Windham, Barcia Ready For Daytona

Cycle News Staff | March 6, 2012

Kevin Windham won the Daytona Supercross when it was at its nastiest. He’s hoping for a little more Daytona magic on Saturday night at Daytona International.

“Daytona is as unique as it gets,” the Geico Honda-backed Windham said in a team release. “I’ve been fortunate enough to win there. It was a mud race and one of the toughest races of my life, but we got the ‘W.’ It’s always one of the toughest races of your life. The track is nasty, it’s ever changing and the laps are a lot longer than a regular Supercross race. It beats you up pretty bad.”

Windham is coming off his second fourth-place result of the season and is hoping the change up on Saturday will equate to his first podium finish of the season.

“We’re at the halfway point of the season and this race is a big hurdle to get over,” Windham said. “Hopefully, we’ll sail smoothly through it. It’s so important to keep the thing on two wheels at this race so that will be my focus.”

Windham is fifth in the Supercross standings, five points behind the sidelined Chad Reed for fourth.

Justin Barcia, the championship leader in the Supercross Lites East series, is looking to bring his fourth consecutive victory home for GEICO Honda.

“The team is coming by my house in Florida to do some testing before the race, which will be big,” Barcia said. “We’re going to go to Daytona with the same determination we’ve had all year. The track is always tough there, but you get a special feeling when you are there. A lot of great guys have won there and I want to add my name to the list.”

Barcia leads Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen by 18 points.

The team’s rookie Lites rider, Justin Bogle, is trying to bounce back from a late spill and fifth-place finish in St. Louis and get on the podium for the second time this season.

“The track’s I train on at Trey Canard’s place have a good layout with pretty good sandy sections,” Bogle said. “That should be pretty good practice. I want to get back on that box. Getting there felt really good in Atlanta and St. Louis didn’t feel so good.”