Christian Craig Finally Locks Up the 250SX West Supercross Championship

Rice–Eccles Stadium, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT — May 7, 2022

It is the final event of the 2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season from Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Most of the drama has already played out with two champions having already been crowned.

Eli Tomac won the 450SX Class title and became the oldest champion (age 29) in the sport’s history last week in Denver. Tomac is not expected to race this weekend. He tweaked his knee in Atlanta and has been riding through the pain to close out his championship run.

In a podcast with Pulp MX, Tomac commented on the injury. “So, I have a damaged MCL. Nothing else is damaged or torn on the MRI, but my MCL is torn. I guess it’s the only thing in your knee that can heal itself so now I’ve got to take the time and heal it and hopefully, not tweak it again. But for now, it is getting better every day. Actually, the hardest thing to do is squeeze a bike, because that’s the inside of your knee so that’s the point of contact and that’s the part that gets a little irritated.”

“You know, I’m okay like in practice, then like I’m decent for a few laps but where it has been getting me is basically at the halfway mark in the main, and that’s exactly where I have been getting spit out the back. I mean you saw that in Boston and in Denver where I’m just kind of riding around. And it’s kind of affected the way I weight the bike too in the turns. So I’m hoping I can gain that strength back and that’s all I can do at this point. And looking to the future, I think I will be okay for outdoors to go ahead with it.”

Tomac is expected to be back in riding shape for the summer season.

250SX East and West Championships

Jett Lawrence got his first Supercross Championship wrapping up the 250SX East title two weeks ago in Gillette Stadium at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Lawrence suffered a sprained ankle after a fall during qualifying earlier in the day and will not be competing in the Showdown beside his brother Hunter Lawrence.

The final championship of the season will be decided in the 250SX East/West Showdown with Christian Craig and Hunter Lawrence vying for the Western Regional 250SX Class championship. Craig currently sits atop the standings with an 18-point advantage and will win his first career Supercross title with a 14^th-place finish or better.

250SX West Heat

Christian Craig(28) took care of business grabbing the early lead and driving away for the heat win. Nate Thrasher(49) and Chris Blose(66) finished second and third. Hunter Lawrence got off to a slow start and was battling his way into the top five when he lost control, dropped his bike, and gave up two positions. He still qualified for the main event finishing seventh.

Michael Mosiman(29) was not so lucky, he fell twice and did not make the top nine to automatically move into the East/West Showdown. Mosiman will have to work his way through the Last Chance Qualifier(LCQ) to make it into the feature.

250SX East Heat

Without Jett Lawrence, it was anybody’s race in the 250SX East Heat. Mitchell Oldenburg(54) led early, but Austin Forkner(33) rode his way to the front and pulled away for the win. RJ Hampshire almost suffered the same fate as Mosiman when he laid his bike down late in the moto. Fortunately, he recovered and finished eighth.

Pierce Brown(44), another top rider who generally qualifies easily, was forced into the LCQ and must faceoff with the guys desperate to make the main event.

250SX East/West Showdown

Brown and Mosiman ran one-two in the LCQ to qualify for the main event. But all eyes were on Christian Craig and Hunter Lawrence as the gate dropped on the 250SX East/West Showdown. The two riders raced side-by-side for the holeshot. Craig, not wanting to force the issue, rode smart and allowed Lawrence to grab the top spot.

However, it was Nate Thrasher that proved to have the fastest ride as he blew past Lawrence into the lead. Craig sat safely in third until he came out of the whoops and his bike slid out from underneath him on a sharp corner. Recovering quickly, Craig dropped to the seventh position, still safely in a championship position.

As the timed portion of the event wound down, Lawrence closed to challenge Thrasher for the top spot. Craig dropped to eighth place, but with just 14 riders on the lead lap, his title seemed assured if he could just stay out of trouble over the final laps.

Thrasher held off the charge from Lawrence and Christian Craig is finally an AMA Supercross Champion at the age of 30.

250SX East/West Showdown Results

250SX West Final Points Standings

450SX Heat One

It has not been a great year for 450SX defending champion Cooper Webb(1). Salt Lake City will be the last time he races with the #1 plate as Eli Tomac will hold that honor through the 2023 season. Webb earned the holeshot and held the lead until finally being passed by his teammate Marvin Musquin(25) with two laps to go. Then Webb had to hold off a challenge from Malcolm Stewart(27) to stay in the second position.

450SX Heat Two

The runner-up to Tomac in the big bike class, Jason Anderson(21), took the holeshot and rode away from the pack to take the Heat win. Justin Barcia(51) finished second, while Chase Sexton(23) captured the third spot.

450SX Main Event

Justin Bogle(19), Cooper Webb, and Jason Anderson ran one-two-three at the start of the 450SX Main Event. But a lap later Anderson was out front and pulling away.

Bogle faded out first, and then Webb dropped out of contention quickly. They were replaced by Chase Sexton, Justin Barcia(51), and Malcolm Stewart(27) fighting for the final two podium spots. And fight they did. Stewart caught and passed Barcia cleanly. Barcia responded by crashing directly into Stewart and knocking Stewart off his bike.

Stewart got back up on his bike, losing just two positions. With five minutes to go, he made up both of those spots but trailed Barcia by five seconds. As they moved through lappers Stewart closed to under a second behind his nemesis.

Anderson and Sexton finished one-two and Barcia held off Stewart, much to the crowd’s displeasure.

450SX Main Event Results

450SX Final Points Standings