Houston, Texas is the stage for round four of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and SuperMotocross World Championship. NRG Stadium marks the first time the series has been out of California and the championship points are starting to settle in. Today is also the first Triple Crown race of the year as well as being the second round of SMX Next. Stay tuned for all the action from today.
450 CLASS
All three main events brought the heat tonight with Ken Roczen starting race one with a win. Roczen is always one to watch in the shortened mains and it’s no surprise to see him grab the win to start off the night. Chase Sexton hung tough for second with Eli Tomac rounding out the podium in third. Hunter Lawrence crashed out of his position in race one and is making things hard on himself right off the start.
Race two saw the fireworks with Hunter Lawrence making up for his crash in race one. The Honda HRC rider started second and stalked the early leader Jorge Prado for the first 10 laps. Lawrence finally made the move and finished the main in first after 17 laps. After his crash in race one, he’s back in the hunt for the overall.
Cooper Webb jumped to second at the checkers. The reigning number-one had some serious speed towards the end of the race and passed Prado in quick succession behind Hunter Lawrence. Webb’s 4-2 give him six points heading into race three. Prado held on for third after grabbing the holeshot and leading the first half of the race.
Big news from race two was Eli Tomac’s huge get off through the rhythm section while running sixth. He bailed off the bike but remounted unscathed and finished 13th. Tomac was in the mix with Roczen and Justin Cooper but the big crash will likely hinder his overall score.
Tomac fired back in the final race of the night with the holeshot and the win. He battled shortly with Jason Anderson for the race lead but Tomac reclaimed the top spot and ran away with the win by over seconds. Even with the win, Tomac’s scores of 3-13-1 put him fourth on the night. Tomac still leads the points standings by four over Hunter Lawrence.
Hunter Lawrence rode his way to second in race three and second overall. The main two winner was in the running for the night’s win but Cooper and Roczen’s results played against his hand. Lawrence couldn’t track down Tomac in end but he still held on for second overall with 7-1-2 scores. He technically tied on points with Roczen but got the tie breaker and now jumps to second in the championship.
Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen went at it for third and fourth on track with the overall win hanging in the balance. Webb’s pass on Roczen put him just one point ahead in the overall rankings with Roczen and Lawrence sitting tied for second. Roczen stayed close but wasn’t able to respond, giving Webb the edge for the night. This marks Webb’s first win of the season and he moves to fifth in the championship.
450SMX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 4-3-2 |
| 2. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 7-1-2 |
| 3. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 1-5-4 |
| 4. | Eli Tomac | (KTM) | 3-13-1 |
| 5. | Chase Sexton | (Kaw) | 2-9-6 |
| 6. | Jason Anderson | (Suz) | 6-7-5 |
| 7. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 5-3-11 |
| 8. | Malcolm Stewart | (Hus) | 8-6-10 |
| 9. | Justin Cooper | (Yam) | 9-4-12 |
| 10. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 11-10-7 |
250 CLASS
Haiden Deegan swept the night in the 250 class, going 1-1-1 on the night. Deegan clicked off a perfect day, qualifying fastest and winning every gate drop. He battled briefly with Levi Kitchen in the first two mains and held off his Yamaha teammate Max Anstie in the final race of the night. Deegan made it look easy and now leads the championship by 19 points.
Levi Kitchen took second overall with 2-2-3 finishes. The Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider bounced back after a DNF last weekend and rode strong in the first two main events. He duked it out with Deegan in race one and later had his hands full with his teammate Cameron McAdoo. Even with a third in race three, Kitchen’s scores earned him second on the night.
Cameron McAdoo finished third overall thanks to 3-3-4 scores. He made it two Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s on the overall podium and battled his teammate Kitchen in the final race.
250SMX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 1-1-1 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 2-2-3 |
| 3. | Cameron McAdoo | (Kaw) | 3-3-4 |
| 4. | Max Vohland | (Yam) | 5-4-6 |
| 5. | Ryder DiFrancesco | (Hus) | 6-5-5 |
| 6. | Max Anstie | (Yam) | 10-6-2 |
| 7. | Hunter Yoder | (Yam) | 8-7-7 |
| 8. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 4-14-8 |
| 9. | Parker Ross | (Yam) | 9-8-9 |
| 10. | Carson Mumford | (KTM) | 7-9-15 |
QUALIFYING
Eli Tomac is back on top here in Texas as the points leader once again set the fastest lap in qualifying. Tomac and his KTM seem to be a match made in heaven as his time was quicker than second place by nearly half a second. Last week’s winner Chase Sexton qualified second just one-tenth clear of Hunter Lawrence in third. To put it in perspective, second through 14th place were all on the 47-second mark. That’s close.
450SMX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Eli Tomac | (KTM) | 46.684 |
| 2. | Chase Sexton | (Kaw) | 47.097 |
| 3. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 47.176 |
| 4. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 47.211 |
| 5. | Justin Cooper | (Yam) | 47.245 |
| 6. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 47.292 |
| 7. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 47.364 |
| 8. | Jason Anderson | (Suz) | 47.522 |
| 9. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 47.705 |
| 10. | Malcolm Stewart | (Hus) | 47.734 |
250 QUALIFYING
Points leader Haiden Deegan set the pace here in Houston with the fastest time of any 250 rider. He was just two-tenths faster than Levi Kitchen who returns today after DNF’ing last weekend’s round three. Ryder DiFrancesco rounded out the top three and is looking good after another podium one week ago. Where was Chance Hymas? The Honda HRC rider suffered an injury to his shoulder during the first turn at A2 and is out for the rest of the Supercross season.
250SMX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 47.554 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 47.745 |
| 3. | Ryder Difrancesco | (Hus) | 47.790 |
| 4. | Max Anstie | (Yam) | 48.072 |
| 5. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 48.337 |
| 6. | Cameron McAdoo | (Kaw) | 48.568 |
| 7. | Hunter Yoder | (Yam) | 48.995 |
| 8. | Carson Mumford | (KTM) | 49.081 |
| 9. | Max Vohland | (Yam) | 49.095 |
| 10. | Dilan Schwartz | (Yam) | 49.129 |
