2021 Indianapolis Round 6 Supercross Recap
Ken Roczen made it a three-peat for the Indianapolis rounds by taking his third straight win to close out Indianapolis 3 for Round 6 of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross season on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN.
Roczen led the entire way, quickly getting around Justin Barcia after the start. But a few laps later, Barcia used his GasGas to bam-bam Roczen to no avail and settled in behind. Drama would unfold on the final lap, with Roczen in the lead, Cooper Webb in a close second, Barcia third and defending Champion Eli Tomac in fourth when Vince Freise cross-rutted in front of Barcia knocking him to the ground in the path of Tomac which took him down. This enabled Marvin Musquin, nearly ten seconds behind Tomac at the time to pass for third and get his first podium since the opening round.
Tomac finished in seventh-place losing valuable points in the Championship standings while Barcia dropped to 19th for the night. Roczen extended his points lead to 16 over Webb and though Tomac lost ground he retains his third-place spot in the standings but now 24 points back of the lead. Barcia dropped to fifth-place in the standings and his manageable 20 point deficit from the the top spot heading into the round falls to 42 points from the lead.
Roczen has reached the podium in five of six races this year and continues, as of now, a remarkable mid-career run after enduring multiple season-ending (and possible career-ending) injuries as well as a bevy of health problems resulting from those issues.
Malcolm Stewart tied a career-high finish in fourth and Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the Top 5.
The 250 East class was not without drama either as Christian Craig got his first win since the opening round, after his teammate Colt Nichols - winner of the previous three - crashed on the opening lap and used a table top as a cushion. The get-off enabled Craig to get-by and checkout for the win. Despite being thrown off the bike, Nichols regrouped in last and rebounded for third-place saving what could have been a disastrous evening for his Championship run. Craig's victory moves him to within six points of Nichols.
Jo Shimoda got his second podium of the year (and career) but unlike Round 4, when he felt he was gifted the third-place result because Craig and Jett Lawrence tangled on the last lap, he said, "I think this one I could say I got a podium. Good start, kind of pushed, pushed, pushed and just kept my own pace."
Lawrence meanwhile finished fifth after sitting on the sidelines for the last race when a Heat race crash left him unable to ride. Lawrence played a little cat and mouse with Nichols as they battled for a podium position but eventually was unable to contain the points leader. Mitchell Oldenburg took fourth, a season high finish.
Supercross moves to Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL for two rounds beginning Saturday. Until then, check out the photos below and live Round 6 all again.