On the Friday leading into the Daytona Supercross, Jeremy McGrath hosted his Holeshot King event, a bracket-style drag race on the infield of Daytona International 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 Holeshot 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 Pastrana 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 McGrath 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
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