AMA Supercross Mid-Week Race Report From Arlington

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX — March 17, 2021

Last night’s 2nd of three Monster Energy AMA Supercross events scheduled for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX produced the 4th different winner in four rounds of competition in the 250 SX West rider class.

After surging to the 450 SX points lead Saturday, Cooper Webb(2) is looking unstoppable in his quest to win back the Championship title he grabbed in 2019. Time is running out for defending Champion Eli Tomac(1) to remain relevant in this year’s title hunt.

250 SX

Seth Hammaker(150) picked up right where he left off Saturday night when he won his heat and the main event. In Heat 1 he took the lead early and never surrendered it. Hunter Lawrence(41) and Jalek Swoll(47) chased him across the finish line.

In Heat 2 points leaders Cameron McAdoo(31) and Justin Cooper were the riders everyone was watching. Cooper had trouble the first time through the whoops and almost came off the back of his bike. McAdoo rode off into the lead with Garrett Marchbanks(48) moving into 2nd when Cooper got out of control.

Cooper managed to get back around Marchbanks but trailed McAdoo by 3.5-seconds. Hard riding brought Cooper to within a half-second of McAdoo at the finish, yet never close enough to attempt a pass.

The main event contained all sorts of drama as Cooper goes down on the first lap and falls to the 19th position. Mitchell Harrison(35) leads the pack with Swoll 2nd, Kyle Peters(56) 3rd, and Hunter Lawrence 4th. McAdoo and Hammaker are mired back in 7th and 8th after starting slow out of the gate.

Hammaker falls in the early going and drops to 15th and out of contention for a repeat win in the main. Lawrence moves up to third and in a brilliant move passes two riders in the same corner to take over the lead.

McAdoo also has trouble in the whoops section and goes down. Remounting his bike, McAdoo cuts across the track, eliminating a corner, and re-enters the race 10th behind a surging Cooper just ahead in 9th.

Lawrence stretches his lead and earns the 1st 250 SX Main Event win of his career, Swoll gains his first career podium finishing 2nd, with Peters 3rd. Coopers rides his way from the back of the pack to a 5th place finish, McAdoo takes the 7th spot and Hammaker finishes 11th.

The results leave McAdoo the 250 SX West Leader by a single point. However, the AMA penalizes McAdoo for his course shortening maneuver after his crash in the whoops. It costs him three positions and Hunter Lawrence becomes the rider with the red plate for Saturday’s final installment of the Arlington residency.

250 SX West Main Event Results

250 SX West Points Standings

450 SX

Heat 1 of the 450 SX class had Ken Roczen(94) trying to find the early season rhythm that had carried him to the points lead before stumbling and allowing Cooper Webb(2) to overtake him. But, at the start, it’s all Aaron Plessinger(7) as he takes the lead followed by Chase Sexton(23). Then it’s Roczen with Justin Barcia(51) hot on his tail.

Barcia manages to pass Roczen during a run through the whoops and Sexton closes to pressure Plessinger who ultimately holds on for the Heat win.

In Heat 2, Webb continues to dominate charging out of the gate and into the early lead. Tomac starts 7th but quickly moves up through the field and into a battle with Malcolm Stewart(27) for the 2nd position.

Tomac is able to pass Stewart but Webb had checked out on the field, riding to a convincing win. Michigan’s Broc Tickle put up a solid 6th place run to advance to the Main Event.

The story doesn’t change in the 450 SX Main. Webb dominates, followed by Tomac and Roczen. The trio runs 1-2-3 the entire race. Tomac tries to make a bid for the lead but never seriously challenges and ends up fading during the closing laps.

Tickle came around the 1st turn in 15th and rode to the 11th spot in the running order. Unfortunately, he got tangled up with teammate Vince Friese(40) and finished 17th on the night.

450 SX Main Event

450 SX Points Standings