2023 Arlington Supercross Recap
Sexton pulled a Sexton. Tomac pulled a Sexton. Then Cooper Webb does what Cooper Webb does.
Round 7 of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season featured the second Triple Crown event of the series, a couple of crashes and another win for Webb (5-2-1) who snuck away with the victory on Saturday in Arlington, TX.
Mostly routine racing for the evening in the 450 class as point leader and defending Champion Eli Tomac (1-4-6) bounced out front in Race 1 and never looked back though he did get some competition from a feisty Ken Roczen (2-6-4) but had little trouble grabbing the checkers. Chase Sexton (3-3-2), chasing Tomac not only on the track but in the standings, endured a rough start and worked his way up from outside the Top 10 and finished third. Jason Anderson (8-1-3) endured a first turn crash that he worked his way back from last into eighth. Which perhaps helped in Race 2 because...
Anderson rolled the throttle for a dominating Race 2 run leaving much of the excitement for fans in his rearview. Sexton stalked Tomac for a few laps before getting by securing a lock on third-place while Webb held his own for second. Tomac settled on fourth without much charge to the front seemingly OK to take the overall if he dominated Race 3. Which he did until...
Tomac crashed! He got the Holeshot and quickly checked out but with Sexton right on his tail. Whoever won this cat and mouse game stands center podium. Sexton, who has developed a reputation for throwing away leads and race wins by crashing, indeed crashed around the eight-minute mark when his front end washed out as he chased Tomac. On any other Saturday this guaranteed a win for Tomac but a few minutes later he went down at the bottom of the bridge when his tires lost grip on the slippery surface. This handed Sexton the lead and dropped Tomac to fourth with Webb and Anderson now in hunt for the finish line.
With two and half minutes left, Anderson bobbled in the whoops riding second, allowing Webb by and about a minute later Sexton got hung up navigating around a downed rider then a lapper got in his way. Webb slipped through for the lead, win and overall taking the points tie-breaker over Sexton who took second for the third time this season. Tomac, who announced earlier that day his plan to compete in Motocross this summer and the SuperMotocross World Championship in the fall, finished sixth, enough for the final podium spot.
"It almost doesn't feel real, it's really good to get those points, but obviously a lot of mistakes and I just stayed clear and stayed the course," Webb said. "Overall, I'm really happy to get another win on the season, that's great, and Dallas is usually a good one for me."
Webb moves to within two points of Tomac in the Championship standings with Sexton three points behind Webb.
2023 450 Class Supercross Season Standings
- Eli Tomac (160)
- Cooper Webb (158)
- Chase Sexton (155)
- Jason Anderson (130)
- Ken Roczen (122)
In the 250SX East class, Nate Thrasher (2-2-3), hobbled by a torn ACL, found redemption from a last lap lead loss in Tampa to Hunter Lawrence (1-3-6) and took the overall without winning a Triple Crown race.
In Race 1, Lawrence had little trouble taking the win but the rest of the evening wouldn't be as kind. Thrasher finished second and Max Anstie (3-4-9) rolled up in third. In Race 2, Jordon Smith (4-1-5) took the race win as he battled Thrasher and Lawrence lap after lap until Lawrence crashed coming down from the bridge. Lawrence managed to stay in third-place but it took him out of contention for the race win. But in Race 3...
Lawrence and Anstie crashed together at the start before the Holeshot leaving both way back of the pack. Thrasher enjoyed a sizeable lead with Michael Mosimon (7-6-7) in tow and Smith in third. A few minutes later Mosimon went down in the tunnel taking Smith down too. Jeremy Martin (6-12-1) took over second and Tom Vaille (5-9-2) grabbed the third spot. Meanwhile, Lawrence was working his way up front. With just more than a minute remaining, Zoiks!, Thrasher crashed into the tuff blocks while in the whoops. This gave Martin the race win, Vallie finished second and, despite the last minute get-off, Thrasher secured the overall with a third-place. Smith, who also went down on the last lap, took fifth, good enough for second overall, and Lawrence finished sixth putting him on the podium in third. The win propelled Thrasher from seventh in the standings to third.
2023 250 East Class Supercross Season Standings
- Hunter Lawrence (73)
- Max Anstie (62)
- Nate Thrasher (57)
- Haiden Deegan (53)
- Jeremy Martin (53)
Instead of one long Main Event, the Triple Crown races three shortened Main Events calculating results based on Olympic style scoring and awards the round's winner to the racer with the least points totaled from their finish in all three races.
Supercross returns to Florida for the famed Daytona round on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
2023 Arlington Supercross
