Eli Tomac of Cortez broke fast from the gate and quickly raced to the lead for a dominating win Saturday night in the 450 Supercross at Daytona International Speedway.
The win catapulted him from fourth place into a tie for second with Marvin Musquin. It was his third win at Daytona in four years.
In the main event, Blake Baggett won the holeshot and took the lead, with Tomac and Musquin close behind. After a back-and-forth battle for second place with Musquin, Tomac jumped past Baggett, then ran his fastest laps in Laps 5 and 6 to take a commanding lead.
Musquin moved into second, then went off the track in the sixth lap and dropped to fifth place.
With Tomac securely out in front, contenders raced for a spot on the podium. Webb moved into second, Musquin recovered from his fall and moved into third, and Baggett fell to fourth.
With 2 minutes to go, Tomac led Webb by 8 seconds, and the race became a battle for second. Musquin caught and stalked Webb in the final two laps, but faltered and dropped to a comfortable third. Baggett and Tomac’s teammate on Kawasaki, Joey Savatgy, rounded out the Top 5.
Earlier Saturday, Tomac was fourth-fastest in 450SX qualifying rounds, with a best lap of 1 minute, 9.295 seconds. Musquin was fastest at 1:07.724. Roczen was second, and series-leading Webb was third.
Tomac picked up momentum and speed in his 450SX heat, breaking out of the gate and led all seven laps. Roczen was second, almost 6 seconds back.
Baggett won the second heat after overtaking Cole Seely in the fourth lap and holding off the surging Webb in the final lap. Musquin ran the fastest lap, 1:10.627, while finishing fourth.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross next goes to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on March 16 for the 11th race of the 17-race series.
