2020 Atlanta Supercross Results

Steve Cox | February 29, 2020

Everything was going great for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac coming into the Atlanta Supercross, the halfway point of the 2020 Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series. He had just taken over the points standings a couple races ago and won the Arlington Supercross last weekend with a 5-1-1 score in the Triple Crown event. Then, today in Atlanta, he qualified on top for the first time this season, and then got the holeshot in his heat race and won it with ease.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Ken Roczen took his third win of the year at Atlanta and is now tied atop the points standings. PHOTO: ROB KOY

But in the main event, things started to go horribly wrong for Tomac. Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen got the holeshot and Tomac didn’t get a good start, and as he fought his way forward, he rushed to the inside of Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Blake Baggett and took them both down in a left-hand turn. This effectively eliminated Baggett from the race, and Tomac got back going in 15th. Even after remounting, Tomac wasn’t making up time very fast. He was still 11th at the race’s halfway point while Roczen was running away with it out front.

Behind Roczen at the halfway point was Team Tedder/Monster Energy KTM’s Martin Davalos, followed by Motoconcepts/Smartop/Bullfrog Spas Honda’s Justin Hill and his teammate Vince Friese, and then Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia. Barcia started outside the top 10, just as he had in previous weeks, and was charging forward, as usual. Behind Barcia at this point was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson, his teammate Dean Wilson, defending champ and world’s toughest racer Cooper Webb, Barcia’s teammate Aaron Plessinger, Roczen’s teammate Justin Brayton, and Tomac.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Justin Barcia charged through the field to finish second in Atlanta. PHOTO: ROB KOY

It got wild in the last half of the race, as Barcia went by the two Motoconcepts racers, then shot past Davalos and into second. Red Bull KTM’s Webb had Tomac latched onto his rear fender in the closing laps as Webb towed Tomac by Hill, and then they both went by Davalos, only for Tomac to come up just short of passing Webb at the finish.

Roczen won the race over Barcia, Webb, Tomac, Davalos and the rest of the field. Anderson went down on the last lap while running 7th and ended up 11th.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Even after his massive crash a week ago in Texas, Cooper Webb fought through the field to finish third and gain ground in the championship. PHOTO: ROB KOY

With 8 rounds left to run, the championship is tied at the top, with Roczen and Tomac both on 200 points. Remarkably, Webb has gained ground despite racing with a massive hematoma on his back/sacrum. He started the night 26 points out of the lead, and now he’s 24 points out. Barcia started the night 27 points out of the lead and is now just 23 points out.

Potentially bad news for the competition, though: Next weekend is the Daytona Supercross, and Tomac has won that race 3 of the last 4 years.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Chase Sexton won his second 250SX East round in a row. PHOTO: ROB KOY

The 250SX East main event was far less eventful than the 450SX main in Atlanta. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire got the start and was quickly joined up front by GEICO Honda’s defending series champ Chase Sexton and Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Shane McElrath. McElrath actually passed Sexton for second momentarily early in the race, but Sexton and Hampshire began to distance themselves from the field early, and just before the halfway point, Sexton saw his chance to strike and took it. They slammed together for a moment, but nobody went down, and Sexton took off with the lead, and the win.

Hampshire ended with a season-best second place, while McElrath hung on for third.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
RJ Hampshire finished a strong second place in Atlanta. PHOTO: ROB KOY

GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin took a major hit to his championship hopes while running fourth when Hampshire knocked a Tuff Block out into the track, which Martin landed on and went down, damaging his motorcycle and leaving him to finish 19th.

Sexton now holds a 5-point lead in the championship chase with six rounds left to run.

The series resumes next Saturday in Florida at the Daytona International Speedway.

2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Atlanta, Georgia
RACE RESULTS: February 29, 2020 (Round 9)

450SX Main Event:

1. Ken Roczen Hon
2. Justin Barcia Yam
3. Cooper Webb KTM
4. Eli Tomac Kaw
5. Martin Davalos KTM
6. Justin Hill Hon
7. Aaron Plessinger Yam
8. Malcolm Stewart Hon
9. Vince Friese Hon
10. Dean Wilson Hus
11. Jason Anderson Hus
12. Justin Brayton Hon
13. Benny Bloss Yam
14. Tyler Bowers Kaw
15. Chad Reed Hon
16. Kyle Chisholm Yam
17. Adam Enticknap Suz
18. Daniel Herrlein KTM
19. Blake Baggett KTM
20. James Weeks Yam
21. Kyle Cunningham Suz
22. Ryan Breece Suz

 

250SX Main Event:

1. Chase Sexton Hon
2. RJ Hampshire Hus
3. Shane McElrath Yam
4. Jordon Smith Kaw
5. Jo Shimoda Hon
6. Enzo Lopes Yam
7. Garrett Marchbanks Kaw
8. Nick Gaines Yam
9. Jalek Swoll Hus
10. Josh Hill Yam
11. Cedric Soubeyras Hus
12. Jordan Bailey Hon
13. Jimmy Decotis Suz
14. Kevin Moranz KTM
15. Hunter Sayles KTM
16. Justin Starling Hon
17. Pierce Brown KTM
18. Grant Harlan Hon
19. Jeremy Martin Hon
20. Luke Neese Hon
21. Curren Thurman KTM
22. Lance Kobusch KTM

 

450SX Points Standings:

1. Eli Tomac 200/4 wins
2. Ken Roczen 200/3 wins
3. Justin Barcia 177/1 win
4. Cooper Webb 176/1 win
5. Jason Anderson 151
6. Malcolm Stewart 137
7. Adam Cianciarulo 128
8. Justin Hill 127
9. Justin Brayton 116
10. Dean Wilson 113
11. Blake Baggett 108
12. Aaron Plessinger 108
13. Zach Osborne 105
14. Vince Friese 96
15. Martin Davalos 83
16. Tyler Bowers 58
17. Chad Reed 39
18. Kyle Chisholm 36
19. Ryan Breece 26
20. Justin Bogle 24

 

250SX East Points Standings:

1. Chase Sexton 75/2 wins
2. Shane McElrath 70/1 win
3. RJ Hampshire 61
4. Garrett Marchbanks 53
5. Jordon Smith 47
6. Jeremy Martin 44
7. Jo Shimoda 44
8. Josh Hill 41
9. Enzo Lopes 36
10. Joey Crown 31
11. Jordan Bailey 29
12. Jalek Swoll 28
13. Nick Gaines 24
14. Jimmy Decotis 24
15. Cedric Soubeyras 22
16. John Short 19
17. Kyle Peters 17
18. Jace Owen 17
19. Kevin Moranz 13
20. Hunter Sayles 13

QUALIFYING REPORT

The Atlanta Supercross—the middle point of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Series—is proving to be somewhat of a simple track, although the dirt itself may end up making the track more and more technical as the night goes on.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
The halfway point in the series marked the first time points leader Eli Tomac has managed to top daytime qualifying. PHOTO: ROB KOY

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac topped daytime qualifying today for the first time all year, having qualified 2nd at every round prior to Atlanta (behind now-injured teammate Adam Cianciarulo at the first 7 races, and then behind Justin Hill last Saturday in Texas). He leads Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen in the championship by 7 points heading into tonight’s race inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Roczen qualified 2nd for tonight’s race, about 2 tenths of a second behind Tomac, while Motoconcepts/Bullfrog Spas/Smartop Honda’s Justin Hill came in 3rd another 4 tenths back, but 1 thousandth of a second in front of Rockstar

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Cooper Webb is beat up and sore from his huge crash last week in Arlington, for certain, but he’s racing in Atlanta. He qualified 7th. PHOTO: ROB KOY

After his incredibly gnarly crash last week in Arlington, some were surprised to see Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb back on the track in Atlanta, but the one thing Webb isn’t is a quitter. As long as he’s physically capable of doing it, he’s going to fight to defend his 2019 title. He’s 26 points back—exactly one full race worth of points—and there are still 9 rounds left to run. He qualified 7th for tonight’s race with a 51.222, just behind Anderson’s teammate Dean Wilson in fifth and Hill’s teammate Malcolm Stewart in sixth. Just behind Webb came Monster Energy Yamaha’s Justin Barcia—only one point behind Webb in the championship chase—and then Team Tedder/Monster Energy KTM’s Martin Davalos and Roczen’s teammate Justin Brayton.

Mountain Motorsports/cbdMD Honda’s Chad Reed qualified the best he has all year tonight in 13th, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne is sitting out Atlanta, and likely a few more races, after a big crash while practicing during the week left him with a broken rib, bruised lungs, and a sprained wrist.

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Chase Sexton qualified way out in front of the rest of the 250SX class. PHOTO: ROB KOY

And in the 250SX East, we’ve had a different top qualifier in all three rounds so far. At round one, it was GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin on top (he qualified 6th tonight in Atlanta), and then at round two it was Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Shane McElrath. Tonight, it was round-two winner Chase Sexton, also on a GEICO Honda, who put his motorcycle on top during daytime qualifying with a blistering 50.406. Sexton was the only 250SX racer with a time in the 50-second range.

McElrath qualified second with a 51.043, and then the rest of the field was significantly off of the pace of the top two.

Third in qualifying went to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire with a 51.835, which means that not only was Sexton over a half-second faster than second place in qualifying, but his time was almost 1.5 seconds faster than third place!

2020 Atlanta Supercross Results
Pierce Brown is making his supercross debut in Atlanta and qualified 4th for the night show. PHOTO: ROB KOY

Fourth place in qualifying went to TLD/Red Bull KTM rookie Pierce Brown. Brown was injured at the start of the series and missed the first two rounds of the 250SX East, but he put in a great time in qualifying. Something to consider, though, is that Brown qualified through the ‘B’ practice/qualifying session, which means he was on a slightly better-groomed, smoother race track than the three racers who qualified in front of him, and the 11 racers who qualified next-in-line behind him. Brown’s time came on the third lap of his second qualifying session, whereas most of the top times in the ‘A’ group came late in their session. We will see how it pans out once the gate drops this afternoon.

Racing kicks off at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific, so tune in on NBC Sports if you’re not close enough to go buy a ticket and take in the action first-hand.

2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Atlanta, Georgia
QUALIFYING RESULTS: February 29, 2020 (Round 9)

450SX Combined Qualifying Results

1. Eli Tomac Kaw 50.294
2. Ken Roczen Hon 50.514
3. Justin Hill Hon 50.921
4. Jason Anderson Hus 50.922
5. Dean Wilson Hus 51.089
6. Malcolm Stewart Hon 51.141
7. Cooper Webb KTM 51.222
8. Justin Barcia Yam 51.282
9. Martin Davalos KTM 51.302
10. Justin Brayton Hon 51.452
11. Blake Baggett KTM 51.776
12. Aaron Plessinger Yam 51.788
13. Chad Reed Hon 51.867
14. Tyler Bowers Kaw 52.110
15. Vince Friese Hon 52.193
16. Benny Bloss Yam 52.216
17. Alex Ray Kaw 52.281
18. Kyle Cunningham Suz 52.336
19. Adam Enticknap Suz 52.354
20. Ryan Breece Suz 52.768

250SX East Combined Qualifying Results

1. Chase Sexton Hon 50.406
2. Shane McElrath Yam 51.043
3. RJ Hampshire Hus 51.835
4. Pierce Brown KTM 51.948
5. Garrett Marchbanks Kaw 51.955
6. Jeremy Martin Hon 51.988
7. Jordon Smith Kaw 52.205
8. Jimmy Decotis Suz 52.227
9. Nick Gaines Yam 52.391
10. Cedric Soubeyras Hus 52.626
11. Josh Hill Hon 52.689
12. Enzo Lopes Yam 52.740
13. Jalek Swoll Hus 52.833
14. Jo Shimoda Hon 52.886
15. Jordan Bailey Hon 52.907
16. Justin Starling Hon 52.941
17. Jerry Robin Hon 53.027
18. Jeremy Hand Hon 53.072
19. Hunter Sayles KTM 53.358
20. John Short Hon 53.375

 

2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Schedule

Round 1 January 4 Anaheim, California
Round 2 January 11 St. Louis, Missouri
Round 3 January 18 Anaheim, California
Round 4 January 25 Glendale, Arizona
Round 5 February 1 Oakland, California
Round 6 February 8 San Diego, California
Round 7 February 15 Tampa, Florida
Round 8 February 22 Arlington (Dallas), Texas
Round 9 February 29 Atlanta, Georgia
Round 10 March 7 Daytona, Florida
Round 11 March 14 Indianapolis, Indiana
Round 12 March 21 Detroit, Michigan
Round 13 March 28 Seattle, Washington
Round 14 April 4 Denver, Colorado
Round 15 April 18 Foxborough, Massachusetts
Round 16 April 25 Las Vegas, Nevada
Round 17 May 2 Salt Lake City, Utah

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