The race for the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship is not over yet! But it came one pass from happening.
In order for Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) to clinch his first career 450SX title, he had to finish ahead of defending champ Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) and previous-round winner Ken Roczen (Honda HRC)—no easy task, especially after getting off to a near dead-last start. Tomac seems to like making life hard on himself.
Tomac, once again, had to come from behind to get on the podium but that wasn’t his goal tonight, it was to finish ahead of Roczen and Webb. He accomplished one of those goals by passing Roczen, but that was for third place. He needed to get around second-place Webb, who was chasing race-leader Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). As the laps wound down, both Webb and Tomac got around Osborne, and it was now an exciting race for the win and the championship.
Tomac made a run on Webb, but the stubborn KTM rider was not about to give up his title hopes just yet and managed to hold on to the lead and eventual win, prolonging the race for the championship for a few more days, until Sunday’s final race of the season.
Roczen, who ended up fourth behind winner Webb, Tomac and Osborne, is now officially out of the race for the championship; instead, he’s now battling for second, slipping back to third tonight behind Webb for the second time in two weeks.
Only one of two riders can win the 2020 450SX title now, Tomac or Webb, but Webb will need nothing short of a miracle for him to retain the number-one plate. He goes into the final Supercross race of the year this Sunday 22 points behind Tomac, and with only 26 points up for grabs, it doesn’t seem likely. But, who knows?
Osborne led the first 22 laps of the 29-lap race, giving way to both Webb and Tomac in one corner, but Osborne had room to spare to take third. It was his third podium since coming to Salt Lake City.
Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) rounded out the top five just two seconds behind Roczen. Justin Brayton (Honda HRC), Malcolm Stewart (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda), Martin Davalos (Monster Energy/Team Tedder/KTM), Justin Barcia (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Blake Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) completed the top 10.
Going into the final race Sunday there are a few interesting championship positions left to be decided besides the one for the number-one plate. Webb leads Roczen by six points for second place in the championship, and Barcia, who hasn’t performed well since arriving in Salt Lake City, is just five points ahead of Anderson in fourth. Stewart leads Osborne by seven points for sixth, and eighth-place Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and ninth-place Brayton are separated by just two points. The battle for 10th is close, as well. Justin Hill (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda) holds down that spot but by only four points over Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Yamaha).
The race for the 250SX East Championship opened up a bit. Going into tonight’s race, Chase Sexton (Geico Honda) held a three-point advantage of Shan McElrath (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha), and McElrath had a great chance to reduce it to zero after getting the early lead with Sexton holding down second. But Sexton was just too strong on this night. On the fifth lap of the 22-lap race, Sexton made an aggressive contact pass for the lead on McElrath, who later said it was a fair pass, and went on to take the win with three seconds to spare.
The win means Sexton now has some breathing room over McElrath going into the final round Sunday. But his six-point cushion will seem rather small when the West racers are mixed in with the traditional year-end 250SX East/West Shootout.
Colt Nichols, McElrath’s teammate, worked his way up from sixth to finish third and make it onto the podium.
Pierce Brown (Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM) and Jo Shimoda (Geico Honda) rounded out the top five. CN
2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship
Round 16 of 17
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Salt Lake City, Utah
Results: June 17, 2020
450SX Results
| 1. | Cooper Webb | (KTM) | 29 laps |
| 2. | Eli Tomac | (Kaw) | 02.214 |
| 3. | Zach Osborne | (Hus) | 05.291 |
| 4. | Ken Roczen | (Hon) | 05.888 |
| 5. | Jason Anderson | (Hus) | 07.744 |
| 6. | Justin Brayton | (Hon) | 21.078 |
| 7. | Malcolm Stewart | (Hon) | 22.491 |
| 8. | Martin Davalos | (KTM) | 24.906 |
| 9. | Justin Barcia | (Yam) | 26.242 |
| 10. | Blake Baggett | (KTM) | 27.859 |
250SX East Results
| 1. | Chase Sexton | (Hon) | 22 laps |
| 2. | Shane McElrath | (Yam) | 03.427 |
| 3. | Colt Nichols | (Yam) | 15.594 |
| 4. | Pierce Brown | (KTM) | 20.071 |
| 5. | Jo Shimoda | (Hon) | 21.560 |
| 6. | Kyle Peters | (Hon) | 21 laps |
| 7. | Enzo Lopes | (Yam) | 00.943 |
| 8. | Chris Blose | (Hon) | 10.547 |
| 9. | Lorenzo Locurcio | (Kaw) | 12.851 |
| 10. | Chase Marquier | (Hon) | 15.258 |
450SX Point Standings
| 1. | Eli Tomac | (Kaw) | 366/7 wins |
| 2. | Cooper Webb | (KTM) | 344/4 wins |
| 3. | Ken Roczen | (Hon) | 338/4 wins |
| 4. | Justin Barcia | (Yam) | 269 |
| 5. | Jason Anderson | (Hus) | 264 |
| 6. | Malcolm Stewart | (Hon) | 233 |
| 7. | Zach Osborne | (Hus) | 226 |
| 8. | Dean Wilson | (Hus) | 218 |
| 9. | Justin Brayton | (Hon) | 216 |
| 10. | Justin Hill | (Hon) | 199 |
250SX East Point Standings
| 1. | Chase Sexton | (Hon) | 192/4 wins |
| 2. | Shane McElrath | (Yam) | 186/3 wins |
| 3. | Garrett Marchbanks | (KTM) | 119/1 win |
| 4. | Joe Shimoda | (Hon) | 107 |
| 5. | Jeremy Martin | (Hon) | 105 |
| 6. | Jalek Swoll | (Hus) | 100 |
| 7. | Enzo Lopes | (Hon) | 97 |
| 8. | Peirce Brown | (KTM) | 92 |
| 9. | Kyle Peters | (Hon) | 86 |
| 10. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 80 |
Qualifying
Qualifying has just concluded at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the third straight Wednesday Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series round and the 16th of the 2020 season. Weather returned to the area and dropped rain on the track earlier in the day. The track crew opted not to cover the track but instead let the water soak in to hopefully provide a little bit of loam for this evening’s race. The sun has since come out through the clouds and, as of now, no rain is in the forecast for the rest of the day and night.
The track layout is similar to last Sunday’s with the outside start straight and a few flat turns. Top lap times are in the low-to-mid 40-second range.
There are seven 450SX riders in the 43-second bracket, and leading the group is Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson who suffered a tough DNF at the last race. Right behind Anderson is Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) who could clinch the championship tonight. Sunday’s winner Ken Roczen (Honda HRC) is third, followed by Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), defending champ Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Yamaha), and Benny Bloss (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM).
The 250SX East riders are back in action after a two-race break and defending champ Chase Sexton (Geico Honda) is more than a half-second quicker than the next-best rider Shane McElrath (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha), the closes rider to Sexton, the series points leader, in the championship. Just three points separate the two title contenders.
Colt Nichols (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha) is third, followed by Jo Shimoda (Geico Honda) and Pierce Brown (Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM).
Shimoda was impressive in qualifying, though he was shaken up in a big crash that saw him sit on the side of the track for a while before getting back on his feet.
Heat racing gets underway 5:05 P.M. local (MST).
450SX Qualifying
| 1. | Jason Anderson | (Hus) | 43.246 |
| 2. | Eli Tomac | (Kaw) | 43.539 |
| 3. | Ken Roczen | (Hon) | 43.553 |
| 4. | Dean Wilson | (Hus) | 43.797 |
| 5. | Cooper Webb | (KTM) | 43.804 |
| 6. | Aaron Plessinger | (Yam) | 43.814 |
| 7. | Benny Bloss | (KTM) | 43.976 |
| 8. | Zach Osborne | (Hus) | 44.070 |
| 9. | Justin Brayton | (Hon) | 44.339 |
| 10. | Martin Davalos | (KTM) | 44.369 |
250SX East Qualifying
| 1. | Chase Sexton | (Hon) | 43.673 |
| 2. | Shane McElrath | (Yam) | 44.287 |
| 3. | Colt Nichols | (Yam) | 44.765 |
| 4. | Jo Shimoda | (Hon) | 44.930 |
| 5. | Pierce Brown | (KTM) | 45.412 |
| 6. | Enzo Lopes | (Yam) | 45.708 |
| 7. | Justin Starling | (Hus) | 45.798 |
| 8. | Jalek Swoll | (Hus) | 45.972 |
| 9. | Kyle Peters | (Hon) | 46.189 |
| 10. | Chris Blose | (Hon) | 46.236 |
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Updated 2020 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 | May 31 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 12 | June 3 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 13 | June 7 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 14 | June 10 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 15 | June 14 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 16 | June 17 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Round 17 | June 21 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
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