Florida’s James Stewart captured his second career Daytona Supercross win on a muddy, rain-soaked course Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Yamaha’s Stewart slipped past Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Davi Millsaps on lap three and dominated the rest of the 16-lap event to win by a margin of 7.572 seconds.

“It means a lot,” said Stewart, whose previous Daytona Supercross win came in 2007. “I felt good all day. I was fastest in practice. Once I got in front, I was just trying to survive.”

Rain showers throughout the day made for a muddy course. Due to the course conditions, AMA shortened the Supercross Main Event by four laps and the Lites Main Event by three laps.

Rounding out the podium were Millisaps in second and Honda’s Kevin Windham in third.

Ryan Villopoto, the two-time defending Daytona Supercross champion and current AMA Supercross points leader, fell during the first corners of the race but he worked through the pack to salvage a fifth-place finish.

Villopoto maintains a 29-point lead in the AMA Supercross championship standings over KTM rider Ryan Dungey, who sat out the race after undergoing surgery to repair a broken collarbone.

“That finish is a lot better than what it could have been,” Villopoto said.

In the exciting 12-lap Lites main event, Honda’s Justin Barcia stayed unbeaten in 2012 by holding off Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett by a margin of 2.537 seconds.

Barcia led from the start but received a challenge for the lead from Baggett in the final laps.

“It was such a tough race,” Barcia said.

“I gave it everything I had,” said Baggett, who won last year’s Lites Main Event at Daytona.

DAYTONA RESULTS: 450 CLASS
1. James Stewart – Yamaha
2. Davi Millsaps – .Yamaha
3. Kevin Windham – Honda
4. Marvin Musquin – KTM
5. Ryan Villopoto – Kawasaki
6. Mike Alessi – Suzuki
7. Jake Weimer – Kawasaki
8. Broc Tickle – Kawasaki
9. Matt Goerke – Suzuki
10. Brett Metcalfe – Suzuki
11. Nick Wey – Kawasaki
12. Kyle Chisholm – Kawasaki
13. Kyle Regal – Honda
14. Gavin Faith – Honda
15. Jstin Sipes – Kawasaki
16. Justin Brayton – Honda
17. Cole Seely – Honda
18. Ryan Clark – Kawasaki
19. Weston Peick – Kawasaki
20. Bobby Kiniry – Yamaha

DAYTONA RESULTS: 250 EAST
1. Justin Barcia – Honda
2. Blake Baggett – Kawasaki
3. Darryn Durham – Kawasaki
4. Ken Roczen – KTM
5. Blake Wharton – Suzuki
6. Jake Canada – Honda
7. Kyle Cunningham – Yamaha
8. Cole Thompson – Honda
10. Tommy Weeck – Suzuki
11. Les Smith – KTM
12. Shane Sewell – KTM
13. Alex Martin – Honda
14. Tyler Bowers – Kawasaki
15. Justin Starling – KTM
16. P.J. Larsen – KTM
17. Kyle Peters – Yamaha
18. Justin Bogle – Honda
19. Jeff Gibson – Honda
20. Phil Nicoletti – Honda

450 SUPERCROSS POINTS STANDINGS
1. Ryan Villopoto 221
2. Ryan Dungey 192
3. James Stewart 177
4. Kevin Windham 143
5. Jake Weimer 134
6. Davi Millsaps 131
7. Chad Reed 128
8. Brett Metcalfe 124
9. Justin Brayton 121
10. Mike Alessi 113
11. Kyle Chisholm 91
12. Josh Hansen 87
13. Broc Tickle 82
14. Nick Wey 76
15. Andrew Short 59

250 EAST POINTS STANDINGS
1. Justin Barcia 75
2. Ken Roczen 57
3. Darryn Durham 56
4. Blake Wharton 56
5. Justin Bogle 43
6. Jake Canada 41
7. Blake Baggett 40
8. Hunter Hewitt 31
9. Malcolm Stewart 29
10. Kyle Cunningham 28
11. P.J. Larsen 26
12. Alex Martin 21
13. Lance Vincent 21
14. Cole Thompson 20
15. Matt Lemoine 20

Photo courtesy Yamaha

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