Denver Supercross Preview: And then there were three - MotorSportsTalk

And then there were three.

Three rounds remain in the 2019 Supercross season and Cooper Webb’s lead is looking safer every week. Marvin Musquin’s modest sixth-place finish in Nashville dropped him 21 points behind Webb while Eli Tomac surged to his fourth victory and is currently tied for second in the standings. With 26 points available to the winner, Webb is closing in on a full-race cushion.

Webb’s magic number is slightly better than fourth. If Tomac manages to sweep the final three races and Webb finished fourth each time, Tomac would tie the points and win the championship on a tie-breaker. If Webb finishes third in one of the final three races and fourth in the others, he will be the champion.

But Tomac has a slight advantage this week. Heading to the Mile High City, the Colorado native is most accustomed to the elevation and anyone who has ever tried to exercise this close to the clouds knows what a difference that can make.

The championship is also coming down to three contenders: Ken Roczen’s eighth-place finish last week virtually eliminates him from contention as he needs to make up 14 points on Webb while leapfrogging Tomac and Musquin.

Justin Barcia announced this week that he will miss the remainder of the season in order to completely heal before the start of the Motocross season (May 18, Hagerstown). Suffering a variety of injuries before crashing in Seattle and Houston, he hit a Tuff Block last week and failed to finish the Main.

Barcia will be replaced with Josh Grant in the final three rounds.

In 250s, Dylan Ferrandis has won back-to-back races in Seattle and Houston to cut Adam Cianciarulo’s lead to just five points.

As and added incentive to keep his points lead, Cianciarulo has come up on the losing end of two six-closest losses in 250 competition. He finished second to Aaron Plessinger in the West division in 2018 and was runner-up to Zach Osborne in the East in 2017. Both margins of victory were only two points.

MORE: The Supercross 250 season is coming down to the wire

Schedule:

Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. on NBC Sports, Gold
Race: Live, 7:30 p.m. on NBC Sports, Gold and 8 p.m. NBCSN

Last Week:

Eli Tomac rode to victory over Blake Baggett and Cooper Webb.
In 250s, Martin Davalos became the first rider other than Austin Forkner to win an East race this year. He beat Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper.

Last Year:

This is the first Supercross event in Denver since 1996.

Winners

450s:
[6] Cooper Webb (Anaheim II, Oakland, Minneapolis, Arlington, Atlanta, and Houston)
[4] Eli Tomac (San Diego, Detroit, Daytona and Nashville)
[2] Marvin Musquin (Indianapolis and Seattle)
[1] Justin Barcia (Anaheim I)
[1] Blake Baggett (Glendale)

250 West:
[4] Adam Cianciarulo (Glendale, Oakland, San Diego and Atlanta)
[2] Dylan Ferrandis (Seattle and Houston)
[1] Colt Nichols (Anaheim I)
[1] Shane McElrath (Anaheim II)

250 East:
[5] Austin Forkner (Minneapolis, Arlington, Detroit, Daytona and Indianapolis)
[1] Martin Davalos (Nashville)

Top-5s

450s:
Cooper Webb (12)
Marvin Musquin (11)
Eli Tomac (11)
Ken Roczen (10)
Blake Baggett (8)
Joey Savatgy (4)
Dean Wilson (4)
Chad Reed (2)
Justin Barcia (2)
Jason Anderson (1)
Justin Bogle (1)
Justin Brayton (1)
Aaron Plessinger (1)
Cole Seely (1)
Zach Osborne (1)

250 West:
Adam Cianciarulo (8)
Dylan Ferrandis (6)
Shane McElrath (5)
Colt Nichols (5)
RJ Hampshire (4)
James Decotis (4)
Jacob Hayes (1)
Garrett Marchbanks (1)
Jess Pettis (1)
Michael Mosiman (1)
Chris Blose (1)

250 East:
Justin Cooper (7)
Chase Sexton (7)
Austin Forkner (6)
Martin Davalos (4)
Jordon Smith (3)
Alex Martin (2)
Mitchell Oldenburg (2)
Kyle Peters (1)
Brandon Hartranft (1)

Points Leaders

450s:
Cooper Webb (309)
Eli Tomac (288)
Marvin Musquin (288)
Ken Roczen (267)
Blake Baggett (238)

250 West:
Adam Cianciarulo (182)
Dylan Ferrandis (177)
Colt Nichols (142)
RJ Hampshire (126)
Shane McElrath (123)

250 East:
Austin Forkner (151)
Chase Sexton (148)
Justin Cooper (144)
Martin Davalos (115)
Mitchell Oldenburg (105)

Follow Dan Beaver on Twitter

DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

JOSEF’S FAMILY TIES: Newgarden wins Indy 500 with wisdom of father, wife

“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

New texts alert sound just dropped.@josefnewgarden| @EmpireStateBldg pic.twitter.com/YWLpS9UWrN

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 31, 2023

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”