We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship. Four races remain in the 450 championship, and Cooper Webb is beginning to put this thing into the vice grips, stretchinig his gap to 22 over Ken Roczen. Webb isn’t in full management mode yet, though, as he finished third here on Saturday and was not happy with his riding. Webb says he still wants to go fast and win races, we’ll see if a second shot on this track will see him move faster.

Eli Tomac was the big winner on Saturday, but it took all the way down to the last lap to get Chase Sexton for the lead, and only after Sexton got held up by a lapped rider. Plus, Aaron Plessinger was pulling away from the field early in the race before he crashed. Plessinger said he started to back it down and try to manage his lead, and that’s what cost him. For both Sexton and Plessinger, valuable lessons learned leading laps in 450SX. Is another generation of riders about to make a breakthrough? Tomac, certainly, hopes he can stop the kids again. We shall see.

Meanwhile Ken Roczen struggled to ninth, hurting his championship bid against Webb. Dylan Ferrandis logged an incredible race from last to fifth, Jason Anderson rode well and finished fourth, and Justin Barcia showed promised but crashed in his heat race and in turn one of the main event. Lots of other riders looking to get into the mix here.

In the 250s, rookie Nate Thrasher shocked everyone with a big win. Thrasher’s previous career-best was a ninth. Then he won and won with a big margin! Meanwhile, the three title combatants had their issues. Justin Cooper crashed hard in his heat race but toughed out a second, Cameron McAdoo crashed in the main but hung on for third. Hunter Lawrence went down in turn one and came back for seventh. Three races remain for 250SX West points, (two here in Atlanta and an East/West shootout in Salt Lake City).

Seth Hammaker’s chain fell off during the roll lap in 250 seeded practice. He got a new chain and got to log a few laps. Justin Cooper jumped to the front of the field ahead of Hunter Lawrence and immediately ran a 3-3-3 ryhthm before the supercross triple on the first lap. But Hunter Lawrence took the top spot away on the third lap. Then McAdoo threw down a heater to take the top spot. Cooper started experimenting with a bigger combo in the rhythm lane after the whoops. He ended up locking in the top time. Remember what we said about this being more like the usual supercross? Cooper has topped every session this year besides the one practice on Saturday.

Justin Barcia was fastest early in this session. Everyone was hammering pretty early here, including Barcia, Tomac, Webb, Marvin Musquin, Jason Anderson and Plessinger. Plessinger was definitely on the gas, looking much more aggressive than he usually does in practice. There was quite a bit of jockeying for top time in this one, but in the end the Honda HRC boys of Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton ended up 1-2, respective

Timed Practice

Hunter Lawrence led them around early in this session, then Hammaker took over the top spot, then Stilez Robertson. Late in the session everyone got it wired, Cooper took his customary spot at the top, then it was McAdoo, Thrasher, Hammaker and Lawrence. Lawrence looked really good early but then bobbled in a rhythm lane and almost threw it away. Also Garrett Marchbanks had a few close calls and sat around 19^th for most of the session. Marchbanks put it together later and ended up ninth.

The whoops are gnarly here, full stop, no doubt. One question will be how willing are guys to hammer over the top late in the night? It’s fast to blitz but this long section will also sap a lot of energy doing so. 

“I think the track is awesome, I like this layout and the weather is beautiful,” said fastest-man Cooper. “Trying to find a good flow, there’s a lot to get down in a short amount of time. We’re going to have a long main event, but I’m excited for it.”

Cooper was beat up from a heat race crash on Saturday.

“I feel a lot better than I thought,” he said. “It was pretty bad the first day, but now I’m feeling good and ready to race.”

Aaron Plessinger is absolutely on fire in the 450s. He made a point to get out first, which is something we never see from him, and then he blitzed early fast laps ahead of Justin Barcia. While he wasn't fastest, this is by far the most aggressive we've seen Plessinger in qualifying.

Chase Sexton then moved to the top over Tomac, Musquin Plessinger and Savatgy. Then Roczen jumped up to second behind his teammate Sexton. Late in the session Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson logged flyers, but it worked for Anderson best, as he went to the top spot right at the end.

“I think the track today is quite a bit faster, the no rain makes it faster. It’s going to interesting, because we will have three races here and I think we will have three different tracks. The track being a little more intense I think will be a big deal.”

Anderson was also the top qualifier on Saturday.

Freddie Noren, who made the main on Tuesday, jumped out early here with Cade Clason second best. Then Justin Starling jumped to the top late, along with Josh Hill second.

Carson Mumford led Jerry Robin early in the B group, with Derek Drake third.

Cameron McAdoo led his teammate Seth Hammaker early in this one, then Thrasher, Marchbanks and Harrison. Then Justin Cooper took his normal spot atop the board. McAdoo and Lawrence ended up third.

Something might be brewing here with Ken Roczen, who has been super fast all day. He was on top of the board early over Anderson, Tomac, Musquin and Plessinger. Don’t worry, Plessinger led the field around early on the first lap, which has been his thing today. Anderson then down a heater that went to the top, then another, but then Roczen topped him. This was a much better performance than we saw from Roczen on Saturday, will it predict how it goes tonight?

Anderson is ripping again, he ended up second to Roczen in this session but his first time session was still first overall.

“The track is high speed, but we don’t have much time on the track so you have to have the intensity you have to try those rhythms,” said Anderson. “I want to battle up front, I haven’t given myself an opportunity to do that this year. I feel good, so let’s go.”

250 Heats

Ty Masterpool holeshot the first 250 heat with Jalek Swoll right behind him, Swoll took the lead with McAdoo moving to second. It didn’t take long for McAdoo to leap past Swoll on the long straight before the sand and take the lead. Saturday’s winner Nate Thrasher started making moves toward the front, getting to fourth and starting to press Chris Blose and Swoll. In the battle for the final transfer spot, Pierce Brown was tenth, trying to get Jerry Robin for ninth. Brown got around Robin for ninth and then passed Derek Drake as well.  

Justin Cooper looked to have the holeshot in 250 Heat 2, but he made a mistake and got shuffled back to fourth, which put Mitchell Harrison into the lead over Hunter Lawrence and Seth Hammaker. Cooper started making moves, getting around Hammaker and then Hammaker went too far outside in a corner, tagged a tough block and went down. Then Hammaker bobbled in the next corner and nearly crashed, and then crashed in the whoops! He got back up but ended up 10^th, sending him to the LCQ. Rammy Alves took the final transfer spot in ninth.

Up head, Cooper caught up to Lawrence and they battled hard, Lawrence put together some good defensive riding to try to hold him off, but Cooper locked it down and took off with the lead. Even after missing a triple in a rhythm lane, Cooper had enough of a gap to hold onto the lead. Lawrence was second, then Harrison, Schock, Marchbanks, Mumford, Lopes, Soubeyras and Alves.

"Yeah actually felt like I had the holeshot but I slipped on that first jump, lost momentum and couldn’ do the step up," said Cooper. "Had to take a couple deep breaths and regroup, not a lot of time to get going."

450 Heats 

Dean Wilson holeshot the first 450 heat but Ken Roczen quickly got around him and started pulling away. Roczen was strong in practice and sure looked great in this heat. Then came Wilson, Stewart, Webb and Barcia. Barcia was trying to get around Webb and then Barcia lost the front and went down in a corner.

Roczen rolled. Huge win over Wilson, who, by the way, didn’t even make the main on Saturday! Then it was Stewart, Webb, Plessinger, Barcia, Anstie, Oldenburg and Bowers to the main, with Henry Miller just short. Plessinger, who was so strong with the “fake starts” in practice this afternoon, didn’t gate well here when it counted. Roczen did, though.

“It’s the same start we had last Saturday so those ruts get chunked out real quick," said Roczen. "That’s what makes gate pick really important, so I’m glad to get that one,” he said. :The start really helped out a lot, it was quite good. I just tried to put in consistent laps, that’s what it’s going to take tonight. Track crew left the top really loose. I feel decent right now, I’m going to focus hard on the main event and hopefully I can be somewhat close to the front.”

In the second heat, Marvin Musquin holeshot and led it wire to wire. That’s big for Marvin, who has had everything that could possibly go wrong go wrong this season. Chase Sexton worked his way into second with a late pass on Joey Savatgy. Then it was Ferrandis, and Tomac made a late charge to try to get him but ended up fifth. Then it was Davalos and Tickle seventh and eighth.

“It does feel really good,” said Musquin. “I’m definitely not where I want to be, it’s been tough physically. The break was actually rough for me, I was not able to do what I wanted to do but I don’t want to make excuses. I got seventh on Saturday, it was okay, but I want to get up where I belong.”

Jason Anderson, so fast lately, had a bad start and had to come from last. He worked his way around Alex Ray but then Anderson cased a triple in a rhythm lane. At the same time, Ray got cross rutted and veered left, and ended up landing on Anderson. Anderson got up and immediately started yelling at A-Ray. Then he got back up and tried to salvage a main event spot, getting right up behind ninth-place Justin Starling on the last lap. He ran out of time, and Starling is into the main, and Anderson has to go to the LCQ.

Jarrett Frye really needs to avoid missing the main again, and he did the best thing possible by getting out front early. Hammaker also needed to avoid trouble and quickly moved to second, then came Surratt. Then, chaos. Ryan Sipes pulled through from about sixth to get around Jerry Robin, and then Sean Cantrell. Moments later, Sipes came up way short on the finishline jump and crashed hard, bringing Cantrell down with him. This left Robin fending off Derek Kelley, but Kelley crashed trying to make the pass in the whoops. Dylan Schwartz came from way back to get the final transfer spot to the main.

Anderson, forced to the LCQ after getting landed on by Alex Ray in his heat, got a good start, battling for the early lead with Scott Champion. He took the spot and Champion held on for second ahead of Henry Miller. Then came Jeremy Smith in fourth, but Cade Clason and Ray got around him. This set up another classic Clason/Ray battle for the final transfer spot, but Ray lost the front in a corner and went down. Miller, who missed a lot of time earlier this year with injury, put together his best run of the season and moved to second, getting around Champion. Clason held on for the final spot to the main.

250 Main Event

Nate Thrasher did it again with the holeshot, but his teammate Justin Cooper was by immediately to take the lead. Then it was Garrett Marchbanks and Hunter Lawrence, then Cameron McAdoo. The title fight took a huge change when McAdoo suffered a HUGE crash, overjumping and endoing into the face of the tunnel jump, then being thrown ON TOP of the jump as his bike flipped with his legs stuck to it. It was seriously one of the wildest crashes in recent supercross memory, and the race was red flagged. Then McAdoo stumbled to his feet and attempted to get back to the starting line. The NBC Peacock feed picked up a live mic down near the start where McAdoo pleaded his case to the Alpinestars Medics, who cleared him to race!

Then of course you know what came next: he nearly holeshot the restart!

McAdoo temporarily battled past Nate Trasher for the number-one spot but then then got block passed by Garrett Marchbanks. This opened the door for Justin Cooper to sneak back into the lead. But the legend of McAdoo kept growing, and he battled past Marchbanks and then Thrasher to get into second. McAdoo’s charge lasted for about ten minutes, but then he started to lose the pace just a bit, as the adrenaline started to wane. Hunter Lawrence also crashed before the red flag and got bailed out by the restart. He didn't get a good start on the restart but came back hard. On the latter laps, Lawrence caught fire and reeled in Thrasher and McAdoo to take over second. Thrasher, digging for a podium and to help his teammate Cooper pick up more points, got right to McAdoo’s rear wheel on the last lap, but McAdoo held him off to gut out a podium.

"Always when you’re winning a race and it’s red flagged it’s hard to regroup and do the same thing," said Cooper. "It’s hard to go back to back and do it again, especially in the main event where the pressure is there. I just saw the crash and I’ve never seen a crash that gnarly. Props to him [McAdoo] for being able to get up under his own power. But back to my mindset, you have to put yourself back in the zone, calm down, get the heart rate down. And I was able to do it."

"We made a pretty big change to the shock before the main event. I was struggling throughout the day and the change was good," said Lawrence. "I think my speed was there, didn’t get the best start, but yeah I think I got fastest lap time and had a really good pace going from the halfway point onwards. I wish I could have put myself in a better position off the start for sure."

"I had a contusion on my thigh," said McAdoo. "It was when you get the gnarliest Charlie horse and you truly can’t move move your leg. That’s how it felt for a minute. I was trying to move my leg, and he was like “Let’s get down! Let’s get down [to the bottom of the jump].” I tried but it wouldn’t cooperate. We finally got stuff moving. I’m probably not as sore as I probably will be here soon. I just want to give it up to my whole team. My bike was mangled, it still is, it’s been tough but they worked as hard as they could to get it going. I want to give a shoutout to Doc Bodnar and the whole [Alpinestars] Medical Crew. They evaluated me very closely and I appreciate that because sometimes racers aren’t in their right mind and might not be safe to race. Just so glad to be on the podium.”

450 Main Event

Ken Roczen holeshot the main event with his teammate Chase Sexton right behind him. Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin were right there, and Webb sliced into second and battled Roczen for the lead. Roczen pulled back away in the whoops and then Sexton started pressing Webb for second. The whoops were a huge problem for Webb, as Sexton got by him there, and then hits kept coming. Barcia passed Musquin with a block pass, then got Webb in the whoops. Jason Anderson did the same, getting Musquin and Webb, this moved them to third and fourth. Behind Webb and Musquin came Dylan Ferrandis, but Eli Tomac got him in the rhythm after the sand. Then Tomac started to close on Webb and Musquin.

Roczen and Sexton pulled away with a 1-2 runaway. Anderson and Barcia got into a big battle for third, Anderson engineered a sweet hop over one of the wall jumps to leap past Barcia for third. Then Webb started putting the pieces back together and closing on Barcia, using the same hop over the wall jump as Anderson. Webb drew up close to Barcia, but Barcia moved left to block his line on a different wall jump, and Webb bumped his back tire and went down. It was a simple crash and only Tomac was able to slip by, dropping Webb to sixth. Then came Musquin, who held of Plessinger. Dean Wilson, after a good start, was ninth, and then Savatgy was tenth.

"The sport is freaking hard, you know what I mean?" said Roczen in the post-race press conference. "There’s different variables all the time, could be track could be bike. We kind of threw a lot at me with the bike, tried to make some changes throughout all three practices, found something that was good and better. But also at first it’s unproven until you race it and race good on it. In general Saturday was just a tough, one, I was just struggling and couldn’t really do anything on the track  This is not an excuse it just is what it is. Today things turned around. I just never lose hope. You see the points fizzling away but at some point I have to look away from that. I’ve had some tough times, in general, and at some point you have to just let go of that as well and regroup. Mostly, I’m just trying not to get over my head and stay calm, even though this win came at just the right time and we really needed it."

"For me it’s been a little bit of a struggle this year, I had some crashes, it was pretty mentally defeating to get those hits week in and week out," said Sexton, who now has back-to-back runner up finishes. "I’m not really used to it, I’m usually a pretty smooth rider. It took a hit on my confidence. Dallas helped and I think I was in a better headspace coming into this weekend. Definitely mentally, and also with the bike, it’s been just a really big learning stage, and I think we’re going in the right direction, feeling more comfortable with myself."

Anderson was "ripping" as he would say and netted third despite a trip to the LCQ.

“Today was pretty stressful, started out amazing I felt like everything was going smooth and then stalled it on the gate for the [heat race] start," he said. "I was able to come back and ride good. Slacking a little bit of energy there at the end but at the same time I feel like my speed is good and my riding is good. I want to say sorry to Alex Ray, I kind of overreacted, not that I think his move was great by any means, but I shouldn’t have gotten crazy. Pumped that I came around from that Let’s do it again, one more round here, let’s see if we can get a start and actually race them at the beginning."