Two races remain in the 2019 Supercross season and the handwriting is on the wall. Cooper Webb’s magic number is now five; all he needs to do in the final two races is finish fifth or better. Since he has finished worse than that only twice this year - and not since Week 5 in San Diego - it’s a fair assumption that he will keep his momentum alive through the end of the season.
Webb’s competition is not going to let up, however. Last week in Denver, Eli Tomac won his second consecutive race after Webb got off to a slow start. There was a glimmer of hope while Webb was outside the top five on Lap 1, but the points leader meticulously picked off the competition and settled into second. Third in the standings, Marvin Musquin finished third to keep his title hopes alive as well.
But this is Supercross. Anything can happen. Just two weeks ago in the 250 class, Austin Forkner tweaked a knee and failed to start the Feature in Nashville. His one-race cushion evaporated in an instant and his advantage over the field is only three points with two races remaining in that division.
After battling his way back into contention with back-to-back top-five finishes at Houston and Nashville, Dean Wilson crashed in Denver and injured his shoulder and kidneys. He’ll miss the final two races of the season.
Two weeks ago at Nashville, Tyler Enticknap and Ronnie Stewart crashed hard and will be missing from the New Jersey lineup.
In 250s, it took an injury for the field to catch up to Forkner. He’ll be back in competition this week and forced to answer the question of whether he is in full form after undergoing therapy on his knee for the past three weeks. Since none of the 250 East riders have beaten him on the track, the answer would seem to be a simple one.
But now the competition senses weakness which is likely to be compounded by Forkner’s propensity to struggle in practice and qualification. Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper have been racking up top-fives, but now they need to step up and win. If either rider can do that this week in New Jersey or next week in the East/West Showdown in Vegas, that should allow him to snatch the championship away from 2019’s dominator.
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Schedule:
Qualifying: 11 a.m. on NBC Sports, Gold
Race: Live, 5 p.m. on NBC Sports, Gold and NBCSN
Last Week:
Eli Tomac scored his second consecutive victory at Denver over Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin.
In 250s, Adam Cianciarulo beat Dylan Ferrandis and Colt Nichols.
Last Year:
New Jersey was not on the schedule in 2018. In 2017, Ryan Dungey beat Marvin Musquin and Jason Anderson.
In 250s, Zach Osborne beat Dylan Ferrandis and Adam Cianciarulo.
Winners
450s:
[6] Cooper Webb (Anaheim II, Oakland, Minneapolis, Arlington, Atlanta, and Houston)
[5] Eli Tomac (San Diego, Detroit, Daytona, Nashville and Denver)
[2] Marvin Musquin (Indianapolis and Seattle)
[1] Justin Barcia (Anaheim I)
[1] Blake Baggett (Glendale)
250 West:
[5] Adam Cianciarulo (Glendale, Oakland, San Diego, Atlanta and Denver)
[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 (13)
Marvin Musquin (12)
Eli Tomac (12)
Ken Roczen (10)
Blake Baggett (8)
Joey Savatgy (5)
Dean Wilson (4)
Chad Reed (2)
Justin Barcia (2)
Justin Bogle (2)
Jason Anderson (1)
Justin Brayton (1)
Aaron Plessinger (1)
Cole Seely (1)
Zach Osborne (1)
250 West:
Adam Cianciarulo (9)
Dylan Ferrandis (7)
Colt Nichols (6)
Shane McElrath (5)
RJ Hampshire (5)
James Decotis (4)
Jacob Hayes (1)
Garrett Marchbanks (1)
Jess Pettis (1)
Michael Mosiman (1)
Chris Blose (1)
Michael Mosiman (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 (332)
Eli Tomac (314)
Marvin Musquin (309)
Ken Roczen (283)
Blake Baggett (255)
250 West:
Adam Cianciarulo (208)
Dylan Ferrandis (200)
Colt Nichols (163)
RJ Hampshire (145)
James Decotis (128)
Cameron McAdoo (128)
250 East:
Austin Forkner (151)
Chase Sexton (148)
Justin Cooper (144)
Martin Davalos (115)
Mitchell Oldenburg (105)