Indianapolis Supercross Gets Chippy in 250 SX

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN — January 30, 2021

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross series moved on from Houston to begin a three-event run in Indianapolis. With three different winners in both 250 SX and 450 SX from all three events at Houston, the points battle is close. Early season favorites are riding to establish themselves and keep a spot at the top of the leaderboard. Those riders who have experienced misfortune to date are looking to get back on track to compete for the season-long championship.

250 SX

Heat 1 looked to be a runaway by Christian Craig(29) until his teammate Colt Nichols(64) closed over the final few laps and made it a tight race. A bobble by Craig on the final corner gave Nichols a shot. But, Craig was able to hold on for the half-second win.

Jett Lawrence(18), the fastest qualifier for the 1st time in his career ran in Heat 2 against his nemesis from last week in Houston Michael Mosiman(42). The two tangled in Round 3 with Moisman coming out the loser in the bumping battle as Lawrence rode him to the top of the track where Mosiman lost control and dropped his bike.

This time around Mosiman takes out Lawrence with the exact same move he fell victim to. Lawrence went down and briefly fell out of the Top 9 before recovering to finish 2nd. In the winner circle interview, Mosiman was asked if the payback meant the matter was over. He responded, “Yes, I think things had been evened up.” With the main event still to run, it remains to be seen if Lawrence feels the same way.

At the start of the main event, Lawrence missed a shift and dropped far back into the pack. A couple of laps in Lawrence had another problem, stalling his bike after a minor collision on a jump and he lost more ground. Nichols flew out of the gate and led from start to finish.

Lawrence worked his way up to 5th with 2 min to go and passed Joe Shimoda(30) for 4th. Then Lawrence trapped Mosiman behind a lapped rider and made the pass for 3rd. Lawrence gets side by side with Craig, racing for the 2nd spot, only to get ridden off the track as Craig pushed him into a tuff block. Both riders went down.

By the time they get back on the racing surface, both Lawrence and Craig missed the podium. Mosiman passed to take the 2nd spot and Shimoda came in 3rd. Lawrence finishes 4th and loses valuable points at the hands of Craig who finishes 5th.

So, add another protagonist to Lawrence’s hit list as they enter Round 5 on Tuesday night.

Nichols entered the night tied with Craig for the points lead. Thanks to his teammate’s misstep he was able to put an 8-point gap on Craig in 2nd. Lawrence is 3rd, 13 points back with Shimoda and Mosiman 19 and 20 points behind respectively. The season is quickly shaping up to be a fight among these five riders as the next closest competitor is Joshua Osby(95) who is 40 points in arrears to Nichols.

250 SX Round 4 Main Event Results

250 SX East Points Standings

450 SX

Adam Ciancarilo(9), the 250 SX rider who just moved to the 450 SX class is making a splash early this season. He wins Heat 1 handily over Marvin Musquin(25) with little challenge in the moto.

There was some drama on the final lap as Justin Barcia(51) tried to pass Joey Savatgy(17) in the final corner and took himself down in the process. Barcia was able to recover without losing a position and finished 6th to qualify for the main.

In Heat 2, points leader Ken Roczen(94) and the afternoon’s fastest qualifier, Eli Tomac(1), were matched up. Tomac got squeezed in the 1st corner and started the race in 8th. Roczen took the holeshot and pulled away for an easy victory. Tomac fought his way up to 3rd and almost got past Zach Osborne(16) on the final turn of the last lap. Osborne rode him wide and held onto the 2nd spot.

Michigan’s Broc Tickle(20) stayed in the Top 5 during the entire moto and finished 5th.

In the Main Event. Tomac gets the holeshot and looks to dominate. Barcia and Malcolm Stewart(27) get together in corner 1 and drop to the rear of the field.

Two minutes in, Tomac loses control at the end of the whoops and goes down. Cianciarulo and Roczen both get past the sprawling leader. The three riders stage a 1-2-3 battle lap after lap.

Just before the halfway point, Roczen and Tomac move past Cianciarulo. A lap later Cianciarulo lays it down, even though he holds onto the 3rd spot he drops out of the lead battle.

Roczen builds his advantage to almost 3 seconds with 5 minutes to go. Suddenly, with 3 minutes to go, Roczen lands off track trying to negotiate a rutted entry into a double jump and Tomac is back to the lead. Roczen stays up on his bike, quickly recovers, and moves past Tomac back to the front.

Tomac pushes hard but cannot get close enough to make the pass for the lead. Roczen wins, Tomac in 2nd and the final podium spot goes to Cooper Webb(2) who was able to run down Cianciarulo to capture the honor.

Osborne began the moto in dead last when he jumped the start and got his front wheel trapped under the starting gate. He recovered with a spectacular ride to finish 5th.

Roczen stretches his points lead to 6 over Webb and 9 over Tomac. Cianciarulo and Barcia sit 16 and 17 points respectively behind the leader. Michigan’s Brock Tickle finished 14th in the Main and is 15th in season points.

450 SX Round 4 Main Event Results

450 SX Points Standings