After having nary a healthy rider for the ’04 Daytona Supercross, Team Honda/Moto XXX was happy to enter the toughest race of the 2005 series with a pair of healthy racers. Kyle Lewis was still doing some recovering from a huge crash in Indianapolis, but was looking forward to the grueling, outdoor style track in Daytona. After a departure from the 125 East series top ten in St. Louis, Justin Buckelew was looking forward to getting back where he belongs in the super speedway’s infield.

Up against a laundry list of factory riders, Buckelew took to the rough Daytona track aboard his trusty CRF250R. After qualifying safely from his heat race, he had a decent gate pick and was eager to test himself for 15 laps. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the start he was looking for and came out of the first turn in 16th place. “Bucky” rode with confidence, though, and methodically worked his way up in the standings. He took the checkered flag in 10th place. The come-from-behind effort served to boos his confidence, as well as his ranking in the series, which is now 11th.

Kyle Lewis has had one of those seasons that could easily have him looking forward to the outdoor Nationals already. A series of crashes, mistakes and plain bad luck has challenged the privateer icon since the very first gate dropped, but in true journeyman fashion, he approached Daytona with the same work ethic and confidence that he does every race. Once again, he found trouble on the track in qualifiers, but got himself in nonetheless. In the main event, his hard work was rewarded with a season-best finish of 12th. Naturally, “Lucky” was pleased with the progress and plans on using the result as a springboard to even better ones in the remaining rounds.

As for the team itself, the West Coast Customs-decorated big rig and all of the mechanics decided to stay in Florida for the week leading up to the Orlando race. They’ve been able to do all the maintenance, engine work and bike prep on the road that they’d normally do back at the race shop. Team Manager, Allan Brown says that if they get it all done early enough, he might let the crew visit Mickey and Goofy before this weekend’s race.