2023 Oakland Supercross Recap

After watching ring-around-the-posey for nearly 15 minutes you might have turned off the race early then woke up Sunday with a surprise result.

But was it really a surprise?

Patient and not needing to be all that methodical, Eli Tomac made it interesting on the final lap but held on for his fourth victory in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross series taking the scheduled Round 2 win - but postponed to Round 6 because of weather - on Saturday at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland.

Tomac got a great start, battled Cooper Webb briefly before settling in second while Chase Sexton, who grabbed the Holeshot set out on a monstrous pace looking for his second win. At the seven minute mark, Sexton enjoyed a five second lead on Tomac and Webb was even further back in third, the Top 3 riders in points ostensibly settling in for a cruise and a safe spot on the podium. But then...

Sexton bobbled on the dragon's back and less than 30 seconds later his rear wheel slid out in the rollers sending his dirt bike into a 180 airborne spin as both rider and machine hit the floor. Sexton, developing a reputation for throwing away leads and wins, scrambled back on his ride but Tomac passed and Webb caught up eventually passing Sexton for second with less than a minute on the clock. But it wasn't over yet.

After seemingly dialing it back for the now easy win, Tomac made a mistake of his own on the final lap when his front end hit the start of a roller which sent him briefly off the track and allowing Webb to close the gap to a mere second. No doubt the final moments felt like an eternity but Tomac returned to full throttle and held off Webb by less than a second. His 48th checkers tying him with Ricky "WHOA!" Carmichael for third on the all-time wins list.

"I thought I was kind of maintaining, then he (Sexton) started pulling away," said Tomac, who finished a meager fifth the week prior in Tampa and admitted that it was an off-night. "I needed that rebound. I just didn't ride like myself at all last weekend. To go out and execute that was a good one."

The win gives Tomac a seven point lead in the standings over Webb and Sexton who are tied for second. Webb also won Tampa once Sexton handed over the win after crashing.

Elsewhere, Justin Barcia made it fun to watch but hazardous for riders as he plowed through the field from 13th taking out Colt Nichols and Adam Cianciarulo on his way to seventh. He and Jason Anderson, who finished fifth, avoided each other or maybe Anderson did his best to avoid Barcia as Anderson was put on six-month probation for taking out Barcia in Tampa.

Ken Roczen qualified first winning his Heat race but either his usual mid-season fade has started or something else went wrong because he finished a season worst 11th.

2023 450 Class Supercross Season Standings

  1. Eli Tomac (139)
  2. Cooper Webb (132)
  3. Chase Sexton (132)
  4. Jason Anderson (111)
  5. Ken Roczen (104)

Much of the same in the 250 West class when RJ Hampshire grabbed the Holsehot and led four laps before crashing which let Jett Lawrence take the lead and the win by 16 seconds. Cameron Mcadoo took third. Lawrence, the 2022 East Class champ, has won three of the four West Class races and enjoys a commanding 20 point lead over Hampshire with Cameron Mcadoo in third, a point back of Hampshire. Lawrence, Hampshire and Mcadoo have finished first, second and third respectively in three rounds this season.

Mcadoo and Pierce Brown made it interesting for fans near the end of their race as the two battled for third with three minutes left. Brown passed Mcadoo then Mcadoo passed Brown right back but leaving him in the dirt. Brown's desperate attempt to get on the podium got him into fourth before crashing again and settling on fifth. Levi Kitchen who was the Triple Crown Event winner at Anaheim 2 took fourth.

2023 250 West Class Supercross Season Standings

  1. Jett Lawrence (101)
  2. RJ Hampshire (81)
  3. Cameron Mcadoo (80)
  4. Mitchell Oldenburg (69)
  5. Levi Kitchen (63)

Saturday was a normally scheduled off-weekend for riders so the crew returns to Texas this weekend for official Round 7 in Arlington and the second round for the 250 East class.

2023 Oakland Supercross