Hodges Is
Holeshot King
O
n the Friday leading into the Daytona
Supercross, Jeremy McGrath hosted
his Holeshot King event, a bracket-style
drag race on the infield of Daytona Inter
-
national Speedway. Fans withstood the
rain to see racing legends and former
Daytona winners like McGrath, Travis
Pastrana, Jeff Stanton, Ricky Carmichael,
Justin Brayton, Damon Bradshaw and
others go head-to-head.
Wet grass created slippery conditions
and forced mistakes from every rider
throughout the night. The finals pitted
Axell Hodges against Jeff Stanton in a
best two-out-of-three matchup. Hodges
took the win and used the better gate to
gain the advantage down the straight.
Stanton fired back and used his veteran
experience to win the second run. The
two sat tied going into the final bracket,
with Hodges getting the preferred left
lane for the tiebreaker. He hauled his way
to the stripe with more than a bikelength
to spare and earned the title as the Hole
-
shot King.
"It's amazing," Hodges said. "I don't
think I've raced in 10 to 15 years, and this
was my first time on a gate in so long. To
line up and get the win is so cool."
After the finals, both McGrath and Pas
-
trana lined up on their 500cc two-stroke
motorcycles for an exciting end to the
night. Pastrana and the custom "RMZilla"
took the first win on the left lane before Mc-
Grath retaliated with a win from the same
gate. The two sat tied going into the final,
with Pastrana again getting the preferred
lane for round three. He got the jump as
McGrath spun on the grass and gave the
advantage to the number 199.
CN
WIND
IN THE
P66
Axell Hodges met
Jeff Stanton in the
final and won the
Holeshot King event
at this year's Daytona
Supercross.
PHOTOS:
BROWN DOG WILSON
Jeremy McGrath (left) and Travis Pastrana
faced off in an exhibition competition on their
500cc two-strokes, with Pastrana taking the
tiebreaker.
