Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Daxton Bennick achieved a consistent top-five result at tonight's second round of the 250SX East season at Daytona, racing to a fifth-place finish in Round 8 of the 2026 AMA Supercross Championship. Bennick and his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna FC 250 Factory Edition were on pace from the outset at the famed Daytona International Speedway, negotiating a challenging race track to claim third position in 250SX East qualifying once the two sessions were completed. The 20-year-old then launched to the holeshot for the second Heat Race of the round, finishing a hard-fought P4 and earning a direct transfer to the Main Event at the conclusion of the six-lap sprint. Starting outside the top 10 in the Main Event, Bennick made a steady climb through the pack throughout the race, charging all the way to the checkered flag as he delivered a well-earned P5 finish and banked solid points toward his championship. Bennick currently holds fifth in the standings after 3-5 Main Event scores to open the 250SX East series, as the SMX World Championship features its second Triple Crown event of 2026 next weekend in Indianapolis. "It's good to wrap up here in Daytona with a P5," said Bennick. "I struggled a little bit in Q1, but I really found a flow and got some speed together for Q2 and finished up in third place. My Heat Race was good – we made some improvements in the whoops in between rounds and I think that showed tonight, but we will keep working on that. Then, for the Main Event, I pushed a little wide off the start, which made it hard on myself. I came from around 11th to fifth, so we salvaged good points on what could have been a bad night, which I am happy with." 450SX contender Malcolm Stewart was seventh-quickest on the combined 450SX qualifying timesheets, finding a strong rhythm aboard his Husqvarna FC 450 Factory Edition in front of his home fans in Florida. The 33-year-old then claimed a P4 result in his Heat Race after challenging for the lead during the early stages, before launching to a fast start in the Main Event to circle the opening lap among the front-runners. Stewart ultimately took 10th place at Round 8, adding another consistent score to his campaign. "Daytona is always a fun race for me," reflected Stewart. "Being at home is nice and yeah, tonight’s Heat Race was good – I had an opening lap that was pretty awesome, so it was cool hearing the crowd cheer for me! In the Main Event, we had a good start, but I got shuffled back a bit after a few mistakes. Daytona is the type of track where if you’re not flowing, it can bite you, and tonight we didn’t have the best flow in the Main. Overall, the positives are that we had good starts and we showed a bit of speed, but we need to improve on maintaining that pace. We’ll keep moving forward and look forward to the next round." Next Race: March 7 – Indianapolis, Indiana Results 450SX Class – Daytona 1. Eli Tomac (KTM) 2. Hunter Lawrence (Honda) 3. Ken Roczen (Suzuki) 6. Aaron Plessinger (KTM) 10. Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) Standings 450SX Class 2026 after 8 of 17 rounds 1. Hunter Lawrence, 171 points 2. Eli Tomac, 170 3. Ken Roczen, 151 8. Aaron Plessinger, 95 11. Malcolm Stewart, 75 13. Jorge Prado, 73 18. RJ Hampshire, 38 Results 250SX East Class – Daytona 1. Seth Hammaker (Kawasaki) 2. Cole Davies (Yamaha) 3. Pierce Brown (Yamaha) 5. Daxton Bennick (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) Standings 250SX East Class 2026 after 2 of 10 rounds 1. Pierce Brown, 45 points 2. Seth Hammaker, 43 3. Jo Shimoda, 40 5. Daxton Bennick, 37
By Kenneth Olausson On a murky autumn day in 1980, a Swedish photographer made a highly unusual discovery. Getting rid of his waste in a nearby recycling area, Ludde De Geer found a huge batch of photos in the form of old glass-negatives. It took him 25 years and some new technology to save his ‘catch of the year’. Among the shots was an epic Christmas show Husqvarna photograph from 1934…
By Kenneth Olausson He joined Husqvarna in the early 1930s having made a name in two-wheel sport. Gunnar Barthelsson had a special talent for broad-sliding and won some of his greatest victories on gravel. Previously, Gunnar had ridden for the Belgian FN brand, but in the beginning of the 1930s, he connected with Husqvarna where in 1931 he took an overwhelming second place after the triumphant Ivar Skeppstedt. They met in the final at the famous horserace track Solvalla in Stockholm. Gunnar was a mere five seconds behind the winner in the five-kilometre race on gravel. Both riders had an outstanding riding-style going around the long, high-speed corners with their machines sliding sideways to the great delight of the 15,000-spectator crowd. And in the 1932 Klevaliden hill climb, Gunnar set a record of 40.66 sec, breaking the old Klevaliden record of 52.4 seconds. This everlasting record equalled an average of 90 km/h!
