AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX — February 25, 2023
The AMA Supercross season is finally back on track. After catching up on Round Two from Oakland, which was postponed earlier in the season, it really is Round Seven from Arlington, Texas, this week. And it is a Triple Crown Event.
Making History in Oakland
Last Week, Eli Tomac scored his fourth win of the season and 48th of his 450SX Class career when he took the checkers in Oakland. He is now tied with Ricky Carmichael for third on the all-time 450SX Class wins list. His 88th career podium pushes him beyond Carmichael for fourth on the all-time 450SX Class podiums list. The finish was also one for the books as Tomac edged out Cooper Webb by less than a second.
Since 2003 there have been 20 450SX Class Main Events where the winner won by less than a second. 2023 Oakland is the 14th closest race since 2003 with a .881 differential. Of the 20 times this has occurred, Webb has been a part of eight of them, with five victories and three losses. Oakland is the only city to appear on this list three times, thanks to Jason Anderson over Ken Roczen (.839 seconds) in 2018 and Webb over Marvin Musquin (.760) in 2019. Webb has won three of the five closest 450SX Class Main Events since 2003 and has been on the losing end of one of those five. 2019 Arlington (.028, Webb over Roczen) is the closest recorded Supercross ever.
Arlington was a Triple Crown in 2020 in which Eli Tomac won the last two races and the overall. Arlington hosted three rounds during the 2021 pandemic host site season, and it was a clean sweep by eventual champion Cooper Webb. 2022 was another Arlington Triple Crown round, and Tomac pulled the reverse sweep by going 3-2-2 to take the overall, the only time a 450SX Class Triple Crown event was won by a rider without winning a race. 2023 will be another Triple Crown, and the fourth year in-a-row AT&T Stadium will host three races one way or another.
450SX Points Race
The Anaheim Triple Crown scrambled the points race in the 450SX class. If the same thing happens in Arlington, Eli Tomac may have trouble holding onto the red plate he has owned all season.
Cooper Webb and Chase Sexton are lurking, just seven points behind the defending champion.
| POS. | # | RIDER | HOMETOWN | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 139 |
| 2 | 2 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 132 |
| 3 | 23 | Chase Sexton | Clermont, FL | 132 |
Lawrence Brothers Dominance
After guest appearing in Tampa in support of his brother Hunter, Jett Lawrence showed no lag while pouncing his competition and riding into his 10th 250SX Class checkered flag. His 10th win ties him for 17th all-time, and an 11th win would move him into ninth all-time. He will sit on his red plate until the Seattle Supercross in late March, when Western Regional racing returns to action.
Hunter is back in action this week as the 250SX East riders take to the track for their third event of the season. He will be trying to stay unbeaten on the season. Yes, Hunter is trying to go three for three for three in the East rider’s first triple crown of 2023.
250SX East Main One
Hunter Lawrence(96) took care of business in the night’s first moto, moving to the lead early on. He ran away from the entire field with the exception of Nate Thrasher(29), who hung within one and a half seconds for most of the race. If Lawrence made a mistake, Thrasher was ready to pounce.
It never happened. Lawrence was rock solid in taking the win. Max Anstie(63) ran in third, over ten seconds behind the top spot.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence |
| 2 | 29 | Nate Thrasher |
| 3 | 63 | Max Anstie |
| 4 | 58 | Jordon Smith |
| 5 | 128 | Tom Vialle |
| 6 | 6 | Jeremy Martin |
| 7 | 31 | Michael Mosiman |
| 8 | 57 | Chris Blose |
| 9 | 832 | Chance Hymas |
| 10 | 67 | Cullin Park |
450SX Main One
Likewise, the 450SX points leader Eli Tomac(1) flew out of the starting gate, earned the holeshot, and ran away from the pack. Jason Anderson(21) went down in the first corner and was last when he finally got back on his bike and resumed racing.
Midway through the moto, the two riders chasing Tomac in the points, Chase Sexton(23) and Cooper Webb(2), ran fifth and sixth on the leaderboard.
Ken Roczen(94) and Justin Barcia(51) rode second and third. Anderson recovered to run 10th at the four-minute mark.
The win in Race One puts Tomac clearly in charge and takes some of the pressure off with his closest points competitors a bit off the pace.
Roczen closed over the last few laps and actually helped Tomac by keeping Sexton, who finished third, at bay. Barcia held onto fourth, with Webb finishing fifth. Anderson worked his way back to the eighth spot.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 1 | Eli Tomac |
| 2 | 94 | Ken Roczen |
| 3 | 23 | Chase Sexton |
| 4 | 51 | Justin Barcia |
| 5 | 2 | Cooper Webb |
| 6 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger |
| 7 | 28 | Christian Craig |
| 8 | 21 | Jason Anderson |
| 9 | 45 | Colt Nichols |
| 10 | 46 | Justin Hill |
250SX East Main Two
Lawrence got jostled around a bit on lap one and crossed the scoring line in fifth. Jordan Smith(58) rode to the lead with rookie Haiden Deegan(238) in second, Thrasher in third, and Anstie in fourth.
Thrasher and Lawrence quickly moved into second and third. However, having spotted Smith with a headstart, the two riders were in chase mode. With three minutes left, the leaders encountered lapped traffic and bunched nose to tail in a real battle for the lead.
Smith held off the charge, pulling away from Thrasher. Lawrence went down in a tight corner, but he was so far ahead of the next rider that he was able to remount his bike and hold onto the third position.
Lawrence(1,3) and Thrasher(2,2) will enter the final moto tied on points.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 58 | Jordon Smith |
| 2 | 29 | Nate Thrasher |
| 3 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence |
| 4 | 63 | Max Anstie |
| 5 | 238 | Haiden Deegan |
| 6 | 31 | Michael Mosiman |
| 7 | 832 | Chance Hymas |
| 8 | 57 | Chris Blose |
| 9 | 128 | Tom Vialle |
| 10 | 67 | Cullin Park |
450SX Main Two
Tomac failed to nail the start as he did in Race One and sat fifth after the first turn. Webb led with Anderson all over his rear wheel. After one lap, Anderson led, Webb ran second, and Tomac had moved to third. Sexton trailed Tomac and badly needed to catch the points leader to avoid falling out of contention for the event win.
With five minutes left, Sexton made the pass. Anderson had the race well in hand. The drama over the final laps was whether Sexton could pass Webb and pick up one more point in the overall tally for the overall event title.
Anderson(8,1), Webb(5,2), Sexton(3,3), and Tomac(1,4) all held their position setting up a real scramble for Race Three. Tomac with five points, Sexton with six, Webb with seven, Roczen(2,6) with eight, and Anderson with nine all could have a shot depending on how things sort out in the final moto.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 21 | Jason Anderson |
| 2 | 2 | Cooper Webb |
| 3 | 23 | Chase Sexton |
| 4 | 1 | Eli Tomac |
| 5 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger |
| 6 | 94 | Ken Roczen |
| 7 | 51 | Justin Barcia |
| 8 | 28 | Christian Craig |
| 9 | 32 | Justin Cooper |
| 10 | 15 | Dean Wilson |
250SX East Main Three
Disaster struck at the start of Race Three as Lawrence and Anstie got tangled together when Lawrence was bumped from behind and went down in the middle of the first corner. When the pair got untangled, they were last on the field.
Thrasher took advantage of the chaos and rode to the lead, Michael Mosiman(31) sat second, and Smith ran third. Under the crossover portion of the track, Mosiman and Smith collided and went down. Smith recovered first and resumed racing in fifth. Mosiman dropped back in the pack.
When Thrasher caught lapped traffic, he got crossed up and went down, losing two spots in the incident. Jeremy Martin became the beneficiary, moving up and ultimately taking the race win.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 6 | Jeremy Martin |
| 2 | 128 | Tom Vialle |
| 3 | 29 | Nate Thrasher |
| 4 | 238 | Haiden Deegan |
| 5 | 58 | Jordon Smith |
| 6 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence |
| 7 | 31 | Michael Mosiman |
| 8 | 57 | Chris Blose |
| 9 | 63 | Max Anstie |
| 10 | 62 | Jace Owen |
Overall Results of 250SX East Triple Crown from Arlington
| POS. | # | RIDER | BIKE | M1 | M2 | M3 | POINTS | TEAM/SPONSORS |
| 1 | 29 | Nate Thrasher | Yamaha YZ250F | 2 | 2 | 3 | 26 | Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing |
| 2 | 58 | Jordon Smith | Yamaha YZ250F | 4 | 1 | 5 | 23 | Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing |
| 3 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence | Honda CRF250R | 1 | 3 | 6 | 21 | Team Honda HRC |
| 4 | 128 | Tom Vialle | KTM 250 SX-F FE | 5 | 9 | 2 | 19 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
| 5 | 63 | Max Anstie | Honda CRF250R | 3 | 4 | 9 | 18 | Fire Power Honda |
| 6 | 6 | Jeremy Martin | Yamaha YZ250F | 6 | 12 | 1 | 17 | Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha |
| 7 | 31 | Michael Mosiman | GASGAS MC 250F | 7 | 6 | 7 | 16 | Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing |
| 8 | 238 | Haiden Deegan | Yamaha YZ250F | 15 | 5 | 4 | 15 | Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing |
| 9 | 57 | Chris Blose | Kawasaki KX250 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 14 | Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
| 10 | 832 | Chance Hymas | Honda CRF250R | 9 | 7 | 16 | 13 | Team Honda HRC |
| 11 | 62 | Jace Owen | Honda CRF250R | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | Phoenix Racing Honda |
| 12 | 66 | Henry Miller | Honda CRF250R | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | Ti-Lube, Storm Lake Honda, Innovation Concrete Inc, Rangeline |
| 13 | 339 | Talon Hawkins | Husqvarna FC 250 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 10 | Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing |
| 14 | 67 | Cullin Park | Honda CRF250R | 10 | 10 | 20 | 9 | Phoenix Racing Honda |
| 15 | 91 | Jeremy Hand | Honda CRF250R | 16 | 16 | 15 | 8 | Valley Ford Truck, Dean Hushon Insulation, Wiseco, SKDA, 6D |
| 16 | 50 | Marshal Weltin | Suzuki RM-Z250 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 7 | Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki |
| 17 | 285 | Coty Schock | Honda CRF250R | 20 | 13 | 17 | 6 | Phoenix Racing Honda |
| 18 | 247 | Brock Papi | Kawasaki KX250 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 5 | Mosites Motorsports Makripodis Olive Oil Kawasaki, Oneal, LS2 |
| 19 | 330 | A J Catanzaro | Honda CRF250R | 18 | 21 | 19 | 4 | The Moto Academy, Honda |
| 20 | 125 | Luke Neese | Honda CRF250R | 14 | 22 | 22 | 3 | Red Research Group, Honda of Lynchburg |
| 21 | 460 | Michael Hicks | Honda CRF250R | 21 | 20 | 18 | 2 | TiLube Honda Racing, Storm Lake Honda, FXR, 6D, X Brand |
| 22 | 99 | Hardy Munoz | Husqvarna FC 250 | 22 | 18 | 21 | 1 | Namura, Invictus Speed Crew |
250SX East Points Standings
| POS. | # | RIDER | HOMETOWN | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence | Wesley Chapel, FL | 73 |
| 2 | 63 | Max Anstie | Cairo, GA | 62 |
| 3 | 29 | Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 57 |
| 4 | 238 | Haiden Deegan | Tallahassee, FL | 53 |
| 5 | 6 | Jeremy Martin | Rochester, MN | 53 |
| 6 | 58 | Jordon Smith | Ochlocknee, GA | 52 |
| 7 | 128 | Tom Vialle | Murrieta, CA | 52 |
| 8 | 31 | Michael Mosiman | Minneaola, FL | 49 |
| 9 | 832 | Chance Hymas | Pocatello, ID | 43 |
| 10 | 57 | Chris Blose | Phoenix, AZ | 37 |
| 11 | 62 | Jace Owen | Mattoon, IL | 35 |
| 12 | 66 | Henry Miller | Rochester, MN | 30 |
| 13 | 285 | Coty Schock | Dover, DE | 29 |
| 14 | 339 | Talon Hawkins | Temecula, CA | 26 |
| 15 | 67 | Cullin Park | Clermont, FL | 23 |
| 16 | 99 | Hardy Munoz | Kissimmee, FL | 21 |
| 17 | 247 | Brock Papi | Clermont, Fl | 16 |
| 18 | 91 | Jeremy Hand | Mantua, OH | 13 |
| 19 | 125 | Luke Neese | Jamestown, NC | 13 |
| 20 | 243 | Caden Braswell | Shalimar, FL | 11 |
450SX Main Three
As he did in Race One, Tomac outran everyone to take the holeshot. However, Sexton sat right behind in second, and the battle of the top two was on. Barcia, Anderson, and Webb trailed the leaders.
At the eight-minute mark, Sexton leaned a bit too deep into a soft corner and laid the bike down. Back up quickly, he retained the second spot, but Anderson rode to third right behind Sexton. Tomac pulled out to a three-second lead.
With five minutes to go, Tomac went down similar to the manner in which Sexton did. It took Tomac a few seconds to recover, and he dropped to the fourth position.
Webb moved to second, and as Sexton caught lapped traffic Webb blew by into the lead. In a wild finish, Webb took the Race Three victory. Sexton and Anderson finished second and third. Tomac got passed by Roczen for fourth and by Aaron Plessinger for the fifth position.
Webb(5,2,1) and Sexton(3,3,2) tied for the overall event points at eight each. Cooper Webb took the event win, and it’s 26 points by virtue of his tiebreaking win in Race Three. Tomac(1,4,6) finished third overall with 11 points and held onto the season-long points lead. But just like the last triple crown event at Anaheim, Tomac allowed his competitors to cut into his points advantage.
| POS. | # | RIDER |
| 1 | 2 | Cooper Webb |
| 2 | 23 | Chase Sexton |
| 3 | 21 | Jason Anderson |
| 4 | 94 | Ken Roczen |
| 5 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger |
| 6 | 1 | Eli Tomac |
| 7 | 51 | Justin Barcia |
| 8 | 28 | Christian Craig |
| 9 | 32 | Justin Cooper |
| 10 | 15 | Dean Wilson |
Overall Results of 450SX Triple Crown from Arlington
| POS. | # | RIDER | BIKE | M1 | M2 | M3 | POINTS | TEAM/SPONSORS |
| 1 | 2 | Cooper Webb | KTM 450 SX-F FE | 5 | 2 | 1 | 26 | Red Bull KTM |
| 2 | 23 | Chase Sexton | Honda CRF450R | 3 | 3 | 2 | 23 | Team Honda HRC |
| 3 | 1 | Eli Tomac | Yamaha YZ450F | 1 | 4 | 6 | 21 | Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing |
| 4 | 21 | Jason Anderson | Kawasaki KX450SR | 8 | 1 | 3 | 19 | Monster Energy Kawasaki |
| 5 | 94 | Ken Roczen | Suzuki RM-Z450 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 18 | Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki |
| 6 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger | KTM 450 SX-F FE | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | Red Bull KTM |
| 7 | 51 | Justin Barcia | GASGAS MC 450F | 4 | 7 | 7 | 16 | Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing |
| 8 | 28 | Christian Craig | Husqvarna FC 450 RE | 7 | 8 | 8 | 15 | Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing |
| 9 | 32 | Justin Cooper | Yamaha YZ450F | 11 | 9 | 9 | 14 | Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha |
| 10 | 46 | Justin Hill | KTM 450 SX-F | 10 | 11 | 10 | 13 | Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports |
| 11 | 15 | Dean Wilson | Honda CRF450R | 13 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Fire Power Honda |
| 12 | 44 | Benny Bloss | Yamaha YZ450F | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | Yamaha,Truck Central LLC, FXR, Arai, Alpinestars, Pod |
| 13 | 751 | Josh Hill | KTM 450 SX-F | 12 | 14 | 14 | 10 | Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports |
| 14 | 45 | Colt Nichols | Honda CRF450R | 9 | 16 | 15 | 9 | Team Honda HRC |
| 15 | 12 | Shane McElrath | Suzuki RM-Z450 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 8 | Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance |
| 16 | 11 | Kyle Chisholm | Suzuki RM-Z450 | 17 | 15 | 19 | 7 | Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance |
| 17 | 78 | Grant Harlan | Yamaha YZ450F | 19 | 17 | 16 | 6 | Rock River Yamaha |
| 18 | 80 | Kevin Moranz | KTM 450 SX-F | 18 | 21 | 17 | 5 | Tank Masters, Red Line Oil, Next Level KTM |
| 19 | 519 | Joshua Cartwright | Kawasaki KX450 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 4 | Psychic Motorsports/T3 Civil/Ronnie Prado Company, Cardinal |
| 20 | 17 | Joey Savatgy | Kawasaki KX450SR | 15 | 22 | 22 | 3 | Rick Ware Racing |
| 21 | 60 | Justin Starling | GASGAS MC 450F | 22 | 19 | 20 | 2 | FXR, General Grind & Machine, JSR Motorsports |
| 22 | 74 | Logan Karnow | Kawasaki KX450 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 1 | Only Fans, Oneal, TCD, Rabbit Savior, Kennedy Cycles |
450SX Points Standings
| POS. | # | RIDER | HOMETOWN | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 160 |
| 2 | 2 | Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 158 |
| 3 | 23 | Chase Sexton | Clermont, FL | 155 |
| 4 | 21 | Jason Anderson | Rio Rancho, NM | 130 |
| 5 | 94 | Ken Roczen | Clermont, FL | 122 |
| 6 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 121 |
| 7 | 51 | Justin Barcia | Greenville, FL | 113 |
| 8 | 28 | Christian Craig | Clermont, FL | 90 |
| 9 | 17 | Joey Savatgy | Clermont, FL | 85 |
| 10 | 45 | Colt Nichols | Murrieta, CA | 84 |
| 11 | 9 | Adam Cianciarulo | New Smyrna Beach, FL | 75 |
| 12 | 15 | Dean Wilson | Menifee, CA | 70 |
| 13 | 46 | Justin Hill | Yoncalla, OR | 62 |
| 14 | 32 | Justin Cooper | Tallahassee, FL | 59 |
| 15 | 14 | Dylan Ferrandis | Tallahassee, FL | 56 |
| 16 | 12 | Shane McElrath | Oakland, FL | 43 |
| 17 | 751 | Josh Hill | Huntersville, NC | 34 |
| 18 | 44 | Benny Bloss | Oak Grove, MO | 30 |
| 19 | 11 | Kyle Chisholm | Valrico, FL | 28 |
| 20 | 80 | Kevin Moranz | Topeka, KS | 26 |
Next week the series visits Daytona International Speedway, where Eli Tomac has been dominant. The Lasco Press will be live to cover all the action and provide a close-up look at these fantastic athletes.
