Kawasaki Racing Team’s Michael Byrne celebrated his return to the podium by earning a well deserved third-place finish before a screaming crowd at Daytona International Speedway last Friday. Team Monster/ Pro Circuit /Kawasaki's Chris Gosselaar also finished third at the tenth round of the AMA Supercross series on the famed Daytona Supercross track.

After finishing third in his heat race, Byrne was determined to get a good start in the main-event and put his Kawasaki KX™450F in position to make a run for the win. He got a good jump at the start, but the holeshot went to his teammate James Stewart, who was followed by Chad Reed and Ricky Carmichael as they began the first of 20 laps. Then suddenly, as the lead group was nearing the end of the third lap, Stewart crashed allowing Carmichael to charge into the lead, followed by Reed and Byrne took over third. As the remaining laps clicked away Byrne was challenged by Travis Preston a couple of times in the whoops, but Preston was unable to make the pass as Byrne gained additional ground to take third-place well ahead of the rest of the field. The third-place finish was Byrne’s second AMA Supercross podium finish of his career. His first podium finish was also a third-place award which he received at the third Anaheim Supercross in 2005.

“To get on the podium at Daytona is definitely special,” said Byrne. “It’s the toughest race of the year. I don’t know why, but it seemed like it was the easiest I’ve had so far this year.”

Stewart was able to remount his KX450F following his crash and soldiered on to post the some of fastest lap times of the evening. He continued to advance on the lead group for the remaining 17 laps and managed to salvage a sixth place finish. Carmichael was the event winner and now leads the series standings with 215 points, followed by Reed with 213, Stewart with 189, Ivan Tedesco with 158 and Byrne rounds out the top-five with 152 points.

In the Supercross Lites action, Gosselaar, who was nursing a sore ankle which he sustained in practice at the last event in Indianapolis, rode strong during his six-lap heat race and finished second to earn a spot in the main event. Gosselaar’s determination and grit carried straight into the main event where he captured the holeshot before fading behind Davi Millsaps and Josh Grant on the opening lap. Undaunted by his competition, Gosselaar summoned enough courage and speed to hold his position aboard his Kawasaki KX™250F and earned another third-place finish. Gosselaar remains at second place in the series standings with 74 points.

“I was pumped to get the holeshot but think I was a little off pace this evening so I need to work on a few things,” said Gosselaar. “I’m happy finishing on the podium and it was my goal to finish on the podium at every race so I’m happy where I finished.”