieve this milestone. He becomes the oldest rider to win a main event, coming up on the age of the 34 this Wednesday. He led 17 laps out of 18, one being held by Marvin Musquin until his first fall.

Justin Brayton riding for Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda started in the first gate after his win in Heat #1, was also looking for his first main event win at Daytona. Point leader Jason Anderson on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing had a stumble into a tuff block into the first rhythm section, which had him start in 17th for the main. Eli Tomac on the No. 3 Monster Energy Kawasaki KX 450F collided with Cooper Webb while fighting for the lead, which put Webb back in 8th position for the main, and Tomac back to 12th.

Out of the starting gate in the main, Christian Craig for Team Honda HRC took the hole shot into the first section. Immediately following the start, Tomac crashed after getting hung up on the berm, but quickly recovered his bike and started his charge back towards the pack.

Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Justin Brayton overtook Christian Craig for the lead. Marvin Musquin passed Craig and was charging his way towards Brayton. Jason Anderson went down again colliding into the back of Vince Friese. Musquin, a little faster than Brayton through the rhythms sections, passed him and gained the lead of the event. However, it was not for long as he lost control of his bike and hit a tuff block that landed him into the mechanic’s area. Shortly after Musquin, went down once again and rejoined right in front of Tomac who then rounded the outside of Musquin into the corner midway through lap 6.

With 12 minutes to go, Justin Brayton maintained a 2.5-second gap over 2nd place Christian Craig, but the race is not decided yet with Cooper Webb in 3rd showing a fast pace, as well as Tomac, had made his way through the field up to 5th.

As the leaders behind Brayton battled for position trying to catch him, his lead extended to a 5-second gap with 7 minutes to go. The biggest threat to Brayton’s victory seemed to be Tomac who had a great run moving up the field, with dominant pace.

Tomac made his pass on Cooper Webb to take 2nd, with his focus switching solely on Brayton in first. He would do everything he could to make his way up to the leader with the little time that remained. Brayton could feel the breath of Tomac on this final lap, he needs to keep his composure if he wanted his first supercross victory.

Eli Tomac’s charge up the field from last place after the early crash, to the front of the pack would come up just short with a 2nd place finish. Jason Anderson with a tough night after his tangle with Friese, finished 7th overall.

Picture

(Photo Credit: SaJorden Miller / The SkyBoat)

Jason Anderson remains on top of the standings at 223 points with a 40 point advantage over second place Marvin Musquin with 183. Justin Brayton moves up into 3rd overall with 170 points in the standings over Blake Baggett with 164. Eli Tomac remains 5th in the standing with 160 points.

Next week the Monster Energy Supercross Championship continues as the riders head to St. Louis, Missouri to continue the fight for the 450 SX title on Saturday, March 17th at 8:00 p.m.

Share This Story:

Related Content