Round 11 of the Supercross season in Indianapolis may have been the last opportunity for the three challengers to catch points leader Cooper Webb. Marvin Musquin took that to heart, grabbed the holeshot and led all 26 laps on his way to his first victory of the season.
As he clicked his heels together flying over the finish line, he shaved five points off Webb’s lead, but more importantly, he served notice that Webb could be beaten.
Musquin’s win came with a comfortable lead over Blake Baggett.
Baggett put heavy pressure on Musquin with 5 minutes remaining, but that in turn allowed Webb to catch up. Once he was forced to look over his shoulder, Baggett faded.
By his recent standards, Webb struggled in the first half of the race, falling back to fourth after stalling his bike.
He recovered to finish third and minimize the damage to Musquin while adding two points over fourth-place Eli Tomac.
For Tomac this was a moral victory, however; it is the first time in the last six weeks that he backed up a win with a top-five finish.
Webb’s day wasn’t exactly clean. With 7 minutes remaining, he missed a corner, cross-rutted, shortened the course, and landed on a tough block. It whipped his bike around and allowed him to make a pass over Tomac (riding third at the time).
In his first race back after being sidelined by a concussion, Justin Barcia rounded out the top five. This was Barcia’s first top-five finish since he won the season opener at Anaheim I.
Complete Results
Points Standings
When he was asked earlier in the season how he could beat Austin Forkner, Chase Sexton said by keeping the pressure on to force a mistake. That’s hard to do from 7 seconds back, which is where Sexton was by Lap 10.
Forkner grabbed an early advantage, settled into a comfortable position on the track and never worried one minute about the rest of the field. As he has done all year long, Forkner made winning look easy as he grabbed his fifth trophy of the year.
Sexton finished second and saw the Forkner’s points lead extend to one full race of 26 points.
Justin Cooper rounded out the podium.
Mitchell Oldenburg was looking for his first podium of the season after welcoming a new son into the world this week. He held onto that spot until the clock ran to zero and was passed by Cooper on the final lap. Oldenburg missed the podium, but tied for a season-best finish.
Martin Davalos got around Kyle Peters at the end of the race to grab fifth.
Complete Results
Points Standings
450 Heat 1: All of the championship contenders were in Heat 1 with the exception of Cooper Webb, but it was Dean Wilson that grabbed the heat win. … The challengers wound up second through fourth with Marvin Musquin, Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac all getting great gate positions. … Mike Alessi grabbed the holeshot, but got into the tough blocks on the opening lap and fell to 18th; he could get back to only 13th and had to move into the LCQ.
450 Heat 2: Blake Baggett took the early lead over Cooper Webb, but the points leader would not be denied. When Baggett came up short in the rhythm section and could not execute a triple jump, it allowed Webb to get around. … Baggett refused to go away and closed to within three-tenths of a second with one minute left on the clock. … With the clock at zero, the rider of the No. 4 bobbled and handed second over to Joey Savatgy … Baggett held on to finish third.
450 Last Chance Qualifier: Mike Alessi did not waste his good start in the LCQ. He fell in his heat after getting the holeshot, but he maintained his lead from the holeshot in the semi and held Ben Lamay at bay. Kyle Chisholm and Adam Enticknap finished third and fourth to advance to the Main. … This is Enticknap’s first Main of the season. … Carlen Gardner started hopping through the whoops while running third on the opening lap. He fell to the back of the pack and failed to advance.
250 Heat 1: Chase Sexton fell back to third on the opening lap, regained his momentum and mounted a charge to grab the lead by Lap 4. He held on to secure his first heat win of the season. … He beat Mitchell Oldenburg by 2.215 seconds with Alex Martin a little more than two seconds further back.
250 Heat 2: After Austin Forkner went down on the opening lap, the battle for the win heated up with dramatic three-manbattle for the lead. ... With time off the clock, Martin Davalos and Justin Cooper swapped the lead on the final lap. Cooper got back to the checkers first with Davalos in second. … Kyle Peters rounded out the top three. … Forkner was on his way to grabbing the holeshot, but he took a jump while turning and went down hard. Lane Shaw ran over the top of him. Forkner climbed back on his bike 17th, 16 seconds down to the leaders. He was ninth in the final transfer with two minutes left on the clock. Forkner finished fifth.
250 Last Chance Qualifier: Lane Shaw took the lead from Kevin Moranz on Lap 3 and settled into a comfortable running position. He won the LCQ by 1.817 seconds over Moranz. … Isaac Teasdale and Cade Autenreith swapped third and fourth in the closing laps, but both advanced to the Main. … Steven Clarke finished fifth and was the first rider on the outside looking in.
Points Leaders
450s
Cooper Webb (243) (5 wins)
Marvin Musquin (229) (1 win)
Eli Tomac (222) (3 wins)
Ken Roczen (216)
Blake Baggett (184) (1 win)
250s West
Adam Cianciarulo (140 points) (4 wins)
Dylan Ferrandis (125)
Shane McElrath (123) (1)
Colt Nichols (120) (1)
RJ Hampshire (86)
250s East
Austin Forkner (151 points) (5 wins)
Chase Sexton (125)
Justin Cooper (123)
Alex Martin (92)
Martin Davalos (89)
Top 5s
450 top 5s
Ken Roczen: 9
Marvin Musquin: 9
Cooper Webb: 9
Eli Tomac: 8
Blake Baggett: 7
Joey Savatgy: 3
Dean Wilson: 2
Chad Reed: 2
Justin Barcia: 2
Jason Anderson: 1
Justin Bogle: 1
Justin Brayton: 1
Aaron Plessinger: 1
250 West top 5s
Adam Cianciarulo: 6
Shane McElrath: 5
Colt Nichols: 4
Dylan Ferrandis: 4
RJ Hampshire: 3
James Decotis: 2
Jacob Hayes: 1
Garrett Marchbanks: 1
Jess Pettis: 1
250 East top 5s
Austin Forkner: 6
Justin Cooper: 6
Chase Sexton: 6
Jordon Smith: 3
Martin Davalos: 3
Alex Martin: 2
Mitchell Oldenburg: 2
Next race: March 23, CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Wa.
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