Slaw Dog
Winning a Daytona Supercross is different. No offense to Detroit or Arlington or Birmingham, it just ain’t the same. Daytona is where legends are enshrined into the sport. EVERYONE remembers Justin Brayton’s one career win. Because it happened at Daytona (and because Weege reminds everyone daily). Twenty-four other riders have one career 450SX victory and you’d be hard pressed to recall where most of those happened. Because it wasn’t at Daytona.
I think it means even more when you are from the state. It was THE race you grew up going to. A weekend spent with family and friends. A weekend unlike any other.
“I’ve never felt anything quite like I felt at Daytona in March of 2017,” Florida native Adam Cianciarulo wrote on Instagram last week about his victory at the Speedway.
It has been a trying year for RJ Hampshire. He couldn’t defend his 250SX West Region title and entered the East Region opener at Tampa behind the eight-ball after off-season wrist surgery.
“Yeah, and it’s not just the injuries, a lot happened,” he said prior to Tampa. “But, man, I’m confident where I am now. The last few weeks have gone really well. If I had to race A1 it wouldn’t have gone well, I wasn’t in a good spot. I feel good on the bike but I’ve accepted the fact that I’m going to have some pain in my wrist, but we all have something. My injury is public theirs isn’t.”
Following a disastrous opening round in Tampa where he got stuck on a Tuff Blox and finished 18th, he rebounded with a third at round 2 in Detroit. On Saturday, it all came together for the Hudson, Florida, native, as he rode to his first win of 2025 and his first at his home race in Daytona.
After the race, Hampshire spoke about how much it meant to him after the recent loss of his father.
“It’s special,” he said. “Man, I lost my dad a few months ago, and this was his race. This is the only race we used to come to. He was here with us today. Some guy came up to us in the pits with one of my dad’s jerseys. I don’t know, it was just special today. I felt good, I had that comfort and that’s what was missing in those first two races. Finally got to burn one down in Daytona! That one was for dad.”
“It is kind of tough to talk about,” he added in the post-race press conference. “Some guy, I had no idea who it was, came up to me today, not even during signing, and was like “hey, I have something that you might want to see.” It was my dad’s jersey from whenever he was a racer growing up, probably before I was even born. I never got the chance to have him sign it but I want you to have it. Man, that kind of… that hit hard. Just because this was my dad’s favorite race to come to. You guys could tell how much it meant to me and yeah, just something extra today.”
While the race win was big for the championship—Hampshire is only 14 points back of Max Anstie—it meant a lot more than that. It was a win he’ll never forget.
Images: @octopi.media
