450SX
Cooper Webb took his first supercross win since the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross finale in Salt Lake City on May 1, 2021, so this win victory was 21 months in the making. Webb now has 20 career wins, and he’s tied with Jeff Ward and Ken Roczen for 10th all time. Yup, Webb and Roczen continue to duke it out, even in the record books.
Aaron Plessinger’s podium was the third of his 450SX career, he podiumed in Oakland in 2022 and Daytona in 2021. “Do it for Dale!”
Stat man Ben Bridges mentioned a cool nugget in the post-race press conference: KTM now has at least one win in 12-straight seasons of 450SX. This started with Ryan Dungey’s breakthrough win (first for the brand) at Round 2 in 2012. KTM had never won a race before that, it has won at least one race in every season since.
Justin Cooper took seventh in the Tampa 450SX main, matching his seventh in his 450-debut last week in Houston. He’s also finished seventh in both of his heat races!
Joey Savatgy has 10-10-10-9-9 finishes so far this season.
Josh Hill made the Anaheim 1 main event but missed until Tampa, where he made it through the LCQ and recorded a 14th-place finish. Josh is only a part-time racer this series, going in and out of action. The 14th is his best 450SX finish since a 13th in Atlanta 2 back in 2015!
Josh’s brother Justin finished just ahead of him, in 13th. That matches his season best, also set in San Diego. Justin missed the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons of racing.
250SX
Hunter Lawrence now has seven career 250SX wins. His brother Jett has nine. The Lawrence brothers have combined to win four of the five 250SX races this year. The Lawrences are also the first brothers to hold both 250SX red plates at the same time.
In a furious comeback, Hunter ran a 52.746 lap time on the final lap, compared to Nate Trasher’s 55.281. Some of that was due to Thrasher smashing into Lawrence coming out of the sand and getting block passed in the final turn, but Lawrence’s last lap was still one to remember.
Last week, Max Anstie set a record for longest time ever to go from first supercross race to first supercross podium. 13 years! In Max’s defense, he was in Europe racing MGXP for a decade in between. Seven days after ending that 13-year wait, Anstie was back on the podium again with third.
Tough break for Jordon Smith, who had a bike issue late in the race knock him to 15th place. After an early crash, he had fought back to sixth place before bike trouble cost him a bunch of points.
Hardy Munoz scored tenth, his first career top 10 finish. It was a long road for Hardy, who was penalized in his heat race and had to go to the LCQ. He won the LCQ to get into the main, then scored a career best.
Penalty Box
Speaking of penalties, Carter Biese was penalized for cutting the track in practice, he lost his fast lap. And Jason Anderson has been placed on probation following his knockdown on Justin Barcia.
They Said It (Kinda)
It’s funny to read the team PRs regarding the Anderson and Barcia run in.
GasGas Team Press Release on Barcia: When the gate dropped for the final race of the night, he was among the early leaders but found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the resulting collision dropped him to the tail end of the field.
Barcia: “I was riding in a good position and making passes, unfortunately, I had a little incident.”
Kawasaki Team Press Release: Brief contact with another rider while attempting a pass during the opening lap of the main event shuffled Anderson back to 22nd.
Anderson does not mention the incident in his post-race quote.
Vlogs
Quotes From Around the Paddock
450SX
Ken Roczen | 4th overall
"My night ended really strong. We had a tough week, the team and I, put in some hours. I think we finished very well here, and I was pretty stoked about it. It was a bummer for us not to be on the podium, but to end up with a fourth place after a long week like that, there are a lot of positives to take away."
Eli Tomac | 5th overall
“It was a bit of an off day for my riding. I struggled with finding a comfort zone during the night show, with the conditions being on the edge of slick and decent traction. Overall we learned a lot about those conditions for the future, and I'm happy to still have the points lead.”
Jason Anderson | 6th overall
“The track was actually really good tonight. The little bit of rain we got made the dirt tackier, which I think is an advantage for me. I definitely believe I had the speed to win. However, I still think I learned a lot about my race bike tonight. After the crash, I set out to make up as many positions as possible in as little time and didn’t know I could ride the motorcycle that hard. I just need to tap into that flow state earlier in the races and we’ll be back on the top step in no time.”
Justin Cooper | 7th overall
“It was another solid day. I think for my first two races to be inside the top 10 - seventh in both main events – I can’t ask for much more than this. It’s a really good start. These guys are really fast, and I’m just happy to be where I’m at in my first couple of races. It’s definitely something to learn from and build on for the future.
“The conditions were definitely tough. In the heat race, it was raining, and then all the way up to the main, it was sprinkling. Luckily, it stopped for the main, and the track kind of got better as it went on, and there was a little bit more traction, but the heat was a little bit scary. It was really slippery. I was riding pretty timid out there, and I was just thankful to get through that one clean. I was able to ride like myself in the main, though, and finished seventh.”
Justin Barcia | 8th overall
"I was stoked to have a home race in Florida, and it was nice to be back this week. I felt good on the track, and the bike was feeling really good. I was riding in a good position and making passes, unfortunately, I had a little incident. I came from the back of the pack up to eighth. It’s definitely not the result I wanted, but I was riding well and I'm looking to redeem myself in Oakland.”
Christian Craig | 10th overall
“Overall, Tampa was a step in the right direction. I just need to execute my starts in the main event. I felt like I did everything positive throughout the day. I put myself in good positions. Qualified good, and the heat race was solid. I just didn't execute in the main event. I came from behind, had a small hiccup and fell over early on, and that kind of took the wind out of my sails. But I just tried to put my head down, click some laps off, and ended up tenth. I know I have more in me, we're improving and I just need to do it when it counts.”
Colt Nichols | 11th overall
“It was an interesting day, to say the least. Qualifying wasn’t the best, placement-wise, so I put myself behind early in the night. I got a decent start in the main from where I was, but I was just kind of stuck. There’s a big group of us that are pretty much the same speed, so I need to put myself in a better position early on. I feel like the bike’s in a better position, and I’m in a better spot. We’ll try again next week.”
Adam Cianciarulo | 12th overall
“Overall, the result tonight wasn’t what we were aiming for, but I think we can still take some positives from the day. I once again qualified close to the front and even held the quickest lap time in the second session momentarily. My starts were also again on point, allowing me to get valuable time racing with the lead group. The team and I are thinking big picture right now and focusing on improving little by little each weekend, which I believe we succeeded with again tonight.”
Shane McElrath | 17th overall
"We pretty well dodged the weather tonight, thankfully, because the track was really hard packed already. My heat was good and my start in the heat was strong. My main start wasn't particularly good. We're continuing to learn the bike and pace, and we're making progress every race. I'm a little bit off, but that translates to a lot over the course of a moto. We're going to return to work and keep progressing during the week."
Kyle Chisholm | 19th overall
"The team was down in Florida this week, so we had a couple days of testing and made some good progress. But then it's hard to know exactly where we’re at until you get to race day. We had rain on and off through the night so the track got very slick and really tough. I felt good on the bike all day and then just had a disappointing main event. I had a bad start and then just rode tight, held my breath, and had some bad arm pump. But all in all, we made progress, we're in the main, and we just need to keep improving and try again next week."
250SX
Haiden Deegan | 4th overall
“It was a super awesome day. I didn’t feel that great in qualifying, but the track changes a lot, so it’s a lot different in the night show. I ended up getting the holeshot and winning my heat race, and I was like, ‘this is awesome!’ It feels so good to win again. Then in the main event, I got a good start and came out second. I was able to run in fourth and was smooth and consistent. I had J-Mart (Jeremy Martin) pressuring me until there were a couple of laps to go. Then I was able to open the gap up a little bit and finish fourth for the second week in a row.”
Tom Vialle | 6th overall
“My day was pretty good overall and I had a good heat, where I finished P3. I didn’t get the best start in the Main, but I was running near the front through the first few corners before I tipped over when I tried to pass a rider in the sand. I was quite far back and managed to come back through to sixth. I’m quite happy with the last few laps of the race where I made up a number of positions. We’re now only a few points off third in the championship, which is good. We’ve got a short break now, so we’ll work on the bike and myself to keep improving before Arlington.”
Michael Mosiman | 7th overall
“I had a better start in the main event and I was right there where I needed to be. I had good speed and felt calm under pressure. I got taken out. I probably would have done the same. You hate it, but you've got to respect it and move on.”
Chance Hymas | 8th overall
“It was a better day for me. I qualified better in the daytime program and got second in the heat race, which was good. Then I got a bad start in the main and struggled. I ended up with another P8 and go home with a little bit more knowledge. We’ve got a two-week break, and then I’ll come out swinging at the Triple Crown in Arlington.”
Chris Blose | 13th overall
“It was a challenging day for me, but we left everything out there on the track in that main event. The track was technical and my mistakes didn’t help me put us where I know we can be. We’ll keep putting in the work over the next two weeks and think we can be much more aggressive when we show up in Arlington.”
Jordon Smith | 15th overall
“It was a good day up until the main event. I qualified second today and felt really good. We made improvements all day, but unfortunately, things didn’t go our way in that main event. So, we’ll go back, regroup, and come back swinging for the Triple Crown in Arlington.”
Talon Hawkins | 19th
“Overall It started off pretty good. I know what I need to work on...I've got to work on some sprint laps. I put it into the main right away out of the heat race, so I was pumped on that. I was feeling super-good on the start of the main event. I was pushing and trying to stay up there. I just made some mistakes in the sand and one thing led to another. I've got a lot to work on and I'm excited for the next race.”
