up, as this is the fourth different
brand he's won on at Daytona
and puts Tomac just 15 race
wins shy of Jeremy McGrath's
all-time record of 72.
"I had to work for it there
tonight," Tomac said. "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."
Lawrence finished second to
Tomac and still retains the red
plate. The Honda HRC rider quali
-
fied fastest and won his heat
race
earlier in the night, which set
the tone for a strong ride in the
main event. However, it took Law
-
rence too long to get going once
the gate
dropped. He ran second
and stalked Ken Roczen for most
of the race but allowed Tomac to
slip through while shuffling Law
-
rence back to third. Lawrence
was often
the fastest rider on the
track; he also set the quickest lap
of the race on the final lap.
"I was figuring out where to
compensate with the bike, and it
just took me too long to do that,"
Lawrence said.
He did manage to make his
way around Roczen in the clos
-
ing laps and put in a late-race
run at
the leader, Tomac. Law-
rence set the fastest lap in six of
the last
seven laps and finished
just over one second back.
"In the end, I was kind of mak-
ing it [bike setup] work, but it was
too
late, and Eli got his eighth
win here. I really wanted to stop
that tonight, but I couldn't make
up the difference."
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 9 MARCH 3, 2026 P75
Denno fought back to reclaim the
spot one lap later and held on to
become the third different SMX
Next winner in as many rounds.
This marks the first SMX Next
victory for the 17-year-old Texan
and the first for the newly formed
Triumph amateur program. He
took the checkered flag 4.4
seconds ahead of Star Racing Ya-
maha's Landen Gordon. Vincent
Wey rounded out the podium for
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team
Green.
DAYTONA NOTES
Eli Tomac ties Nick Wey for
fourth on the all-time 450SX-
class starts list and is only three
podiums behind Jeremy McGrath
for second all-time in 450SX-
class podiums. Tomac has
passed Richard Petty's record of
seven Daytona NASCAR victories
and is only one win away from
tying Bob Hannah for the most
Supercross-class wins in a single
venue (Pontiac Silverdome with
nine wins)... Ken Roczen's 81st
podium ties Mike LaRocco for
sixth all-time... Hammaker is the
first Pro-Circuit Kawasaki winner
at Daytona since Cameron McA-
doo in 2021.
Briefly...
(Left) Lawrence,
often times the
fastest rider
on the track,
finished second
and still holds the
championship
lead. (Below) Last
year's Daytona
winner, Ken
Roczen, led early
on but didn't
have the pace,
settling for third.
