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00:00Ricky and this guy has seven of them.
00:02Eli Tomac looked great in that heat race.
00:05He's talking about blowing berms out.
00:07He's going to get eight.
00:08I agree with you.
00:08He's got to go through that 96 with a lot of confidence.
00:11But Mr. Daytona, he's here to play.
00:13Big win if he's able to get number eight tonight.
00:15It's going to be tough.
00:16We'll see.
00:17I heard Hunter Lawrence talk about compromise.
00:19Well, Daytona has a compromise.
00:21Cooper Webb, because he wants to win.
00:22Daytona said, the best I can do is a second.
00:24He has been second here five times.
00:28Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
00:30But he is looking to change that tonight.
00:34Martin Davalos, the team manager of Quad Lock Honda,
00:38which is a rider here, Joey Savace on the 17.
00:41Their fate may come here in this start.
00:44So we've got to keep a close eye on it.
00:45Martin said, told me he's extremely confident
00:47that Joey has the race pace.
00:49And we saw that he came second again in his heat today.
00:52But he had a good start.
00:54He told me he knows if Joey can get up
00:56with that front pack and get a top five start.
00:59Keep an eye on him.
01:00He can hang with everybody.
01:01So watch Joey Savace here, guys, as the gate drops.
01:03And let's not forget about the defending race winner
01:06here at Daytona.
01:08The scenes here a year ago were so emotional, so special.
01:11Ken Rockson, when this gate drops,
01:13will start his 170th main event.
01:18Another three more, and he'll draw level with Jeremy McGrath
01:21in the top 10 for all-time starts,
01:24is a win on offer here tonight.
01:26Well, he's been really pleased with his riding so far.
01:29That was the scene a year ago.
01:31It meant so much to Kenny.
01:33Could he do it again?
01:35He's got a win already this year in Glendale.
01:37Another Daytona victory would be immense
01:40to get him back up into the championship conversation.
01:47We look forward to this every year.
01:51We talk about this every year.
01:54People come from all over the world just to see this.
01:59Rolex 24 has happened.
02:01Daytona 500 has happened.
02:03It's time for the world-famous Daytona Supercross.
02:07Here we go.
02:08Malcolm Stewart.
02:10Hunter Lawrence.
02:11Great start.
02:12Ken Rockson's in the mix.
02:14What a great start by Hunter Lawrence.
02:16Able to hold on and pitch Eli off.
02:18We got Ken Rockson and Cooper Webb.
02:21Ricky, we got the top four from what we saw last weekend in Dallas.
02:24Yeah, it is right here.
02:25Man, again, no surprise.
02:27Kenny getting into the lead just like he did last weekend
02:31early on passing Cooper Webb.
02:33Cooper was going to try to go for the pass by Hunter.
02:35See if Hunter can get by.
02:37These two guys have had some phenomenal races this year,
02:41and they take the different lines.
02:44Rockson the inside.
02:45Hunter Lawrence the outside,
02:46which gives him the inside option this lane.
02:49Yeah, if there's anything that Hunter needs to do right now,
02:52and James, he has got to get by Kenny.
02:55That's if he's able to stay with him.
02:57He cannot waste time.
02:59The biggest thing he needs to do is get a gap on Eli Tomac.
03:02And that's going to be hard because how good Ken Rockson is.
03:05I was just going to say that we'll see how more aggressive Hunter is
03:09to try to get around Kenny.
03:10And the same thing goes with Cooper Webb.
03:12Felt like if he was able to get around Ken or Hunter earlier in that race
03:15last weekend, he might have a better chance.
03:18Hunter chased Kenny.
03:19The field chased Kenny for 14 and a half minutes last weekend.
03:24And you just look.
03:25I mean, think of the points.
03:26You got Hunter Lawrence in the lead, Tomac second, Rockson,
03:29and then Webb in fourth.
03:31And this is what great champions do is they find their way to the front
03:36when it matters the most.
03:37And here they all are.
03:39Yeah, you can see it, Ricky.
03:40Even Eli Tomac, I felt like he was probably going to be more aggressive
03:43because he felt like maybe he sat back too long last weekend.
03:46So each one of these riders got the anticipation to try to get up in that
03:51lead early in this race.
03:52You know how difficult it's going to be.
03:54I'm going to go ahead and say it right now.
03:56This is dangerous for the two guys in front of Eli Tomac.
04:00For Eli to be sitting here on the second lap, this is going to be a good one.
04:06And two of the three guys in the top three, Hunter Lawrence,
04:09Eli Tomac didn't get the opportunity to race here last year through injury.
04:13They're enjoying this opportunity.
04:15And for Hunter, this is very lean times as far as his 450 experience
04:20on this track, JT.
04:21You remember last year, Hunter went out early.
04:23He sure did.
04:24And think about what John Tomac told Will Christian in Seattle a few weeks ago.
04:30When it's your track, you have to win.
04:32And Eli went out and got the job done.
04:34He took points away from a guy like Cooper Webb at Seattle and Arlington.
04:39Everybody thinks Arlington is Cooper Webb's house.
04:41Well, now the tables are turned.
04:43Eli Tomac has won this race seven times.
04:45So for guys like Hunter Lawrence, for guys like Ken Rocks and Cooper Webb,
04:48they need to return serve.
04:50They have to try to beat the number three.
04:52And it looks like the number three is going to make life very difficult.
04:55Listen to the crowd here in Daytona.
04:57The seven-time winner is pressuring Hunter Lawrence for second.
05:02Let's see how aggressive Eli is.
05:04Is he okay with just sitting behind Hunter?
05:06Because last week, Hunter got away.
05:08Guy was able to get around Kenny.
05:10He was able to get away from him.
05:11And Eli couldn't close in.
05:12So is he okay with sitting?
05:14Or he wants to make that pass?
05:15And we'll find out here in the next couple laps.
05:17Hunter's making a few mistakes, Ricky.
05:19Well, and I'm watching Eli.
05:20And it certainly looks like he wants to make the pass.
05:23I don't think that he is comfortable with just following him.
05:25And if he has the momentum going, and like he talks about finding that flow,
05:30I think you keep it going.
05:32And I feel like if you're in Eli's shoes, you know, even what happened last weekend,
05:36I bet he believes no matter what, as long as Hunter stays in front of him,
05:40that he's probably not going to pull away from him, you know.
05:42So we'll see how this plays out.
05:45It is a tough night, not only for Dylan Ferrandez, but Justin Cooper.
05:49Watch the second bike in shot.
05:50Yeah, it looks like everything's going good.
05:53Oh, it just rotates forward.
05:55Hits his body position too far forward, and down he goes.
05:59And that's a bummer here early in the race, going to get passed by a ton of guys.
06:04And we just got an update on Dylan Ferrandez.
06:07He has retired, which is a shame for that Red Bull Troy Lee design.
06:11Ducati took squad.
06:13See, Eli elected to go with roll-offs.
06:15You can see those two little canisters on his goggles.
06:19And conditions like this, that's pretty good,
06:22especially if you're behind like this.
06:23You get roosted so much that you run out of tear-offs.
06:28That could be tough.
06:29Late in this race.
06:30We're going to find out how much Hunter has improved,
06:33like how the confidence with him over the last few weeks.
06:36Because for him, he's got Ken Roxton.
06:37He knows that's going to be a challenge just trying to get around him.
06:40But Eli right here at his house, very strong.
06:43Well, and again, I stand strong in what I said early.
06:47You can see right here on the screen,
06:49if Hunter wants to really have a good shot at this win,
06:53and he cannot waste time behind Kenny.
06:56If that door opens up, I mean, he has got to take it.
06:59Kenny is a very talented, fast rider, tough to get by as well.
07:04Not going to be easy, but you just have to find a way in that moment.
07:07Hunter did a great job of recovering.
07:09He got a little too far forward in those whoops.
07:11That bike started spinning back, but adjusted his body and was able to get that run.
07:16I feel like Hunter's bike looks really good here tonight.
07:20What I mean by that is it looks really, like, it doesn't look too edgy.
07:24Sometimes I feel like in Supercross, it looks super edgy,
07:28and, like, he doesn't, there's not a lot to give to it,
07:30where here it looks a little more forgiving.
07:32These guys have enjoyed racing each other this year, and we've been spoiled.
07:36We just showed you a graphic there of the five winners so far this year.
07:40Of course, Cooper Webb winning at the Triple Crown.
07:42Let's talk more about the man in the middle, the man on the 96 JT, the points leader.
07:47Yeah, and I like the way Hunter's responded to this,
07:49and what's happened is they pushed the pace back up to Ken Rockson,
07:52and I think that's where the urgency came from Eli.
07:55He's been racing Ken Rockson for the majority or entirety of his 450 career,
07:59and he knows the one thing you can't allow Ken Rockson to do, and that's get away.
08:03He pushed the pace up, Hunter Lawrence responded,
08:05and now they're on the rear wheel of the 94.
08:08Look at this.
08:09The crowd tells you how close it is.
08:13Rockson, Lawrence, Tomac.
08:16It's really impressive the level that these guys are riding,
08:19but go back to, remember how we talked about Hunter Lawrence all year
08:23and how he needed to be a little better at the beginning of the races?
08:27Look at how well he's doing compared to round one back in Anaheim.
08:31I agree with you.
08:32He's only going to get better at this race.
08:33He'll figure his track out at the CMD line.
08:36He's time out on the inside.
08:39Hunter Lawrence had no choice.
08:41That's a heads-up riding by Ken.
08:43What I was going to say, Hunter's line before the finish line,
08:45if he was closer to Ken, I think he was going to make that pass.
08:48So Eli Perala needed to stop that momentum before, and he did.
08:52Let's see.
08:53Yeah, how is Hunter going to react right now or respond to that pass?
08:57But that was good for Hunter to stand his bike up straight.
09:00Had he not standing his bike up straight, he could have easily gone down,
09:05falling down the turn.
09:08Notice that a lot more about Eli this year.
09:11When he makes those passes, he makes them a little different in the past.
09:15I'm assuming he's probably going to try to be aggressive and get around Kenny
09:18and hope that Kenny holds Hunter up and get that gap.
09:21There you go.
09:22He's going to slingshot out of this corner.
09:28Have a listen to that roar.
09:32Daytona loves themselves to meet T3.
09:36That was gnarly what E.T. did on that wall jump.
09:41That was awesome.
09:42Drove right through it.
09:43And all that came from that split lane up there.
09:46That's what I was saying with Hunter.
09:47If he got next to him, that he was going to pass Ken.
09:50And Eli saw that and he made that pass.
09:52Exactly what I thought Hunter might do.
09:56Have a look at this.
09:58Aboard the Red Bull KTM.
10:00There, a lap ago, he got by Hunter Lawrence.
10:05Check out this forward momentum.
10:07Yeah.
10:08Right there.
10:09Just goes through.
10:10Just leaves the door open.
10:12Takes a pass.
10:13Like James was telling you guys.
10:14Like, he's been forcing these passes a lot more than he has in years past.
10:19And then right here.
10:20Just goes to the outside.
10:22It rails the sperm and slingshots past Kenny because of that momentum like James was telling
10:28us about.
10:29Yeah.
10:29I love it.
10:30And this is the difference that I see with Eli this year is that when he gets there, he
10:34makes passes instantly.
10:36Maybe in the past, he got caught back.
10:38He knew how important this pass would be if Kenny, he's looking good, Will.
10:43He's looking so comfortable on this Red Bull KTM machine, isn't he, guys?
10:47I was talking to the crew chief there over at KTM, Carlos Rivera, and he was reflecting
10:52on press day, which happened on Friday.
10:54And apparently, Eli came off the track and said, that's one of the best press days I've
10:58ever had.
10:58Don't want to change anything.
10:59This is how I want the bike.
11:01And I mean, James, Ricky, do you think we've ever seen him quite as comfortable as he is
11:06now?
11:06You talked about how he's just worked his way forward.
11:08He's so happy.
11:10He says everything positive about where he is.
11:12I haven't seen him react like this after wins or even podiums.
11:17So, I mean, it's incredible to see at this point in Chris's career.
11:19No, absolutely it is.
11:21And yeah, we've seen Eli maybe be faster on certain days on different brands.
11:25But I would say this.
11:26This is the most comfortable I've seen him in all situations.
11:30There's nothing that seems like it bothers him for a pass.
11:32When he was on, he was on.
11:33Sometimes those days he was off, he had a few moments.
11:36Don't see that this year, Lee.
11:37Think about his words.
11:38I just love this motorcycle.
11:40And it looks like he loves it.
11:42He's having fun on it.
11:44He won the first two races of this season.
11:46He's got three wins on the year so far.
11:49I mean, like James said, you know, on an average, he has been, this is the best that I've ever
11:57seen him.
11:58He's looked good in every single condition that we've seen this year.
12:01And we have to remind ourselves, this is the guy who could very well have been retired.
12:05And here he is, halfway home to an eighth win, an unprecedented eighth win in Daytona.
12:14Quick reminder to stock up on Monster Energy drinks at 7-Eleven.
12:199.45 on the clock, plus a lap.
12:22And with every step on this track, we're watching history in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and
12:28the SMX World Championship with this man here, the 33-year-old father of three, Eli Tomac.
12:34Ricky, I'm going to go back to what you said in the opening.
12:37Yeah.
12:37We're at halfway.
12:38We're in the second half of the season.
12:39Let's see what these two guys behind him can do with this guy right here, Eli.
12:43Oh, Eli getting a little sideways there.
12:46And I'm going to tell you, they're doing a great job at keeping Eli closer, not letting
12:51him get away.
12:52Hunter Lawrence was the fastest guy last lap.
12:55He had a 118.4 to Eli's 119.1.
13:01So there you go.
13:02But again, Hunter's got to do his best to get by Kenny.
13:07Let's give some love a little further back.
13:08You're looking at second and third, but how about Joey Savace in fifth, behind Cooper
13:13Webb, Aaron Plessinger sixth, Garrett Marchbank seventh, Malcolm Stewart in eighth, Shane
13:17McElrath and Christian Craig in the top ten.
13:21There's Joey Savace, runs top five.
13:24Great ride by Joey.
13:25He looked great.
13:26And he's looked good all year long.
13:28And, you know, some people might be surprised, but this, honestly, with the talent of this
13:32guy, go back to a few years, battling with that championship with Zach Osborne and winning
13:36a bunch of life.
13:37But this is where Joey belongs, confidence.
13:39He does.
13:40And he's raced a lot of these guys for a long time, some of these guys in the 250 division.
13:45And he's had a rough go.
13:47He had a gnarly foot injury several years ago.
13:50And to see him finally get back to what we believe what his potential was, it's great
13:56to see.
13:57And this is not a factory team.
13:59They get a little support, factory support from Honda, not much.
14:02And Martin Davalos and Yariv Konski, team owner, has done a great job.
14:09Well, if he stays where he is, next eight minutes plus a lap, he's going to match what
14:13he did at San Diego in round two.
14:14And that is a top five result.
14:17Just going from strength to strength.
14:18Here's Hunter Lawrence intensifying the pressure on Ken Rockson for second place.
14:25You can see Eli opening that gap.
14:27This race is going to be won and lost.
14:29If Hunter has any chance, he's got to make this pass on Kenny.
14:32Let's see if he can get close.
14:34He probably wanted to go to outside, but that lap rider was there, so he's got the funnel
14:38back in.
14:39And look, it's a big deal.
14:40Even though it might not be for the win, it's a big deal if Hunter Lawrence wants to
14:44keep that red plate.
14:45I think it's a big deal for a lot.
14:47I came into this, talked about it on my show this weekend on how it could be a huge positive
14:52for Ken Rockson or anybody to win outside of Eli.
14:55But if they don't lose too many points to Eli, it wouldn't be a huge negative.
14:59So I think Hunter Lawrence understands if he can get past Kenny and get second, yeah,
15:03he'd be bumped on that win.
15:04But we know how good Eli is here, 100%.
15:08But still, even though this would be a dominant win, you know, it's important for a guy like
15:14Hunter Lawrence to get out here and try to bag a win.
15:17It could be the year of consistency with, again, how deep this field is.
15:23Oh, here we go.
15:24And quite often you talk about, over the course of a season, who has the best, worst result.
15:31And at the moment, that's Hunter Lawrence.
15:33His worst result as he goes for the inside on Rockson.
15:36His worst result this year is fourth.
15:39For Eli Tomac, his worst is twelfth.
15:41And will we see over the course of the season that play out, or will it be simply victories?
15:46Yeah.
15:47That determines it.
15:48And that's the thing.
15:48You go back to last year's Supercross season against Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton.
15:54And so six points.
15:55Oh, here you go.
15:55Nice switch up here for Hunter Lawrence.
15:57Oh, that was a nice line to the inside.
15:59Uh-oh, goes off the course there.
16:01Checks up a little bit.
16:03Doesn't gain any time, so nothing will happen there.
16:06I think it depends on how much longer Hunter stays behind Ken.
16:10And if Eli starts to get away, I think what Hunter's going to start doing is racing to just get
16:14second.
16:14You know, if he can get around Ken, maybe that hope of Eli's still there.
16:18But otherwise, he's going to put all his effort on just trying to wear Kenny out,
16:22at least finish that second as he might get a run right here.
16:24Oh!
16:25You know, if he can scrub, Kenny's going to be stuck on the outside.
16:28Hunter will probably pop out of his rut to cut Kenny off.
16:31There you go.
16:31Nice work.
16:32Yeah, that was nice.
16:33Great work by Hunter Lawrence to notice where that lapper was going.
16:37Go to the inside.
16:38And then he hops to the right-hand side of that rhythm lane after to block and defend that position
16:44on Kenny.
16:45He did not let Kenny get by.
16:48This is going to be an interesting next lap.
16:51Maybe take a breather here and see just if he can make any time whatsoever on Eli.
16:59Looks good.
17:00Yeah, he does.
17:02Let's talk more about the man aboard the 96.
17:05And with that pass, Will, that will allow him to keep the red plate for another five minutes plus a
17:11lap.
17:12A massive achievement, Lee.
17:14And I was talking to Darren Lawrence, Dazzy, as everyone calls him, his dad earlier,
17:18and just after that first Supercross win last weekend and what he reflected on after that.
17:23And he said, well, I'm thinking back, and his wife Emma was there too,
17:26he said, we're thinking back to nine years ago when we left Australia,
17:30we left everything behind.
17:31And because we believed we could do something over him, we didn't want to not try.
17:36And he said, every time we achieve something, we go, well, there we go.
17:39Yeah, that's that one, that's that one.
17:41And they've done it with Jet, and now they get to do it with her at the Sun, Hunter.
17:45And he's like, we did that again last weekend.
17:46He said, we achieved something else.
17:48That's both of our boys now who have got Supercross wins.
17:51So just a massive achievement.
17:53You can see a red cross flag out there, guys.
17:55I believe that's for Scott Meshey as the rider down.
17:58As Hunter works his way through the sand section.
18:01One more time, just look at the rubs through the sand there.
18:05Yeah, I mean, it is brutal right now.
18:08Hey, Hunter Lawrence, fastest guy on the track.
18:12He was seven tenths quicker than Eli Tomac.
18:15And that was Wilde making a pass by Ken Rockson.
18:19So this thing ain't over.
18:21He's closed the gap with under three seconds.
18:23And Lappers could play a part here.
18:27And this is leaning in to Hunter Lawrence's strength, meaning second half and latter part of the race.
18:34Yeah, absolutely.
18:35I mean, we know he's always been comfortable here.
18:37It's going to be crucial for Eli.
18:39See if he can respond, because I think it's going to become a point.
18:42If he can pull that gap or at least keep it the same, then Hunter will probably just start making
18:46sure, just finish on his second place.
18:49He likes to give him an opportunity, Ricky.
18:50Yeah, and they just basically mirrored their last lap time.
18:54So, I mean, again, it's just tiptoeing you out.
18:59It's going to be close.
19:02Just got to keep digging and hope for the best.
19:05Try to time your passes by these Lappers the best that you can.
19:10Oh, Hunter's going to lose some time right there.
19:13Coming into this season, one of the headlines involved, of course, Hunter's younger brother, Jet, SMX world champion and the
19:24injury.
19:25So then people are saying, OK, so the question that begs is, is this Hunter's time to shine?
19:31Well, he's showing us that now.
19:32And all the way, all throughout both brothers' careers, older brother Hunter has been the one to say, I'm not
19:41doing my job unless I make my little brother better.
19:44I need to set the example.
19:46I need to show the way.
19:47And he is the first to tell you how good his younger brother is.
19:50Yes, at times it has been painful where he's missed out on winning the SMX world championship himself.
19:55But here Hunter has capitalized on the opportunity that's been put in front of him.
20:00He's shown his maturity.
20:02He's shown his, at times, he is just so methodical about how he works his way, his race craft, how
20:09he goes through.
20:10And so is this the year for him to shine?
20:13Well, if he stays where he is, he keeps that red leaders plate, championship leaders plate for yet another weekend
20:18as we head to Indianapolis next weekend.
20:20I mean, listen, we're sitting here and we're watching this, but this is an incredible ride by Hunter Lawrence.
20:26This isn't a surprise ride for Eli.
20:29He's the king of Daytona.
20:30That's right.
20:31This is an incredible ride by this guy.
20:34And you can only, I mean, it's still, there's some pressure, not only on Hunter, but Eli as well.
20:39Once we go back to regular Supercross races, this is a fantastic position for Hunter.
20:45I couldn't agree more with you, Ricky.
20:47That was exactly what I was thinking.
20:48That's why I go back to, it's not surprising to watch Eli win, but for sure, Hunter, as Eli almost
20:54goes off the track right there, this is really impressive.
20:57And going to give Hunter some confidence, even if he does finish second and keep Eli, man, it's gotten better.
21:03You know, there's impossible things, and then there's passing Tomek late at Daytona.
21:11Like, that is what Hunter Lawrence is facing right now.
21:15So you almost, you know, it's almost like a pat on the back here to fight through, get a second
21:19place, retain the red plate, because everybody knows what Tomek is going to do at Daytona.
21:23But you watch how comfortable Tomek was in that heat race, the way he's able to move forward in this
21:28main event, jumping all the way into the corners, making one arc out of every corner.
21:32Like, this has just been a banner night for the number three.
21:36This is what legends are made of, and it's going to be number eight, it looks like.
21:41Well, there's some truth to that, 100%.
21:44And again, kind of like going back to you were just talking about, James, just the quality of second place
21:50that this is.
21:52And if you're a hunter, you've got to be pretty stoked overall.
21:55Yeah, and once he goes back and watches this film, he's going to see Eli pushing.
22:00Eli's taking a push back.
22:02I think Eli's got this sand section figured out, but I agree.
22:06It's a win for both these guys.
22:08Let's give a shout-out to Garrett Marchbanks, running seventh.
22:17Yeah, this is a fantastic job.
22:20Like you mentioned a little earlier in the show, I think it was in the heat races, James, about how
22:26he had a rough go at it.
22:28So great to see you here, Will.
22:30So much work.
22:31Ricky has gone into this, too.
22:33Just talking to Kawasaki earlier on, there's just hundreds of hours.
22:37They said 100 hours a week has gone in.
22:40And we need to give a praise to kind of an unsung hero there, in particular, test rider over at
22:46Monsanity Kawasaki,
22:47because he's been put in those days, too.
22:49They're talking 9 o'clock in the morning till dark, on multiple days back-to-back to get Garrett to
22:54where he is right now.
22:55He was feeling the most comfortable, he said, and he's only been able to push, he said, today out of
23:00the entire season so far today.
23:02So incredible to see him in this position.
23:04Yeah, we wish Chase Sexton to a speedy recovery.
23:08We want to see Chase back as quickly as we can.
23:10And there's the race leader, Eli Tymac, is on his final lap here at Daytona.
23:18We have seen...
23:19Bring it home!
23:21Bring it home!
23:21Bring it home!
23:22Bring it home!
23:23Man, eight times.
23:26That is so wild to me.
23:30I didn't even race Daytona eight times at the elite level, I think.
23:35Well, for you guys as Daytona winners, right, we have all witnessed this man here be the catalyst for emotions
23:46in this crowd like we've never seen.
23:48When he equaled your record of five, when he surpassed your record, when the crowd just surged the podium,
23:56there is something magical about Eli Tymac and Daytona International Speedway.
24:01He's done it again! Now for an eighth time, Eli Tymac, the magic at Daytona continues!
24:10Hunter Lawrence has ran the fastest lap of the race, that last lap.
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