Late in Indianapolis, Rockstar Energy Drink Husqvarna’s Christian Craig made a pass on Eli Tomac, which cost Tomac one point in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross standings. That one point dropped Tomac from a potential tie for the series lead with Cooper Webb to second, one point behind. Does this one point matter that much? It might not, depending on how close the series is by the finale, but it will impact appearances this Saturday in Detroit. Webb will run red plates by himself, while Tomac will have to go to the traditional black-number-white-background for the first time this year.
Tomac also led the standings for most of the 2022 supercross campaign. Popular social media moto number cruncher, MX Reference, put together the total number of supercross race weekends that Tomac had held the red plate through Indy. The answer: from last year’s third round, where Tomac took the red plate, through the end of Indy, Tomac had the red plate for 23 consecutive supercross races. That’s a strong number, but what’s even more impressive is where it ranks in history: Tomac’s 23-week run with the supercross points lead is the third-longest in history!
Again, thanks to MX Reference for this data. It’s no surprise the top of this list contains records by Jeremy McGrath. Here’s what’s shocking, though: MC was so dominant he actually had the two longest points-lead streaks in supercross history! Yes, twice McGrath held points leads for longer than any other rider ever has. You know something? With Tomac scaling so many records and putting a spotlight on the all-timers of the past, it’s actually a boon to McGrath. When you see Tomac battling James Stewart and Ricky Carmichael for second and third all-time in supercross wins, and then realize that McGrath has nearly 50 percent more wins than any of them…. that’s just insane.
Eli Tomac lost the red plate after losing the points lead to Cooper Webb in Indy.
— MX Reference (@MxReference) March 13, 2023
Tomac was the points leader for 23 consecutive races, good for the 3rd longest streak in 450SX history: pic.twitter.com/CJVNeOVjAN
So, Jeremy McGrath has the two longest streaks in history, taking the points lead early in his 1993 rookie season and holding it all the way through the end of the 1996 season. That’s 58 races at the top. His 1997 season (when he switched from Honda to Suzuki) was not as good, and he never held the points lead that year. Then The King went to Yamaha, won the ’98 title, then really rolled through 99-2000 seasons, holding the points lead for 32 more weeks.
Here's something crazy. Want to know who ended MC’s all-time 58-week run? Well, Greg Albertyn won the ’97 supercross opener, so he led the points after that race. Albee gets to be the answer to a wild trivia question. It was his only supercross win, but it ended the longest points-lead streak in history! One more for you: who led the points before McGrath’s 58-race streak? Damon Bradshaw, who led after winning round two, in Houston, back in ’93.
Another note from the McGrath era: they didn’t run red plates back then so we can only talk of Jeremy having the points lead. He never rode with a red plate. In ’94 he did get to be the last rider to run the super cool Camel blue and gold plate, which was reserved for the defending champion.
With the rest of this list, you see some news that’s surprising and also not. Check out Mike Bell carrying the lead for 17 weeks en route to his 1980 250 supercross title! That was tied for third-longest until Tomac’s recent run. Good on ya, Too Tall.
Chad Reed also had a 17-race streak, leading every round of the 2008 season. Reed’s 2004 title season was similar, leading 16 rounds. That 16 number is a popular one, with a big tie around that spot. Reed had a streak that long, Stewart did, Jason Anderson did, and Ryan Dungey did it twice.
Also, that McGrath guy gets in there again by leading the ’98 series for 15 weeks. MC’s numbers are just nuts.
Meanwhile, it’s surprising to not see Carmichael or Ryan Villopoto higher on this list, but it makes sense when you dig down. Carmichael never won the season opener, so he never carries the points lead streak over from one season and into another. In Villopoto’s title seasons, we usually saw a big scuffle early in the season, with RV eventually pulling ahead. Also of note, the end of Villopoto’s longest streak, 14 rounds through the end of ’14, also marked the end of his career in supercross. He never lined up for one of those races again.
More notes: Ricky Johnson has a solid streak of 15 rounds through ’88 and ’89. He led the points until he broke his wrist at the ’89 outdoor opener, and Jeff Stanton took over indoors and out after that. The problem for RJ was that after he took over the lead at round two of ’88, there were only nine races remaining! The ’88 schedule was super short due to infighting between the various promoters of the series. The schedules grew much longer after that.
To that point, one more thing sticks out here. Jeff “Chicken” Matiasevich has the longest points lead streak for a rider to never win a supercross title. He led for 12 rounds during the 18-race 1990 series, only to fade down the stretch just as Stanton heated up again. That was Matiasevich’s rookie year, so it seemed like more good things were coming, but he would never lead the points again. Not long after, McGrath showed up, and no one besides him was going to lead supercross for a long time.
