Cooper Webb proved he is the real deal by winning his third race in the last four rounds of the 2019 Supercross season. Webb patiently chased Joey Savatgy for 15 laps and then pulled away from the field as the battle shifted to second place.
“Last weekend I made that mistake and crashed and didn’t get a great result,” Webb said on NBCSN after the race. “I was bummed to lose the red plate after just one race, but we’re getting close as you can see.”
Webb had ample reason to be psyched about his finish. He won his first career race just four weeks ago and has emerged as the hottest rider on the circuit. He is now part of one of the closest points battles in history with four riders sitting only two points apart.
What an incredible night for @CooperWebb_2 🔥 #DropTheGate #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/KnvO6Qj0gS
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 10, 2019
After losing the lead on Lap 15, Savatgy was immediately under attack from Ken Roczen. It took Roczen another five laps to get up to the runner-up position. With his second-place finish, Roczen is the only rider to sweep the top five this year. His strong run in Minneapolis allowed him to snatch the red plate from Eli Tomac.
Marvin Musquin snapped his streak of three consecutive second-place finishes with a third at Minneapolis.
Rookie Savatgy posted the fastest time in qualification and was looking to score his best result of the year. He crossed under the checkers fourth, bettering his seventh at San Diego.
Justin Brayton rounded out the top five.
The points leader entering the race, Tomac had a horrible start. Mired outside the top 15 on Lap 1, it took 10 laps to simply crack the top 10. He slowly climbed the grid and finished just outside the top five in sixth. It was this first time his year that he failed to score a top five.
Tomac’s struggles made the points battle razor thin. Roczen hold a one-point advantage over Webb with Tomac and Musquin two points back in third and fourth.
Blake Baggett was running fourth late in the race before he landed on his front wheel with 2:30 remaining. He failed to finish four laps from the end and was credited with a 21st-place finish.
Complete Results
Points Standings
250s
Butterflies abounded in the first of nine round of the 250 East class. One rider who was not effected by the winged insect was Austin Forkner. He jumped out to an early lead and kept a 10 second advantage through most of the race. With such a huge lead to his credit, Forkner rode a safe last lap and beat the field to the checkers by six seconds.
Jordon Smith finished second after an eventful night. He had a rear tire go flat before the gate drop. “I had time for about one deep breath before we took off,” Smith said on NBCSN after the race. “And off we were.”
That may have thrown Smith off his rhythm because he laid his bike down midway through the race when he bogged in loose dirt while in the runner-up spot. Smith fell to fourth, but charged back.
Justin Cooper stood on the final step of the podium in third.
Chase Sexton finished fourth after an adventurous race. He mistimed a jump and went down on the same lap that saw the Smith crash.
Mitchell Oldenburg rounded out the top five.
Blake Wharton was another rider with issues. He ran off course and dropped. His bike was not as quick to hit the dirt and smashed into his head.
Complete Results
Points Standings
450 Heat 1: Cooper Webb took the lead on Lap 2 and beat Eli Tomac to the line. … Ken Roczen rounded out the top three and finished within a little more than two seconds behind the winner. … Aaron Plessinger was a distant fourth almost nine seconds behind.
450 Heat 2: Justin Brayton won his second heat of 2019 over Justin Barcia and fast qualifier Joey Savatgy. … Justin Bogle led two laps before missing a shift and allowing Brayton to take the lead with Marvin Musquin in tow. Bogle finished fourth. … A pair of mistakes for Musquin as time ran off the clock dropped him to fourth and then Musquin dropped his bike on the plus one lap; he fell all the way to eighth at the end, but advanced without needing to race through the LCQ.
450 Last Chance Qualifier: Cheyenne Harmon made his second feature of the season by beating a charging AJ Catanzaro by 1.5 seconds; Catanzaro advanced to the Main for the first time this year. Casey Brennan and Daniel Herrlein rounded out the transfer positions and will also race in their first 2019 feature.
250 Heat 1: Jordon Smith won the first East race of 2019 by more than three seconds over Alex Martin and Justin Cooper.
250 Heat 2: After setting fast time in qualification, Austin Forkner grabbed the holeshot and ran away from the field. He beat Mitchell Oldenburg by nearly 13 seconds. Blake Wharton rounded out the top three. … Chase Sexton jumped off course and lost a battle with the tough blocks on Lap 1. He moved up to 11th before he ran across the back wheel of Lorenzo Locurcio. Sexton moved up to eighth at the end; Locurcio remained in 10th.
250 Last Chance Qualifier: Joshua Osby got to the front early and remained there to win the LCQ. … That was good news because chaos erupted behind him: Samuel Redman had a big off while running in the final transfer spot, handing the lead to Joey Crown, who immediately flew off the track. On the same lap, Lane Shaw tried and failed to make an aggressive pass. He went down and was rolled over by several other riders. … Lorenzo Lucurcio survived in second with Chase Marquier and Wilson Fleming also advancing.
Points Leaders
450s
Ken Roczen (125)
Cooper Webb (124) (3 wins)
Eli Tomac (123) (1 win)
Marvin Musquin (123)
Dean Wilson (95)
250s West
Adam Cianciarulo (114 points) (3 wins)
Shane McElrath (106) (1)
Colt Nichols (104) (1)
Dylan Ferrandis (102)
RJ Hampshire (75)
250s East
Austin Forkner (26 points) (1 win)
Jordon Smith (23)
Justin Cooper (21)
Alex Martin (19)
Chase Sexton (18)
450 top 5s
Ken Roczen: 6
Eli Tomac: 5
Marvin Musquin: 5
Cooper Webb: 4
Dean Wilson: 2
Blake Baggett: 2
Jason Anderson: 1
Justin Barcia: 1
Justin Bogle: 1
Chad Reed: 1
Joey Savatgy: 1
Justin Brayton: 1
250 West top 5s
Adam Cianciarulo: 5
Shane McElrath: 5
Colt Nichols: 4
RJ Hampshire: 3
Dylan Ferrandis: 3
James Decotis: 2
Jacob Hayes: 1
Garrett Marchbanks: 1
Jess Pettis: 1
250 West top 5s
Austin Forkner: 1
Jordon Smith: 1
Justin Cooper: 1
Alex Martin: 1
Chase Sexton: 1
Next race: February 16, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
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