But from a “where does Rossi land now” standpoint, suddenly, he has multiple spots that could make sense in theory.
In no particular order:
The No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Rossi had a seat fit with the team last year and as he’s documented, was close to agreeing to a deal with the team before the last minute save to his European career came from Racing Engineering in GP2. It’s certainly possible Rossi could land here; however, with Coyne an expert at keeping his cards close to the vest and with multiple drivers in the frame for the second seat in what could be either a single driver or ride-share situation, it’s not at all guaranteed.
The No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet (road and street courses). Another workable puzzle piece here. If ECR needs a driver with some budget for the road and street course races to complement team owner and driver Carpenter, who races the oval events, Rossi could be the guy. He’s said previously that he’s not a big fan of ovals (see this 2013 F1 Fanatic article for more), citing the risk being too high. Carpenter wants to keep this car on the grid full-time and this could be a solution.
The No. 98 Andretti Autosport (formerly BHA) Honda. There’s no immediate linkage to this Honda team as there was with Coyne, but given it’s an Andretti entry, it’s a possible race-winner at nearly every event (not that Coyne and Carpenter aren’t, but this should be more regularly in contention).
Manor’s WEC Oreca 05 Nissan. Remember Graeme Lowdon and John Booth? Their new adventure was revealed two weeks ago for the FIA World Endurance Championship, a Manor Oreca 05 Nissan in LMP2, and they’ll have recently worked with Rossi in F1 last year. Tor Graves is that team’s only confirmed driver. Rossi has sporadic sports car experience, having driven at Le Mans in 2013 and Daytona a year later.
He could also land somewhere else in sports cars but if I were a betting man, I’d expect one of these four options to be a place we see Rossi in 2016, and given the below tweet it could be announced sooner rather than later.
Chase Sexton stumbled in San Diego and Eli Tomac had a hard fall in Anaheim 2, but the Monster Energy Supercross numbers for Houston suggest they will continue to be the ones to beat in Houston. To do so, they will have to turn back challenges from another pair of riders who have swept the top five in the first three rounds and another with a worst finish of sixth.Cooper Webb’s ability to close races makes him a Houston favorite. – Feld Motor Sports
Despite an accident in his heat in San Diego that sent him to the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), Sexton recovered to score a top-five that weekend. His podium finish in Anaheim 1 and overall win last week in Anaheim 2 makes him one of the three riders with a perfect top-five record. He is joined by Cooper Webb, who finished second in the first two rounds and fourth last week, and Ken Roczen, whose consistency in the first three races contributed to him grabbing the top spot in this week’s NBC Supercross Power Rankings.
There are reasons to believe Webb and Roczen can keep those streaks alive.
Webb is the only multiple winner at Supercross’ current Houston stadium. His pair of wins came in 2019 and 2021, the same year he won his two 450 championships.
Clinton Fowler points out this week, that Webb has carried that strength into 2023. Webb had a late surge in Anaheim 1, advancing from fifth to second in the final six laps. In San Diego, he set his ninth fastest lap with two to go and his eighth fastest on the final lap. He posted his fastest lap of Anaheim 2 on Lap 12 while the rest of the field did so on Lap 6 on average.
By comparison, Tomac set his 14th fastest lap on the final circuit in route to winning the Main at San Diego while he was trying to keep Webb at bay.
With a sixth at San Diego, Dylan Ferrandis barely missed sweeping the top five in his first three races as did Tomac with a sixth last week at Anaheim 2.
This will be the 46th year Supercross has visited Houston and with 55 races the city is tied for the second-most with Detroit.
Jim Pomeroy won the first race in the Astrodome during the inaugural season of 1974 on a 250, which was the premiere class at the time. Houston was one of three races held that year along with events at Daytona International Speedway and the Los Angeles Coliseum. All three venues return in 2023 with the first SuperMotocross championship finale returning to the famed LA Coliseum in September.
Webb won most recently in 2021 in the final race of three held there that year as the series executed a strategy of racing in residencies to limit travel during height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tomac and Justin Barcia also won in Houston in 2021.
Two privateers have started the season on a high note.
Joshua Cartwright and Joshua Varize have each made the last two Mains. Cartwright finished 18th in San Diego and 21st last week in Anaheim 2 – all while working fulltime as a Business Intelligence Analyst at the University of Texas, Dallas. Varize earned a top-15 (12th) in San Diego and was 21st in Anaheim 2 in his third season on a 450.
Michael Mosiman scored his first 250 win last year in San Diego. – Feld Motor Sports
The numbers show none of the active 250 Supercross East riders have won in Houston, so no matter who steps on top of the box, there is going to be a fresh face. That is not surprising since most of the top competitors have not raced at this venue yet.
Michael Mosiman has a pair of top-fives there, however. His best finish was a second in the second 2021 race. Garrett Marchbanks scored a top-10 in his rookie season of 2019 in Houston.
In the 250 East division, Hunter Lawrence is one of the favorites to win the title now that Christian Craig has moved to 450s. Last year he had four wins and nine podiums, but failed to set a fast lap in a race.
Jeremy Martin will attempt to extend a record this week in Houston. His division leading SuperMotocross podiums number 65. He has 26 wins in the combined sessions, which ranks fourth all time.
Last Five Houston Winners
450s 2022, no race
2021, Race 3: Cooper Webb
2021, Race 2: Eli Tomac
2021, Race 1: Justin Barcia
2020, no race
2019, Cooper Webb
2018, Jason Anderson
250s 2022, no race
2021, Race 3: Colt Nichols
2021, Race 2: Jett Lawrence
2021, Race 1: Christian Craig
2020, no race
2019, Dylan Ferrandis
2018, Aaron Plessinger
