Midnight has struck with Cooper Webb standing at the top of the staircase. It was a remarkable season for the Monster Energy Supercross champion that began with him only casually mentioned as a contender, continued on past his first 450 victory - and finally ended during a week when practically all he needed to do was start to clinch the title.
And do you know what? It doesn’t mean a thing now. The clock resets for the first Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship round of the year - the Hangtown Motocross Classic, in Rancho Cordova, California.
The sport’s top riders are out of the confines of stadiums and ready to meander through nature for the outdoor season. And that, folks, has been Eli Tomac’s turf for the past two years.
Coming off back to back 450MX championships, Tomac dominated the start of the 2017 and 2018 motocross seasons. He’s won the opening round in each of the past two years, and last year, he rattled off five consecutive wins after ending the Supercross season in much the same fashion as he did this year.
Marvin Musquin managed to keep Tomac in sight for most of the 2018 season and lost the battle by 16 points after ending the year with eight consecutive podium finishes. Tomac’s eight wins in 12 rounds did not allow much room for another winner, but Musquin took Southwick, Red Bud and Unadilla in the closing rounds.
Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia ended last year third and fourth in the standings with only one point between them, so the battle is going to be strong throughout the field.
Blake Baggett rounded out the top five, with Cooper Webb a distant ninth. Then again, Webb did not have the momentum of a national championship pushing him out of the gate. Now that he’s learned to win, it will be difficult to count him out.
Schedule:
Qualifiers: 1:15 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold
Race: Live, 4 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Gold (Moto 1) and 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN (Moto 2)
May 4 - 2019 Supercross season finale
450SX: Eli Tomac won the Supercross season finale over Marvin Musquin and Cooper Webb.
250SX: Dylan Ferrandis beat RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo in the final East/West Shootout of the year.
2018 - Hangtown MX Classic
450MX: Eli Tomac got the season started right with a win over Marvin Musquin and Justin Barcia. Tomac won both Motos en route to the overall victory.
250MX: Zach Osborne won both Motos to beat Jeremy Martin (second in both) and Aaron Plessinger.
SX Winners
450:
[7] Cooper Webb (Anaheim II, Oakland, Minneapolis, Arlington, Atlanta, Houston, East Rutherford)
[6] Eli Tomac (San Diego, Detroit, Daytona, Nashville, Denver, Las Vegas)
[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)
[3] Dylan Ferrandis (Seattle, Houston and Las Vegas)
[1] Colt Nichols (Anaheim I)
[1] Shane McElrath (Anaheim II)
250 East:
[5] Austin Forkner (Minneapolis, Arlington, Detroit, Daytona and Indianapolis)
[1] Chase Sexton (East Rutherford)
[1] Martin Davalos (Nashville)