Follow the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from round nine of the season at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, FL through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media

250SX qualifying:
Joint red-plate holder Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) set the pace in the 250SX East qualifying, posting a time of 1m11.947s around the technical Daytona track. Coming off a difficult round at Arlington last weekend, it was a great bounce-back for the Australian, who was the only rider to break the 1m11s time barrier. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire also had a great showing after being cleared of concussion this week, with a second-fastest time of 1m12.483s. Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha’s Enzo Lopes rounded out the podium with an impressive time of 1m12.552s, just 0.04 seconds faster than Fire Power Honda rider Jordon Smith, with Stilez Robertson (Rockstar Husqvarna) rounding out the top five. Last week’s winner and joint-points’ leader, Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) finished qualifying in sixth. Kyle Peters (SBG Honda), Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda) and Jace Owen (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) rounded out the top 10.

450SX qualifying:
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart put in a hard-charging final lap to leap to the top of the 450SX qualifying charts, with a stunning time of 1m10.902s at the Daytona International Speedway. Stewart’s time pipped Monster Energy Kawasaki racer Jason Anderson’s 1m11.030 seconds for the top spot and the first gate pick for the night show. Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) finished in third, snapping at the heels of Anderson with a time of 1m11.186s. Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen put in some solid laps to finish fourth, ahead of 450SX series leader Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha). Tomac’s time was good enough to stay ahead of his Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team-mate, Dylan Ferrandis, with Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) finishing the qualifying session in seventh. Qualifying positions eighth to 10^th were filled by defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), Dean Wilson (Rockstar Husqvarna), and Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

250SX heat one:
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire opened the night’s 250SX proceedings with the holeshot ahead of Jordon Smith (Fire Power Honda) and Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki). Smith piled the pressure on Hampshire early in on, before taking the lead through the rollers, before Hampshire struck back. McAdoo moved into second and set his sights on Hampshire. Smith retaliated and forced McAdoo high on a turn to retake second position, holding off the Kawasaki rider until the finish. Hampshire took a hard-fought victory with Smith and McAdoo rounding out the podium. Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha riders Nicoletti and Owen finished fourth and fifth with solid performances. Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda), John Short (Honda), Jarett Frye (Fire Power Honda), and Grant Harlan (Honda) all qualified for the Main.

250SX heat two:
Rockstar Husqvarna’s Stilez Robertson took the holeshot with Mitchell Oldenburg (SmarTop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda) second and Enzo Lopes (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha). Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence clawed his way back up to second early on the opening lap. Lawrence closed the gap on Robertson and the pair traded the lead several times in the space of half a lap, before the Australian took the lead entering the sand section. Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull KTM) mounted an attack on Lopes in the closing laps and took over the third-place spot. Up front, Lawrence quickly pulled a gap on Robertson, ultimately finishing with a four-second lead by the time they crossed the finish line. Brown rounded out the top three, with Oldenburg and Lopes finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Lance Kobusch (Honda) , Kyle Peters (Phoenix Racing Honda), Jack Chambers (KTM) and Henry Miller (KTM) finished out the top nine.

450SX heat one:
Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb took a storming holeshot and began checking out early in the opening 450SX heat. Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) second and Brayton (SmarTop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda) third, before Brayton quickly got passed and found himself in seventh. Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) was fourth behind Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) early on, but couldn’t move forward through the heat. Ferrandis then found an extra gear and began pressuring Webb for the lead, with some great line choices, but Webb was able to rebuff any challenges and took the win. Meanwhile Garrett Marchbanks was forced to DNF late in the race with broken handlebars while sitting in sixth place. Behind Webb, Ferrandis, Roczen, Anderson and Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) rounded out the top five. The remaining qualifying positions were filled by Brayton, Brandon Harntraft (Twisted Tea HEP Motorsports Suzuki), Justin Starling (GasGas) and Brandon Scharer (Yamaha).

450SX heat two:
SmarTop Bullfrog Spas MotoConcepts Honda’s Vince Friese claimed the final heat holeshot, but quickly relinquished the lead to fastest qualifier Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). Friese was soon swallowed up as Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) and series leader Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) fought inside the top five. Tomac and Sexton jockeyed their way past Musquin, while Stewart began to stretch out a comfortable lead. Sexton set his sights on Barcia and pushed him right to the checkered flag, but couldn’t find a way past the GasGas rider. Up front, Stewart took a comfortable 2.3-second lead from Barcia, Sexton and Tomac. The remaining qualifying positions were filled by Musquin, Friese, Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM), Alex Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) and Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha).

250SX LCQ:
Kawasaki rider Hunter Sayles enjoyed a great jump off the gate in the first Last-Chance Qualifier, followed closely by Hardy Munoz (Kawasaki) who took over the lead several corners later. Sayles soon found himself quickly outside the qualifying positions after getting passed by Brock Papi (Kawasaki), Derek Drake (BarX Chaparral Ecstar Suzuki) and Josh Varize (Husqvarna). Munoz managed to hold onto his lead until the checkered flag, closely followed by Varize. Papi and Drake rounded out the qualifiers for the Main event.

450SX LCQ:
Tristan Lane (KTM) claimed the holeshot, with Justin Bogle (Twisted Tea HEP Motorsports Suzuki), Ryan Breece (Yamaha) and Cade Clason (SGB Racing Storm Lake Honda) in hot pursuit. Bogle quickly got to the front, as Marchbanks charged through the pack from a mediocre start in his 450SX debut. Marchbanks clicked off passes on Clason, Lane and Breece to finish the LCQ in second position, five seconds behind the winner, Bogle. Breece and Clason also qualified for the 450SX Main event.

250SX Main event:
Stilez Robertson enjoyed a blinding start to claim the holeshot in the 250SX East main event, but two corners later Lawrence took the lead and was never headed from there. Nicoletti had a great start in third and Enzo Lopes. Hampshire rounded out the top five with the first lap in the books, but came up short on a triple and tumbled down the leaderboard to eighth. Cameron McAdoo had an average start and finished the first lap in seventh, and then struggled to get past Pierce Brown for fifth. Slightly ahead of them, team-mates Lopes and Nicoletti traded places several times for the podium spot, before Lopes eventually took the spot. While that was going on, McAdoo found himself in the sights of Hampshire, who was clawing his way back from his earlier crash. The Brown-McAdoo-Hampshire train caught and passed Nicoletti and Lopes with less than five minutes left on the clock, before Hampshire and McAdoo commenced a furious battle where they traded positions several times. McAdoo dispatched of Hampshire then upped the intensity, finally finding his way past Brown for third with three laps remaining. Up front, Lawrence cruised to an extremely comfortable 14-second wire-to-wire victory, over Robertson, with McAdoo another five seconds adrift in third. Brown and Lopes rounded out the top five. Jordon Smith, Hampshire, Nicoletti, Oldenburg and Varize completed the top 10 positions.

450SX Main event:
Cooper Webb repeated his starting performance with a great holeshot, before Anderson and Stewart found each other entering the sand and they both hit the dirt, remounting well down the field. Up front, Webb led over Sexton and Tomac, with Barcia and Ferrandis rounding out the top five as the technical track continued to deteriorate. At the eight-minute mark, and with Webb quietly stretching out a three-second lead, Tomac suddenly upped the ante and passed Sexton for second, before setting off after Webb. Further back, Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen tussled for sixth, with Musquin ultimately gaining the upper hand. Tomac relentlessly closed the gap on Webb as the clock ran down and lapped riders began to come into play. With just three minutes left on the clock Tomac’s bike began overheating, but when Webb was held up by lapper Shane McElrath in the whoops, Tomac pounced and took the lead. The championship points leader continued to charge right to the end, as he made history by becoming the first racer to win six Daytona supercross races. Webb finished second and Sexton third, with Ferrandis and Barcia rounded out the top five. Musquin, Stewart, Roczen, Anderson and Wilson completed the top 10.