Michelle Baird | February 25, 2024
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship held round seven in the Lone Star State at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. Coming into the home of the Dallas Cowboys, seven riders in the 450SX Championship points standings were separated by just 17 points, with five different winners in the previous six rounds.
Photos by BrownDog Wilson
Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence was the only one with two wins until Arlington, and his third-place finish at the last round in Glendale two weeks ago moved him into a narrow six-point lead, displacing Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton, who says that he is still dealing with a bone bruise on his hand but feels like it is improving.
Despite a tumble in a sand section that would claim more victims throughout the night, Lawrence topped the combined qualifying chart over Sexton and was leading laps in the main, looking as if he had his third win in the bag. Then it all changed when Lawrence was separated from his bike in a crash and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb got past for his second win of the 450SX season.
Cooper Webb (2) captured an important second win of the season at Texas.
The 250SX East riders were in Arlington looking for redemption in round two of the 250SX East Coast Regional Championship, as a chaotic start in the main event of the season opener in Detroit earlier this month took many of the championship favorites out of contention. The riders managed to avoid a first-turn pileup in Arlington, but there were several who took hard landings, including Austin Forkner who had a nasty get-off while leading in the main, giving Haiden Deegan the chance to take his first career Supercross victory.
Main Events
450SX Main
A rutted-out and deteriorating track combined with a tricky jump combination and a mushy sand section that claimed multiple riders throughout the day set the scene for plenty of drama throughout the day.
In heat one, Aaron “The Cowboy” Plessinger got the holeshot with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac nipping at the tire of his Red Bull Factory Racing KTM. The two stayed together, swapping places on a rutted track, until Tomac made his move in the whoops. As they exited the whoops, Plessinger was forced to slow for Ty Masterpool’s Kawasaki that was laying on its side on the track, and he couldn’t catch Tomac—who has yet to get a win this season—in time for the checkers.
Lawrence holeshotted in heat two, with the Monster Energy Kawasaki of Jason Anderson and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha of Cooper Webb close behind. Webb was able to sneak into the lead, then was passed by Anderson in the whoops. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Malcolm Stewart got into the mix and led for a while at the end, but Lawrence got through to finish first.
In the main, Lawrence was out front first taking another holeshot, followed by Webb, but Lawrence started to take off. In the second corner of the first lap, Anderson went down along with other riders, including Justin Barcia, who earlier led the LCQ from start to finish.
Tomac also hit the deck after losing the front end after a triple while fighting for sixth with Smartop MotoConcepts Honda’s Vince Friese; Tomac remounted but dropped down the ranks to 16th place.
Lawrence looked to be on cruise control and stretched the gap to around four seconds over Webb. Plessinger, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton fought for the second, third, and fourth spots.
Friese moved to fifth and when Ken Roczen went to pass him, they made contact and Roczen went down, taking Stewart with him. The crashed riders resulted in Phoenix Racing Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis hitting the deck and forcing Sexton and other riders to take evasive maneuvers. While the downed and displaced riders collected themselves up and regrouped, the front four took off, leaving Friese by himself in fifth.
But Friese was not lonely for long, and he came under attack by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper and Sexton, who both got around him.
Meanwhile, Tomac wasn’t letting 16th place bother him and used it as motivation to pick his way through the field, and he managed to get around teammate Justin Cooper into sixth place, and then, soon after, passed Sexton for fifth.
Eli Tomac (3) showed signs of the Eli Tomac of old as he came through the pack to take second.
Plessinger took over third from Hunter Lawrence on lap six while leader Jett Lawrence was growing the gap from the pack.
With six laps remaining in the race, Tomac was still hungry for more and was able to get around Hunter for fourth, and then he set his sights on Plessinger. After following Plessinger for about two laps, he pulled the trigger and made the pass stick for third place.
“Hunter was riding an awesome race, and then out of nowhere, I see the number three come through,” Plessinger said. “I’m like, ‘Dang, I got to latch on or something because this dude’s going fast.’ And I knew Hunter was right behind me. I just kept it on two [wheels] and it was just a really, really good race. My heart rate was through the roof, and I was trying with everything I had to get back by Eli, but he was in ‘beast mode’ as they call it.”
Aaron Plessinger (7) had another strong outing and finished out the night on the podium.
Meanwhile, Jett Lawrence had his Honda on cruise control with his four-second lead over Webb.
Then Jett surprised everyone and brought the crowd to their feet when he crashed.
“The bike was feeling great, I was feeling good, and yeah, just got caught off guard,” he said. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail, and I ended up nailing that Tuff Block. Just a little mistake, almost saved it, but got back up, bars were bent, but we still had some fuel in the tank, and I tried going after Cooper.”
Jett scrambled to remount quickly, but Webb was right there and rapidly took over the front with just a minute and a half left on the clock.
Jett Lawrence (18) seemed to have the race won, before crashing on his own.
Jett did his best to retake first but ran into the back of a lapper, Friese, which then let Tomac, who was a man on a mission, slide through to the second-place position.
“I was trying my heart out, out there,” Tomac said. “I made such a frustrating mistake over-jumping the triple there [early in the race]. I just tucked my front end and lost my hand off the grip. I’m sick of people calling me the old guy, so I’m just warming up; I’m getting better; I’m coming, so I’m ready to get going. Yeah, second will do for tonight.”
When it was all said and done, Webb took the top spot on the box, Tomac second, Aaron Plessinger third, and brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence rounded out the top five.
“Obviously, I got a little bit of a handout [when Jett crashed], but, man, I just kept pushing my laps [and] was trying to stay as close as I could to Jett,” Webb said. “The track got tough, especially over where he fell; it was hard to get that rhythm. And I just saw him down, I’m like, ‘Oh, man.’ What a ride! I’m pumped. I got to give it up to my team. I had a terrible day, lost a lot of confidence, and they came to me and told me, excuse my French, but I’m a bad mofo and to pull my head out of my [butt], and that’s exactly what I needed.
“Jett was riding incredible and, man, I just can’t believe it still. I’m in shock. Got to give it up to this place, it’s always good to me. I might as well just buy a suite here because I love this place.”
The top seven riders are now all within 20 points of each other in the 450SX points standings, with Webb’s 132 total points closing the gap to Jett Lawrence’s lead to a scant three points. Plessinger hangs onto third in the points with 128, just four points behind Webb and only a single point over fourth-placed Chase Sexton. Tomac’s “beast mode” ride into second place boosts him up from seventh to fifth in the points standings, and his 122 points is only 13 down from the leader and still very tight to Anderson’s 118 and Roczen’s 116.
450SX Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Cooper Webb |
(Yam) |
27 Laps |
| 2. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
+02.968 |
| 3. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
+04.884 |
| 4. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
+07.903 |
| 5. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
+18.303 |
| 6. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
+20.259 |
| 7. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
+21.737 |
| 8. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
+25.964 |
| 9. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
+27.651 |
| 10. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
+48.480 |
250SX Main
In the second round of the 250SX East Region Championship, several of the championship hopefuls were looking to gain some points after a pileup in the first corner at the season opener in Detroit earlier this month put them at the lower end of the leaderboard.
Deegan found that redemption and went on to take his first career supercross victory. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Cameron McAdoo secured second place, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle, whose day started off in the wrong direction when he crashed hard in practice, rebounded in the main, where the two-time MX2 World Champion charged to a first career Supercross podium in the third position.
Yes, this sounds a little odd, but the 2023 AMA SuperMotocross World Champion in the 250cc class, Haiden Deegan, nabbed his first career 250cc Supercross win in Texas.
Austin Forkner, who won the Detroit opener over Max Anstie and Daxton Bennick, set the early fast laps in qualifying with his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250, but his teammate, Seth Hammaker, who topped the combined qualifying, ended the night with fourth in the main.
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Cameron McAdoo looked strong in Q1 and Q2, but he was one of several victims of a sand section and washed out the front end in the second session. He remounted to claim fifth in Q2 and earned a seventh-place start in the main.
Deegan on his Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha was quick in the early sessions, finishing Q1 on top, and had a fifth-place start in the main. Deegan took the holeshot in the main, with teammate Nick Romano breathing down his neck.
They were followed by Forkner, who snuck past both Romano and Deegan in the whoops section.
Cameron McAdoo took runner-up honors in 250SX.
Triumph had a night to forget, with Evan Ferry ruled out of the Arlington Supercross following a fall during the event’s press day on Friday that injured his shoulder and Jalek Swoll suffering a heavy crash in the main.
Swoll, who was fifth in the first 250SX heat race and had a decent start in the main, made contact with FirePower Honda Racing’s Max Anstie just after the first lap, and Swoll and his Triumph TF 250-X took flight over the Tuff Blocks, landing hard on the concrete off the track.
The medics were with him for quite some time, and he was eventually assisted to his feet and carted off in the medic Mule for evaluation.
“I spun off the gate [at the start of the main], which put me midpack, but, honestly, I]felt really good and loose, ready to battle,” Swoll said on social media. “Unfortunately, me and Max hit right on the take-off, I felt I had a wheel on him going into the pocket. Just a race incident.”
Forkner held his lead for 16 laps in front of Deegan and his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammates Seth Hammaker and McAdoo, while Romano was hanging onto fifth.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle eventually took over fifth place, and as McAdoo and Hammaker traded places back and forth in front of him, Vialle capitalized on their feud, and was able to get around Hammaker.
Tom Vialle got his first 250cc podium in Supercross.
Deegan and Forkner put some distance from McAdoo, and the front two raced each other. At one point, Deegan made some small but critical mistakes, and it was enough to give over the lead to Forkner, who grew it into a two-second gap.
But it all went horribly wrong for Forkner after a bumpy landing off a tabletop ejected him off his bike, and he and the KX250 cartwheeled over the Tuff Blocks onto the concrete, in practically the same spot that Swoll went down.
The medics attended to Forkner and eventually he was able to stand with their help. He looked to be in excruciating pain as they carted him away.
Austin Forkner (64) was off and running when he suffered an ugly crash that will again leave him sidelined for a while.
Deegan went on to take the win by seven seconds, and he celebrated his first career Supercross victory by jumping off his bike and letting it roll down the track, just like his pops, Brian Deegan, did when he landed his first Supercross victory.
“I am so amped right now,” Deegan said. “My first career win in Supercross, this is unreal…. Obviously, man, that’s terrible to see Austin, [he was] ripping, and to see that happen is sad, man. I wanted to fight for this with him, man. I wanted to go back and forth and bang bars this season. But it’s racing, and the pressure, you know, it gets to you. This is a very, very technical track. And I watched the heat race back and I saw Austin making several mistakes, and I was like, I mean, I made mistakes myself, but I was like, ‘If I clean up my riding and [can put on the] pressure, it’s any man’s race…’ I just had good flow around the whole track, and yeah, all I can say is: Welcome to the danger zone, baby!”
Deegan mimicked his dad’s infamous “ghost ride” after winning the 250SX East main. However, it was not quite as dramatic as Brian’s.
McAdoo secured second place, and Tom Vialle, who had a big crash in qualifying, was third.
“I think I had something to prove after last weekend, and I’m hoping this one gives me a little bit better press than last weekend did,” said McAdoo. “But yeah, I’m happy to get the heat win, second place [in the main and] recoup some points. I’m thinking about Austin, too, I’m not sure how he is right now but I know he was on the side of the track for a while, so hopefully the best for him, he’s had a tough road.”
Coty Schock is tied for third place with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha rider Daxton Bennick.
With such a deep field in the 250SX East division, it’s exciting to see a rider in the top three after two rounds that you might not expect. Coty Schock of Dover, Delaware, of the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Team, who rides a Yamaha, is tied for third place with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha rider Daxton Bennick. “We are, as you can imagine, proud of this kid,” said ClubMX PR Manager Michael Bonacci.
Hammaker and Brown were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Anstie took over the points standings from Forkner with his sixth place in Arlington. Brown is now second in overall in points, Daxton Bennick and Coty Schock are tied for third in the championship, and Deegan is holding down fourth. Just seven points separate first through fifth in the championship.
The next stop for the 450SX and 250SX East classes is in Daytona, March 2.CN
250SX Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
21 Laps |
| 2. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
+07.113 |
| 3. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
+09.645 |
| 4. |
Seth Hammaker |
(Kaw) |
+11.042 |
| 5. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
+12.855 |
| 6. |
Max Anstie |
(Hon) |
+13.897 |
| 7. |
Chance Hymas |
(Hon) |
+23.927 |
| 8. |
Coty Schock |
(Yam) |
+27.284 |
| 9. |
Guillem Farres |
(Hus) |
+28.925 |
| 10. |
Daxton Bennick |
(Yam) |
+34.683 |
Qualifying
450SX
Seven riders in the 450SX Championship points standings are separated by just 17 points coming into the seventh round at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A third-place finish at the last round in Glendale two weeks ago moved Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence into a six-point lead, displacing Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton, who says that he is still dealing with a bone bruise on his hand but feels that it is improving. The pair topped qualifying, with Jett Lawrence at the top of the chart above Sexton.
Photos by BrownDog Wilson
Jett (pictured above), who crashed in a sandy section earlier in Qualifying—with Dean Wilson and Ken Roczen (pictured below) laying their bikes down in the same spot right afterward—recovered to tick off the best combined qualifying time of 43.770.
Ken Roczen finished in eighth with combined Qualifying time of 44.685.
Chase Sexton was second in combined qualifying time of 44.262, and Justin Cooper, who said “consistency is going to be key tonight,” finished next with the other Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing YZ450F belonging to Eli Tomac (pictured), who has yet to get a win this season.
Smartop MotoConcepts Racing’s Mitchell Oldenburg and teammate Carson Mumford in their first 450SX season after moving up from 250SX put down some impressive early qualifying laps in Arlington Q1, placing first and third, respectively, with Justin Cooper sandwiched between them in second. By the end of Qualifying, Cooper was third, Oldenburg netted a ninth and Mumford a 13th.
Ryan Breece, who swept the Reno Arenacross doubleheader February 13 and is within single digits of the AMA Arenacross Championship points lead, came out to Texas to race his Invictus Speed Crew Yamaha YZ450F and placed 21st.
Grant Harlan was absent from the first five rounds of the 2024 season after a lengthy recovery from pelvis injury sustained at the 2023 Motocross of Nations, but showed up for his hometown race in Arlington on the Gizmo Mods Rock River Racing Yamaha Yamaha YZ450F.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Christian Craig, currently 15th in Championship points standings, opted to skip Arlington SX due to re-aggravating an ongoing elbow injury and will now seek further medical advice.
450SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
43.770 |
| 2. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
44.262 |
| 3. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
44.280 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
44.357 |
| 5. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
44.382 |
| 6. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
44.529 |
| 7. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
44.599 |
| 8. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
44.685 |
| 9. |
Mitchell Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
44.845 |
| 10. |
Justin Hill |
(KTM) |
45.266 |
250SX East
The 250SX riders were all vying for a good gate pick and some hoping for redemption, as Arlington’s first corner is similar in layout to the 250SX East Coast Regional Championship season opener in Detroit earlier this month, where the 250SX riders fell like dominoes and ruined the hopes for many of the championship’s favorites.
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Seth Hammaker topped the 250SX combined Qualifying over the red-plate-KX250 of Austin Forkner.
Austin Forkner (pictured), who won the opener in Detroit, set the early fast laps with his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250, but teammate Seth Hammaker edged in front with a combined lap time of 45.216 over Forkner’s 45.284. Pierce Brown brought his Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas in for third.
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Cameron Mcadoo (pictured) looked strong in Q1 and Q2, but he was one of several victims of a sand section and washed out the front end. He remounted to claim fifth in Q2, for a combined lap time of 46.342 putting him in seventh.
FirePower Honda’s Max Anstie (pictured) and Team Honda’s Chance Hymas rounded out the top five of combined Qualifying.
Haiden Deegan looked strong in Q1, topping the leaderboard, and finished eighth with combined 46.351 time.
Triumph Racing’s Evan Ferry was ruled out of the Arlington following a fall during the event’s press day (yesterday) on Friday. The Supercross rookie fell during press day resulting in an injury to his right shoulder. Initially, Evan and the team were hopeful that he would be able to compete in the event, but following medical examinations, it became clear that he was unable to take part in today’s proceedings.
250SX East Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Seth Hammaker |
(Kaw) |
45.216 |
| 2. |
Austin Forkner |
(Kaw) |
45.284 |
| 3. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
45.416 |
| 4. |
Max Anstie |
(Hon) |
45.582 |
| 5. |
Chance Hymas |
(Hon) |
45.705 |
| 6. |
Guillem Farres |
(Hus) |
45.831 |
| 7. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
46.342 |
| 8. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
46.351 |
| 9. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
46.396 |
| 10. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Tri) |
46.430 |
