Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki press release:

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo made the stop at Daytona International Speedway a memorable one, claiming his first career victory aboard his Kawasaki KX250 and taking over the championship points lead. The team has won at Daytona four of the last five years, with the one non-winning year going to now-teammate Jordon Smith. After a tough start to the day going down in practice, Smith was able to put in a good ride and finish 10th, while teammate Seth Hammaker showed bright moments on his way to finishing 11th.

From the moment McAdoo put feet to pavement at Daytona International Speedway, he was determined to make this round special. With fond memories racing the venue as an amateur, it was evident that McAdoo was the man to beat.

He quickly showed he was there to win after a dominating heat race victory where he finished over four seconds ahead of his teammate. On the main event start, McAdoo got pinched off in the first turn and was forced to come through the pack. He started picking off riders and was into second by Lap 4. It took patience and a few more laps, but he was able to get by for the lead on Lap 9 and ride to his first victory.

“That is what we worked for,” said McAdoo. “When I got the win, I instantly started to think about how many people have stood behind me since I was an amateur and believed I could be up here. I have an amazing support group that consistently pushed me to be better and now we’ve got a win. It’s an unbelievable feeling and I don’t want it to end. We’re ready for more.”

Smith was ready to make a big comeback in Daytona after a tough season opener. He had to overcome some adversity going down in qualifying, but Smith didn’t let it stop him and lined up for the evening. He got a similar jump out of the gate as McAdoo and came around the first lap in 10th. Smith was moving forward but went down and was forced to work his way back up to take a top-10.

“It’s obviously not the result I was hoping for having done well at this event before, but we were able to make the most of a tough day,” said Smith. “We’re about to run our first time doing three races in one venue and I think we can adjust and get back up to the top of the results.”

Like McAdoo, Hammaker had raced the famed track as an amateur. He started the night running well in the lead for some of his heat race before his teammate McAdoo got by, giving him some experience being out front. In the main, he was in the top five but went down in the sand section on the second lap. He got up in 21st and put his full effort to pass as many people as possible. Hammaker was able to utilize the whole race to come back to 11th.

“The result doesn’t show how I felt on the track but that’s racing sometimes,” said Hammaker. “I can take away a lot from this weekend that will hopefully help me as we head to Texas. I ran up front in the heat race and overall felt good. I’m learning every week and ready to check off my first goal of a top five.”