Daytona set the scene as 450SX and 250SX East riders went to work in front of the Florida crowd for another competitive night of racing. We’ve gathered the direct takes from riders for this Reaction feature from round eight of the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – First:
Somehow I have won eight Daytona Supercrosses! I just go out there and roost the berms like I’m at my home track – I love this dirt and the way it develops. Of course, I had to work for it there tonight, I went through all my main competition and just had a great time on my motorcycle. I love spraying these sand turns, I’m so thankful to get it done with Red Bull KTM, and to make up some championship points this weekend.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Sixth:
Daytona was okay, I just need to focus on myself and continue to improve. Sixth place is not bad, but I expect more out of myself – I know the team expects more out of me and I would like to do better. So I need to go back to work this week and also work at putting myself in better positions. I chose the wrong gate tonight and I got the best jump that I could, although with the gate that I chose, it didn’t do me any favors. I was in the top 10 after the first corner, and then just pushed and made a few passes, but I think if I were in a better position, I would have been fighting for either a podium or a smooth P5. The team is working hard for me – we’ll look at bringing some momentum into Indy next weekend.

Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) – Second:
There are some things we’ve been trying to address, but it was a gnarly track, with good racing – I think it was a pretty fun night to watch for the crowd. I wish there was maybe five more minutes to the race. One thing I’ve taken for granted is the tower that you can look at over the finish line and see how much time you have left, and the order and stuff – I’m pretty grateful we have that in the stadiums. In the closing laps, I gave my max effort. The track was changing a lot, and it was already tough. I think this year, the track was maybe more square-edged, with hard bumps on exits of turns. I think the fact that it broke down made it unique, because it was quite a simple track layout.

Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fourth:
Daytona was a bit of a tough day for me. We kind of chased the bike setup the majority of the day, and never got super comfortable on the track. Unfortunately, it showed in the main event. I had a great start but wasn’t able to run the pace of the leaders and ended up fourth. I’m a bit bummed as I was starting to catch Kenny [Roczen], but I couldn’t make the late race charge I was hoping for.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 12th:
It was a good day, just crashing in the main turned it into a bad day. We’re beat up, so I’m gonna take it easy this week, and hopefully be ready for next weekend.

Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Seventh:
I’m really happy with how the day turned out. I rode consistent laps all day through qualifying and the heat race, plus my starts were much better. I was happy I was able to put laps together for the whole 20 minutes in the main event and be in the mix with everyone. We put in a lot of work in Florida this week to get to this point, and I’m really appreciative of all the time the team has been putting in to get us where we belong. I’m hopeful we can build on this and continue to get better results each week.

Dylan Ferrandis (Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing) – 22nd:
Day was going pretty good, the bike was a lot better this weekend with the change we made. Had my best qualifying time so far this season. I was feeling really good going into the night show. I got a good start and was pushing to move for a pass and crashed and ended up spraining my right thumb. I tried to do everything I could to race the main event, but it was just not enough. The pain was manageable, but the strength and the movement of my thumb was just not enough to finish the main event.

Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – 10th:
Daytona is always a fun race for me. Being at home is nice and yeah, tonight’s heat race was good – I had an opening lap that was pretty awesome, so it was cool hearing the crowd cheer for me! In the main event, we had a good start, but I got shuffled back a bit after a few mistakes. Daytona is the type of track where if you’re not flowing, it can bite you, and tonight we didn’t have the best flow in the main. Overall, the positives are that we had good starts and we showed a bit of speed, but we need to improve on maintaining that pace. We’ll keep moving forward and look forward to the next round.

Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki) – Third:
I feel like more than half of the race I rode poorly in the sand section and left too much time on the table there. [The track design] was pretty basic but I did enjoy it… It’s nice to have a change of pace – having said that, the only area I didn’t like was after the mechanics area… It was way too fast. Those little [jumps] have really deep ruts in them and they can have big kickers – you can’t see them with 21 tear offs on so you just kind of go, you know? I’m happy with my riding… I would have killed a couple of years ago for these podiums, and I got a podium, so I’m trying to look at it that way.

Colt Nichols (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 11th:
It was a better day overall. I ended up P11 in the main, but felt like I didn’t ride very well, so I’m a little frustrated to be honest. But I’ll take the result, work on some stuff, try to be a little bit better this week, then come into Indy feeling stronger and hopefully log a better result.

Jordon Smith (Triumph Factory Racing) – 17th:
It was a fun day at Daytona! It has been difficult being back so soon after injury. The guys are at such a high level at the moment, but we made small improvements today. That’s the goal, to make improvements every single week. We will get back to work and do the same before next weekend.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Pierce Brown (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
It was a good night. I ended up third and on the podium two weekends in a row. I struggled a little early in the main, and Cole passed me. I had to make a couple of moves to get to around fifth. Then Jo [Shimoda] made a mistake late, and I ended up getting by him, so that put me third, and I just rode it in. It was a pretty low drama main for me. I just kind of stayed where I was. I didn’t really have the pace tonight, but I can’t be mad with P3. We’ll take the positives and head to Indy. We still have the red plate, so I’m stoked.

Cole Davies (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Second:
We wrapped up Daytona with a second place in the main event. A decent result, but it’s not where I want to be. Qualifying sessions weren’t the best for me as I was overriding the track, but we knew what to improve on for the night show. I got a terrible start in the main and was absolutely buried, which made for a tough fight through the pack. I enjoyed the battle, but a few mistakes were costly. I really wanted the win tonight, but we’ll regroup and come out swinging for the next one.

Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Seventh:
We have to be better. We will take it on the chin and give it everything going into Indy.

Caden Dudney (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 11th:
I felt qualifying was better this weekend. I also finished better than I did last weekend, so that’s another positive. I just have to figure out the heat race, which will get me a better gate pick, and I should have a better main. A lot of positives take away from it again, and I’m going to learn from my mistakes and apply it next weekend.

Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC Progressive) – Fourth:
Progress-wise, I’m happy, and I think we’re making the right choices – we’re making a lot of changes on suspension, mostly. The guys are working really hard and we improved more than last weekend, so I think next week should be even better. Qualifying was a little bit better today, and I’ve been killing the starts lately. In the main event, the fall was a personal mistake, but we’ll move on and try to get better. I’m working with my trainer, and we have a really good program, fitness wasn’t an issue today.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – First:
It felt good to get the win on a difficult track like this and get it done this early in the season. I’ve had good results here the past couple of years with podium finishes, but to now get the win feels like a dream come true. I had a rough go in the second session of qualifying. I wanted to get back up after my crash, but my bike was a bit bent up to get back out there. We went back and regrouped before the night show and were able to get it done. I’m stoked to get this win and keep the momentum rolling into Indy.

Drew Adams (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 22nd:
The day started off really well, I was pumped on getting fastest qualifier and backing it up with the heat race win. This was my first time racing at Daytona professionally, and it was cool to experience the whole atmosphere and hear all the fans. I was feeling really good in the main event and just got a bit out of shape in the whoops that led me to crash and injure my thumb. I’m going to get it checked out this week and really hope to be back next weekend in Indy.

Daxton Bennick (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Fifth:
It’s good to wrap up here in Daytona with a P5. I struggled a little bit in Q1, but I really found a flow and got some speed together for Q2 and finished up in third place. My heat race was good – we made some improvements in the whoops in between rounds and I think that showed tonight, but we will keep working on that. Then, for the main event, I pushed a little wide off the start, which made it hard on myself. I came from around 11th to fifth, so we salvaged good points on what could have been a bad night, which I am happy with.

Jalek Swoll (Triumph Factory Racing) – 10th:
It was a frustrating day. I never quite felt the way that I wanted, and I did not really get into a flow at all. I have finished my first main since 2024, however, and the only way is up from here. I feel confident that we can move in the right direction pretty quickly.