Chase Sexton Retains Red Plate After Tampa Crash, 450SX Championship Shakeup
Round 5 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, was one for the record books with a first-career win for the Floridian Malcolm Stewart on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team. In the battle for the championship, however, there were some shakeups.
The championship points leader, #4 Chase Sexton of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, looked strong all day in Tampa. He topped the qualifying charts, won Heat 2, and carried that momentum into the main event by grabbing the holeshot. Sexton led three-quarters of the race and appeared to be on his way to victory until a crash at the end of the whoop section on lap 18, with the pressure of Stewart behind, forced him to surrender the lead.
He quickly remounted in second, but the crash had damaged his front brake and throttle, making the bike difficult to control. With no choice but to nurse it home, he focused on salvaging points and ultimately finished fifth on the night.
"Not the way I wanted to end my night after a good day in Tampa. I was solid all day and qualified fastest, but on a bad lap in the Main Event I went down in the whoops while leading and damaged my front brake and throttle, so basically just had to salvage what I could, limping it home to finish out the race – not an ideal way to finish out the weekend. We'll get to work again this week and come out swinging at Detroit." - Chase Sexton.
Progressive Insurance / ECSTAR Suzuki's Ken Roczen was 2nd in points leading into Tampa. During the main event, he had an incident threading the needle between two lappers in the sand section, crashing hard. A bent rear sprocket from the collision caused the chain to come off, forcing him to retire from the race and finish 21st on the night.
Roczen escaped injury but dropped to fourth in the standings, now 18 points behind the leader.
'It was an unfortunate situation that happened in the main event in Tampa,' said Roczen. 'It's a long season though, so we are going to put this behind us and focus on the next race in Detroit.'
As Roczen's championship hopes took a hit, Eli Tomac also faced adversity in Tampa.
Tomac, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, was third in the championship ahead of Tampa and only a few points back from the lead. He looked good throughout the timed qualifying sessions earlier in the day until a dab on the ground with his left foot exiting a rutted corner, causing a lower leg injury. He fought hard through the night with the nagging injury, grabbing some points in the main event by placing 17th.
Tomac now sits 5th in the championship standings, 21 points behind Sexton. In the press release from Yamaha, Tomac stated, 'It was a tough day in Tampa. I caught my leg underneath the foot peg on a jump during qualifying, and sprained the top of my ankle and bruised my lower leg. I'm going to do everything possible to get back on the line in Detroit.'
The one rider who capitalized on the front runner's mishaps in the championship battle from Tampa is Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Cooper Webb, who gained five points and jumped from 4th in points coming in, to 2nd in the standings from his charge from the back to a 2nd place on the night.
'Overall, it was a good day. I was able to qualify second, won the heat race, and finished second in the main. I just made a mistake on the start, got some wheel spin, and was buried. I made a good charge through the pack and was picking guys off. I'm just a little bit bummed because I felt like I was coming through with Malcolm (Stewart), and then I was making some mistakes, lost the tow, and the lappers kind of interfered. Overall, it was a good points night and a good second-place finish. We'll take the points, get better, and move on to Detroit.' - Cooper Webb.
Jason Anderson of Monster Energy Kawasaki had a good main event, finishing third in Tampa. The #21 machine has three podiums in five rounds and is now third in the points standings ahead of Detroit. Coming into Tampa, Anderson sat 6th in points and climbed to 3rd by the night's end.
'Tonight I was more likely to be a fifth-place guy. I was figuring out my rhythm through the whoops, but was dealing with some arm pump that dropped me back a little. I hung in there and I was able to pass Chase [Sexton] at the end for third so that was good. This class was tough and you never know what can happen. Being able to get three podiums so far in the season and being third in points is nice. I definitely want to keep moving further up and it would be nice to have more of these nights where I feel super comfortable and can make a charge for the win' - Jason Anderson.
With the crash and the 5th-place finish on the night, the #4 will continue onto Detroit this Saturday at Ford Field with the red plate and a five-point buffer between him and Webb.
Related: How to Watch: Detroit Supercross | Track Map: Detroit Supercross | Race Recap: Tampa Supercross | Tampa Supercross Results
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