Watch Joel Hetrick’s Heartbreaking Race at Daytona

Lap traffic put an end to Hetrick’s hard-fought lead at this year’s ATV Supercross main event in Daytona.

Joel Hetrick and Chad Weinen fight through a hectic start.YouTube

Joel Hetrick had one hell of a race at this year’s Daytona ATV Supercross main event. After a traditionally hectic start, he fought his way to second place behind defending champ Chad Weinen and his wicked Yamaha YFZ450R. Neither Hetrick nor his Honda TRX450R can be called a slouch, and the two kept serious pressure on Weinen throughout most of the race. Hetrick was rolling video through the whole thing, and captured the two dogfighting lap after lap. The video makes it clear just how much faster Hetrick was over the Daytona course, and he eventually makes it past Weinen. With nothing but open track ahead of him, he puts some space between the two machines.

Of course, it wasn’t long before Hetrick ran into lap traffic. Or should we say lap traffic ran into him. After a little jousting, he got tangled up with a slow mover and wound up going over the handlebars. That left Weinen free and clear to cinch the win for the second year and a row. It’s a heartbreaking loss for Hetrick, but something tells us he’ll be back next year with even more motivation to put that Yamaha behind him.

Check out the video below. We won’t have to wait long to see Hetrick and Weinen go at each other. ATV Supercross will head back to Daytona on March 8, 2022.