3 for #3
Last weekend Eli Tomac became the first repeat 450 Class winner of 2022. Then, this weekend he went 1-1 for the second week in a row to claim his third overall win. Last week I looked up some stats on the first rider to win two overall wins: 30 of the 50 full seasons the first to two overall wins became the champion-that is 60 percent. In Tomac’s three 450 Class title seasons, he was only the first to two overall wins once—in 2018.
After this weekend’s Southwick National, I dug into the first to three overall. Tomac was the first to three overall wins in all three of his 450 Class title seasons (2017, 20180, and 2019). The first rider to earn three overall has gone on to win the title 38 times in 50 seasons (76 percent), and since 1990, the first to three overall wins has won the title 25 out of those 32 full seasons (78 percent). So, things continue to bode well for Tomac.
Also, of the 50 years completed in Pro Motocross to date, the average is 5.7 wins and the most frequent number of overall wins per season is 5. Champions have claimed five overall wins right on the dot in 7 of the 50 years.
Related: Eventual Champion's Overall Win Total
In Tomac’s three previous 450 Class Pro Motocross seasons, he claimed 4 (2017), 8 (2018), and 6 (2019) overall wins. Check back tomorrow for more stats on the average overall wins per season by the eventual champion. Another stat that goes in Tomac’s favor is that all three of his championship seasons he either had the most overall wins or tied for the most overall wins:
2019 | Most Overall wins: 6
2018 | Most Overall wins: 8
2017 | Most Overall Wins: Tomac (4) & Marvin Musquin (4)
The win was also Tomac’s 30th 450 Class Pro Motocross overall win, which ranks him third all-time behind Ryan Dungey (39) and Ricky Carmichael (76).
11 of 12
Chase Sexton continues his strong riding with another 2-2 day for second overall. The #23 has finished first or second in 11 of the first 12 motos to date. He has a single point lead over Tomac after six rounds, but things will not be easy for Sexton with the experience Tomac has and the current roll the #3 is on jelling with his machine. But Sexton still has the upper hand at the moment proving just how well he has been so far this season.
13 and 14 for Jettson
Jett Lawrence going 1-1 means the Austrailian claimed his 13th and 14th career moto wins and it means he also become only the 16th rider in AMA Motocross history to earn at least 10 125/250 Class overall wins. The 1-1 day was Jettson’s fourth career 1-1 day to date, and he reclaimed the points lead over his brother Hunter. The Aussie brothers have now claimed 9 of the 12 motos to date this season: 7 for Jett and 2 for Hunter.
Other Random Stats
3 Doubles Down?
Tomac is looking to become the first rider to win both the 450SX title in AMA Supercross and the 450 Class title of AMA Motocross in the same year since Ryan Dungey did the double-championship feat in 2015. Will ET3 do the SX and MX double?
Plessinger Podiums
Aaron Plessinger finished 7-3 for third overall to earn the third overall podium of his 450 Class career. Plessinger’s third premier class podium finish came in his 23rd career 450 Class start.
Same Same, But Different
How about this weird happening:
2021 Southwick National: Jett Lawrence, points leader at the time, gets collect by a Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider (Jalek Swoll) in the first moto, loses his visor and does not have a good day as his brother Hunter goes 1-1 for the overall win.
2022 Southwick National: JettHunter Lawrence, points leader at the time, gets collect by a Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider (Jalek SwollStilez Robertson) in the first moto, loses his visor and does not have a good day as his brother Hunter Jett goes 1-1 for the overall win.
Awards
FMF Privateer Power Award:Chris Canning
Canning finished 12-12 for 11th overall on a GasGas MC 450F.
Chris Canning blasting the sands of Southwick for 11th overall going 12-12 in 450 class 🚀 @fmf73#PrivateerPower#ProMotocrosspic.twitter.com/9vhHk1VNsF
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) July 13, 2022
RC Battery Hard Charger Award:Jason Anderson
Charging from 33➡️8 in 450 Moto 1 is Jason Anderson with the @intensecycles RC Hard Charger Award ⚡️ #ProMotocrosspic.twitter.com/x39U9gxSdM
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) July 13, 2022
Watch This
Bryson Gardner’s Wild Crash
Vlogs
Raw Trackside Moto
Check out our guy Tom Journet’s infield access videos below to watch nearly 20 minutes of raw footage from round six.
450 Class
250 Class
Best Post-Race Show Ever
And check out our best post-race show, which really might have been the best post-race show ever.
Quotes From Around The Paddock
450 Class
Ken Roczen | 6-4 for 4th overall
“It was a tough one. We obviously know that this track is very unique. I’ve been trying to improve my bike and myself. In the first moto I was getting beat up and couldn’t make anything happen. That was tough to swallow because I just wasn’t feeling it. We made a little change for the second moto, which helped me out, but I haven’t found a breakthrough setup yet. I’m hanging in there, and the team’s doing a great job of sending me stuff as quick as they can, doing everything they can to get me happy. Today wasn’t the result that we want, but I’m happy that I at least ended on a much better note in that second moto. I’m looking forward to trying to improve for Millville.”
Christian Craig | 3-8 for 5th overall
“I’ve never really been great here at Southwick. I've had decent results but never really gelled with the track, so I really wanted to do well this year. We qualified decent, and in the moto’s, I got off to two good starts and led the first moto for almost 20 minutes. I made a couple of big mistakes that cost me huge and was shuffled back to third and stayed there. I was pumped with that as it's been a while since our podium at Pala.
“Then, in the second moto, I was optimistic and got off to another good start in second, but then right away, I just knew my energy was gone from the first moto and that I was going to suffer. No excuses, though. The bike was good all day; it was just that my energy wasn't there for the second moto. I was shuffled back to eighth and got fifth overall, but we gained a little bit in the points and had some positives today.”
Said Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 450 Team Manager Jeremy Coker:
“It was an absolutely amazing day for the team to have a double podium in that first moto. It also felt really good to have Christian back on the podium where he belongs. He gave it everything he had in that first moto and just, unfortunately, didn't have enough in the tank for the second moto but still rode well and ended up fifth overall.”
Ryan Dungey | 4-7 for 7th overall
“The day was pretty good. I got a good start in the first moto and I actually had a tip-over and recouped still in fifth. I was able to make a pass on Kenny for fourth and pretty much hung there for the rest of the moto, so I was happy with that. The first half of the second moto was really solid, but the second half I kind of ran out of steam. I just have to keep being patient – physically, it was tougher than normal – but we’ll try to keep building and get the bike a little bit better. I’m excited to go to the hometown race next weekend and try to put in a good showing there.”
Jason Anderson | 8-6 for 8th overall
"I felt like I had the speed to be up near the front today. My Kawasaki KX450SR was hooking up great during qualifying and gave me a ton of confidence heading into Moto 1. Unfortunately, I got caught up in a first turn pile-up and fought back from 33rd place up to eighth. I got a much better start in the second moto but I was spent after having to fight so hard in Moto 1 that I had to ride smart and manage a sixth-place finish. Overall, I think we still had some positives come out from today."
Justin Barcia | 13-9 for 10th overall
“I love this place! The fans are great here and it was fun, to say the least. I definitely struggled today, though, and I'm very not happy with my results, obviously. I was going from a podium last week to not-so-good results, so this weekend is tough mentally, but I need to regroup. I was riding well in the first moto and then I had a crash and got landed on, so I got pretty tore up there. I was pretty sore for the second moto but I pushed as hard as I could, I just didn't come home with the result I was looking for. We're going to go back, regroup and come out to Millville swinging.”
Privateer Profile with Chris Canning (12-12 for 11th overall)
Joey Savatgy | 9-16 for 12th overall
"That was a tough race. My starts this weekend were okay, but there’s certainly room for improvement there. I think I showed everyone last weekend just how good I can be with a decent start. I want to try and focus on getting a little bit better on those so I don’t have to battle my way through the middle of pack early in the race and instead can gain more experience battling with the leaders on race day."
Shane McElrath | 11-15 for 13th overall
“My day started out a lot better. I had my best qualifying sessions, as far as getting a good feel of the track and putting some good laps in. The track was honestly really, really rough for our second practice and it just continued to get worse. I definitely struggled and fought against the track all day, it was a little bit disappointing. I’ve got some stuff to figure out and I'm gonna keep working. That's really all I can do.”
Cullin Park | 15-14 for 15th overall
"Much better weekend for me! The past two weekends have been nothing short of a struggle. Redbud was going decent and unfortunately had two bike problems, moto one ran out of gas and moto two got a flat tire. So to finally put two consistent and top 15 motos together feel good! Moto two I think everyone was cooked so it's just about who was going to suffer the most. I had two good starts on the day which really helped me and being from Florida I love the sand. Overall, it's a bit of a relief of a day for the team and I!"
"It was deep today! Track was so gnarly it was definitely about digging deep and just trying to be smooth and consistent today. It's not like any track I've ever ridden honestly."
Brandon Hartranft | 28-13 for 16th overall
In the first practice I started up in third, so that was cool. I hung with the leaders a little bit. In Moto 1 I crashed and took a bar to the ribs and so, didn't score points. In Moto 2 I started around 12th and fought hard to finish 13th. I'm not happy with my finishes lately, but it's just part of the game. We're healthy and we're happy; by that I mean I’m making progress every weekend. The track was super gnarly. They added some rollers in some weird spots this year. This track gets very cupped out and develops its own rollers without any man-made rollers. But I got 16th overall. That's not ideal, but for not finishing Moto 1 it's not bad. We're looking forward to next weekend."
Marshal Weltin | 26-17 for 20th overall
"I'm pretty bummed overall on the day with how I rode in general. I had quite a bit of confidence coming off last weekend and, yeah… I don't know, I just fought everything all day. I think I was just overriding, kind of expecting a bit too much out of myself. In the first moto, I had three crashes. It's a bummer when you try that hard and you don't score any points. In Moto 2, I had a decent start and came out and looked in front of me and I was behind the whole field. I charged back to 17th. Overall I just struggled to find my flow today, but I'm really grateful to have the whole team behind me. Everyone worked hard all day. I have no complaints I've just got to do better on the track."
250 Class
Levi Kitchen | 8-2 for 4th overall
“In the first moto, I kind of had to work my way through from the back after a few mishaps but got up to eighth. The second moto was great, though! I got a good start and made a quick pass for second. I tried to run with Jett (Lawrence) as long as I could and had a few opportunities, but I rode it out and finished fourth overall.”
Said Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 Team Manager Jensen Hendler:
“Levi Kitchen and the team did a lot of starts this week, and he had a great start in that second moto, and at one point, he was rubbing tires of Jett (Lawrence). He lost his flow a little bit but ended up second in that moto. We're very proud of him. If he keeps getting those starts, we’re going to see him running up front in a lot of motos.
Related: Levi Kitchen Suffers Broken Wrist in practice Crash
RJ Hampshire | 4-5 for 5th overall
“We made it through another pretty solid day. The first moto, I had good speed and a lapper stalled in front of me and I jumped right into him and lost that podium. Second moto, I didn’t have a good start at all. All-in-all, we had some progress and a bit of positives today. We're working hard and the team is working hard also, we’ve had something special here for these last five or six rounds. We'll take this week to get healthy again and come out swinging for Millville.”
Stilez Robertson | 7-7 for 6th overall
“Qualifying was a little rough, I couldn’t find my flow and with Southwick, you have to get it soon and fast, which kind of stressed me out. First moto, I was just kind of flat – not really energy wise, but riding-wise, I had nothing in me. Second moto, I was good at the beginning and then just got smoked. My body went away and I was trying my best.”
Hunter Lawrence | 6-8 for 7th overall
“Rough day. It was great last year, running 1-1, but this year we just sucked. It was almost like me and Jett did a role reversal from last year. I’m going to have to go to the dentist this week, after crashing in the first moto—got cross-jumped and then hit by another guy. It is what it is now—I can’t change it. I did everything I could, but it was just a really, really tough day. We’ll bounce back.”
Said Honda HRC team manager Lars Lindstrom:
“Overall, it was a pretty decent day. It was definitely a challenging track. Jett was just on another level. He made a couple mistakes in the first moto, and some of the other riders showed some good speed, which made it fun to watch. Hunter struggled a little bit with his setup and crashed when he got together with one of the other riders. After that it looked like he was hurting the rest of the day. Luckily, he wasn’t really hurt because it could’ve been bad if he got landed on. In the 450 class, Kenny’s starts were unbelievable. We made some changes to his bike, which seemed to be the right direction for him. He rode well, and it seems like he’s getting better after his sickness last week. He’s almost there, so hopefully next weekend he’ll be even stronger. Chase is showing that he’s top-level, for sure. He didn’t have the best starts but was still able to race to second in both motos. We’re pretty excited about the second half of the season; the tracks are ones where Chase should be good. I think we’re right there.”
Michael Mosiman |5-9 for 8th overall
“It was a tough day, indeed. I felt like I rode really well and my fitness was quite strong, but a poor start was kind of the story and I just made the best of it, especially in the first moto. I was having a couple of silly issues, just with goggles and we've been messing around with the bike a little bit, so there's certainly things to work on. Frustrating finishes but there are positives and we're going to focus on those and build on those. I’m going to clean up my starts and try to make sure that I’m where I need to be from the get-go.”
Nate Thrasher | 15-6 for 9th overall
“I felt like I had the speed in both motos for a top five. In the first moto, I was running about eighth but went down and couldn't get back to that same intensity after I got back up. The second moto was a lot better for me to come from about 15th to finish sixth. It was a better weekend for us; the track was brutal, and we put in a good fight.”
Said Hendler:
“Nate Thrasher didn't have a great first moto, but in the second moto showed up. He had a really good ride to get sixth in that moto, and it was another good step in the right direction.”
Jalek Swoll | 12-10 for 10th overall
“It was a tough track today but it was good. I’m happy to get through two motos again, that's something we can keep building off of and finally start to find some sort of rhythm this year. I think my speed is good, I just have to get that intensity back. The guys are going really fast right now and they have a lot of motos under their belts. I'm just playing catch-up right now but I'll start to find the flow and start clicking off some good days.”
Seth Hammaker | 11-12 for 11th overall
“My results didn’t show how I know I’m able to ride out there,” said Hammaker. “The track was tough and I didn’t help myself out with the starts. It was good to finally get a stop at the famous sand track out of the way and we’ll be focusing on starts for next weekend at Millville.”
Max Vohland | 9-14 for 12th overall
“I qualified the best all-year and rode really fast in the second qualifying practice and into the first moto with a top-10 start. I moved up to fifth and I was riding really good, and then just kind of hit the wall, as they say. I felt like I didn't have anything left and really was just trying to survive that second moto. I just need to work on that endurance.”
Nick Romano | 10-15 for 14th overall
“It was a good day, and we made some good changes in the right direction. A 10-15 result for the day doesn't necessarily look good on paper, but we had some positives to take away from it. In the first moto, I ran in the top five for about 20 minutes, and in the second moto, I was sixth for about 15 minutes. The fitness will come, and I'm not worried about it. I'm looking forward to Millville.”
Said Hendler:
“Nick Romano had a good first moto in 10th, but he didn't really have enough in the second moto, and some guys went by him. He is a rookie and had never ridden this track, so overall it was a decent day for him. Matt LeBlanc was 16th in the first moto and in the second moto he found himself on the ground. We'll be waiting to hear about his status moving forward.”
Pierce Brown | 13-13 for 15th overall
“It was a struggle of a day. I battled with bad starts and it was hard to make passes out there with the sandy terrain, I’m not really used to that. All-in-all, I had fun out there and I put some pretty good laps together in the first moto. The second moto, I just struggled all around. I’m hoping to put that one in the past and gain some momentum here soon.”
Preston Kilroy | 20-25 for 24th overall
"Southwick was tough," the young racer admitted. "I did not make things easy on myself off the gate, which resulted in a rough first moto. In the second moto, I was starting to feel comfortable and find my groove, when unfortunately, I had some troubles with three laps to go. I'm happy to walk away healthy and am ready to get back to work!”
