The points leader crashes hard in practice and looks injured. Wild weather is on the way.East/West showdown, Lawrence brothers hype peaking. New winners for the season, a red flag, a streaker, Supercross futures, Stew in the booth, and RJ Hampshire providing a highlight we’ll be watching for years. Jersey sure delivered.
The last couple of AMA Supercross rounds weren’t the best, so we were due for a ripper. Qualifying provided the first story of the night when Eli Tomac bit it hard, his hand coming off the bars in a rhythm section early in Q1. The whole moto world held their collective breaths as he got up and hobbled from the track, I felt sick in the guts, what if this is it, Championship hopes, season, career? You gotta wonder what title hopefuls Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton were thinking. Eventually, news of Eli only having a “Charlie Horse” came through, a relief, but surely, he would be far from his best, giving a great opportunity to his rivals.
The Lawrence brothers qualified fastest for their respective coast which was no surprise but average starts had them both finish 2nd in their heats, RJ besting Jett and great to see “Sushi” Jo Shimoda winning the East heat.
Chase Sexton wasn’t fasted 450 qualifier! That was Jason Anderson. Heat 1 went to Ken Roczen and a dangerous-looking Sexton won heat 2. Eli with a 4 th left us wondering what he could salvage in the main.
Supercross futures and KTM’s JuJu Beaumer was too good again, Star Yamaha’s Daxton Bennick closing fast in 2nd. The two riders now with 2 wins each for the season, they will face off again at Salt Lake City. Some mixed opinions on this class, as a fan, I love it, why wouldn’t you want to see these kids on the big stage?
250 LCQ was red-flagged after Josh Varise crashed, pretty shaken up but he was able to walk assisted to the mule. A staggered re-start saw Cody Schock hold his lead for the win. And at last, some LCQ carnage, a last corner dive bomb from Hunter Yoder took out Henry Miller, but Millers' bike blocked Yoder long enough for Dylan Schwartz to pinch the final transfer spot. Devin Simonson is the winner of the 450 LCQ and making his first-ever Main Event.
The Lawrence brothers' hype reached its crescendo as the 250 riders made their way to the gate. Then Mother Nature stepped in and the stadium had to be evacuated, storms had arrived along with plenty of lightning. Fans, riders, and mechanics are all heading undercover.
And during the delay, along came the rain, a lot of it.
By the time the main events rolled around the track was drowned, a perfect opportunity for a plucky Brit with MXGP experience like Firepower Honda’s Max Anstie. And Max took full advantage of it, pulling the holeshot and leading go to whoa, surviving a late race charge from a flying Jett Lawrence. Jett however almost didn’t get 2nd place after one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in a Supercross. RJ came into the last turn hotter than a pepper sprout, taking Jett down, sliding horizontally through the waterway before making contact,
just pure desperation, he just always gives his all, it’s awesome. Jett however got up quick enough to sneak 2 nd place in front of his big brother. RJ left stuck in the mud, a 13th place finish all but ending his West Coast title chances.
450 time, Chase with the holeshot but passed by Kenny and then taken out by Justin Barcia, a pretty simple clip of Chase’s front wheel and nothing too bad from Bam Bam, but really bad for Chase, taking him from a potentially winning situation to salvage what you can situation. Bam Bam then tracked down Ken and took the lead. Meanwhile, Eli was sitting in a very comfortable 3rd, well ahead on track of Sexton and Webb and looking better as the race went on, eventually passing Ken for 2nd and more valuable points.
Bam Bam taking his first win since Houston 2021, Eli 2nd and now 11 points up with three rounds to go, and Kenny with another podium in 3rd. Eli all smiles on the podium, a real “Championship Ride” turning lemons into lemonade. Sexton and Webb have to be gutted.
How great is this sport, now grab your boots and get on down to the music city.
Go Riding
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