2024 Arlington Supercross Photo Gallery

2024 Arlington Supercross Recap

The lofty highs and devastating lows of Supercross showed up for Round 7 of the 2024 season on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX wreaking havoc on fans' emotions and for a couple of riders, their bodies.

The weekend off proved beneficial for some but the most technical track of the year ruined rides for others. At the onset of the 450 class, multiple contenders rode into trouble including Eli Tomac who overjumped a triple, tucked his front end in and lost his hand grip, sending him into the tuff blocks, Jason Anderson reportedly tangled with Justin Barcia, while Ken Roczen and Malcolm Stewart fell over each other as Jett Lawrence pulled out front after grabbing the Holeshot. Cooper Webb followed diligently behind in second but the Australian phenom looked ripe for the checkers.

The big story, however, began unfolding on the first lap just outside the Top 10 where Tomac restarted after his crash and began his ascent via Beast Mode. Just when you thought it was safe to write him off...

Tomac, who may or may not be fully healed from an Achilles rupture that robbed him from the 2023 title, worked his way up, dominating the track with fastest lap time after fastest lap time. In 6th by the 10-minute mark, something special brewed while Lawrence led, looking for his second win. Webb kept him in sight with Aaron Plessinger in control of third. Reigning Champion Chase Sexton riding on an ailing wrist proved little competition for Tomac for 5th place, then with about four minutes left, Tomac passed Hunter Lawrence before gobbling up Plessinger with about two minutes on the clock.

The podium thus seemed certain with Lawrence taking the win and extending his points lead, Webb finishing second and Tomac fighting back for his third podium of the season, keeping him in the title fight. But Lawrence, a rookie in the 450 Supercross class, lost his balance off a jump and landed on the tuff blocks. Webb took control of the lead but Lawrence bounced back in second and wasn't far behind to mount a charge. A last lap battle ensued...

Lawrence went down again trying to catch Webb in the whoops, checking up before hitting Vince Friese on the exit which tipped Lawrence over. Tomac passed for second, moments later the checkers flew and Webb, with a fully extended middle finger, grabbed his second victory of the year, Tomac took second for the third time and Plessinger finished third. The Lawrence bros took fifth and sixth.

Webb said his team gave him a kick in the pants earlier that day after struggling with some confidence but acknowledged he got lucky for the win.

"To be honest I got a little bit of a handout," he said. "I just kept clicking my laps, was trying to stay as close as I could to Jett. I'm still in shock."

But the comment of the year came from the 31-year old Tomac who likely would have retired last year had he won the Championship. He spent the weekend off fine tuning his race craft.

"I was trying my heart out there. I'm sick of people calling me the old guy," he said. "I'm just warming up. I'm getting better. I'm coming. I'm ready to get going. Second will do for tonight."

In what could have been a huge push towards the Championship title for Lawrence, the points close even further with him holding the Red Plate but just three points ahead of Webb, and seven in front of Plessinger. Sexton finished sixth on his ailing wrist but dropped from second to fourth, eight points back from the lead, and Tomac moved from seventh to fifth, now 13 points back from first. Anderson and Roczen, finishing second and first, respectively in the last round finished 10th and eighth, respectively, in Arlington, dropping them to sixth and seventh in the standings but not out of contention.

A collective gasp heard around the world in the 250 East class, resuming two weeks after the opening round in Detroit, with less than three minutes left when Austin Forkner, who lead the first 16 laps mostly on cruise control, flung off the bike in the rhythm section, landing off the track on concrete on his back, his torso squished into his legs like one folded in a suitcase, upon impact. The horrific accident resulted in a fractured L3 and L4 and broken scapula. The oft-injured rider loses another Supercross season in another bounce back year when he looked good, again, for the Championship.

As a result, Haiden Deegan who followed Forkner closely in second the whole race easily took the checkers, his first career Supercross win, and celebrated by ghost riding his bike after crossing the finish line like his dad Brian Deegan did in 1997. Cameron Mcadoo enjoyed a PG rated ride this time and finished second with 2-time MXGP MX2 (their version of 250 class) Champion Tom Vialle, in his second season after coming over from Europe, taking third.

With Forkner out, all eyes look to Deegan, the reigning 250 class SuperMotocross Champion (you know, that new three-round playoff system that combines points earned in Supercross and Motocross seasons), for the 250 East title. But not so fast, Forkner's opening round win but 20th place finish combined with Deegan's 16th place finish in Round 1 puts Max Anstie into first-place. Peirce Brown moves into second thanks to back-to-back fifth place finishes and rookie Daxton Bennick holds on to third place but tied in points with Cody Schock. Deegan sits in fifth just seven points from first. Jalek Swoll had a huge crash early and did not finish.

The big show up next with the Daytona round in Florida. Tomac owns this round may use it to back his comments. Gates drop Saturday for Round 8 at Daytona Raceway.