Ryan Nitzen | February 18, 2023
Oakland is back on! After being rescheduled due to rain, the Supercross series returns to Oakland for round six of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. The series is still calling this round two of the series so just roll with it. This means the West Coast 250SX riders return to action tonight while the 450SX class is as tight as ever.
After two suspenseful races on a very tough track, fans saw Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac take their respective main event wins.
450SX
The 450SX main event looked like a near carbon copy of last weekend as Chase Sexton grabbed the holeshot and took off with the early lead. All of the players were right behind him as Webb, Tomac, Roczen, and Anderson tailed closely.
Sexton looked to put his Tampa mistakes behind him and easily led up until lap 12. Then just after the finish line he make a critical mistake and was thrown from the motorcycle. He remounted quickly but Tomac managed to slip past for the lead. Sexton continued in second place but fell to third late in the race as Webb passed him through the whoops.
Once Tomac took over the lead it was game over for the rest of the field. He rode smart in the opening half of the race and capitalized on Sexton’s mistake. From there it was smooth sailing until the last lap where he went off track and nearly gave up the win. Tomac held on and took the victory, just under a second over Webb. With this win Tomac ties Ricky Carmichael for third on the all time wins list.
Cooper Webb maintained his momentum from last week as he clawed his way through the field. Webb got off to a slow start but improved as the race wore on. He managed to pass Sexton late in the race and then set his sights on the leader Tomac. Webb uncorked a new line through the final rhythm in the last laps and closed the gap to under a second behind Tomac. He was unable to make the pass and finished 0.8 seconds behind.
450SX Results (Top 10)
1. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
19 Laps |
2. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
+00.881 |
3. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
+13.251 |
4. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
+17.136 |
5. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
+21.830 |
6. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
+23.205 |
7. |
Christian Craig |
(Hus) |
+30.146 |
8. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Kaw) |
+32.643 |
9. |
Colt Nichols |
(Hon) |
+33.370 |
10. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
+42.159 |
250SX
Another exciting gate drop for the 250SX main event as the top three contenders all started at the front of the field. RJ Hampshire kicked things off by leading the first few laps and took advantage of having Cameron Mcadoo and Jett Lawrence behind him in the opening stages. Hampshire eventually fell and handed the lead over to Jett Lawrence, but the Husqvarna rider held on for second. He is still nursing a shoulder injury from A2 and says he debated even racing here tonight.
Jett Lawrence didn’t look too comfortable in the opening laps as he started third and made a handful of mistakes right away. He used patience and eventually passed Mcadoo for second before he was gifted the lead from Hampshire. Once Jett got into the top spot he continued to check out, winning by 16 seconds and further extend his points lead.
Mcadoo started up front with the rest of the crew and held tough for the entire main. He ran third for most of the race found himself in a battle with Pierce Brown towards the end of the main. The two exchanged block passes with Mcadoo ultimately putting Brown on the ground after the first whoop section. After a brutal crash at Anaheim 2, Mcadoo has to be proud with another podium finish.
250SX West Results (Top 10)
1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
15 Laps |
2. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
+16.160 |
3. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
+22.128 |
4. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Yam) |
+27.805 |
5. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
+30.314 |
6. |
Enzo Lopes |
(Yam) |
+30.715 |
7. |
Max Vohland |
(KTM) |
+44.461 |
8. |
Mitchell Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
+45.872 |
9. |
Cole Thompson |
(Yam) |
+1:04.947 |
10. |
Mitchell Harrison |
(GG) |
14 Laps |
Qualifying
450SX
The track tonight is longer than the past few weekends (baseball stadium versus football stadium). That didn’t seem to matter though as Chase Sexton set the fastest time for the fourth week in a row. Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac followed the 23 in closely but Sexton was the only rider in the 1:05 range. Last week’s winner, Cooper Webb, was back in fifth.
Full Results
450SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
1. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
1:05.771 |
2. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
1:06.210 |
3. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
1:06.593 |
4. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
1:07.284 |
5. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
1:07.316 |
6. |
Christian Craig |
(Hus) |
1:07.473 |
7. |
Colt Nichols |
(Hon) |
1:07.867 |
8. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
1:08.376 |
9. |
Benny Bloss |
(Yam) |
1:08.390 |
10. |
Dean Wilson |
(Hon) |
1:08.486 |
250SX West
With the West Coast back in full swing its no surprise to see Jett Lawrence on top of the qualifying charts. RJ Hampshire and Cameron Mcadoo clocked second and third respectively. Jett was the only 250 rider in the 1:06’s.
250SX West Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
1:06.470 |
2. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
1:07.211 |
3. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
1:07.372 |
4. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Yam) |
1:07.402 |
5. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
1:07.969 |
6. |
Matt Moss |
(Suz) |
1:08.139 |
7. |
Enzo Lopes |
(Yam) |
1:08.602 |
8. |
Derek Kelley |
(KTM) |
1:08.899 |
9. |
Mitchell Oldenburg |
(Hon) |
1:09.018 |
10. |
Cole Thompson |
(Yam) |
1:09.139 |
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