Cooper Webb wins Supercross Round 10 at Arlington, takes points lead from Ken Roczen

By Mar 14, 2021, 1:02 AM EST
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Cooper Webb took the lead on Lap 1 of Monster Energy Supercross Round 10 in Arlington, Texas and never looked back as he won his fourth race of the 2021 season and took the points lead from Ken Roczen.

An aggressive move by Webb on the first lap of last week’s race drew the ire of Roczen at Daytona. On Saturday night, Roczen never came close to silencing Webb as he scored fifth consecutive finish of second or better.

Roczen hoped to rattle the 2019 champion when he said that Webb was afraid of him. Instead, Webb used it as motivation to run away with the win.

“I love that [expletive]; it gets me going,” Webb said in the post-race press conference after the race. “It was a good week for that and we made the most of it. It is what it is obviously, and these times with Instagram and everything, you are able to see a bunch.

“It creates a good story for sure. I love it and I feed off it.”

POINTS, RESULTS: All the postrace statistics from Round 10 in Supercross

In fact, Roczen was silenced early. He was racing for third in his heat race when he crashed and lost an opportunity to start the Main with a good starting position.

Roczen fell out of the top five in that race and ultimately finished seventh, which forced him to pick his gate after all the good slots were taken. His best option in terms of his relative position to Webb had a deep rut in front of it, which caused Roczen to get a slow start.

Roczen slipped sideways on the start and watched other riders surge ahead. Roczen was 11th at the end of Lap 1. He rebounded to finish sixth, but that cost him nine points to Webb. Roczen entered Round 10 of the Supercross season with a two-point advantage and left with seven-point deficit.

It was not the way Roczen wanted his 100th Main event to unfold. He has not stood on the podium in three straight races.

“Start position was key here tonight and I really messed that up with the heat race,” Roczen told NBCSN after the race. “I went into (the Main) with a clean set of mind, but obviously didn’t get the start I wanted. And on this track in particular it was really difficult to make passes. It wasn’t really the night I was hoping for but we go back and we regroup.

“There’s lots of racing to go and one thing I’ve learned is you can’t be afraid of failing.”

Supercross Round 10
Cooper Webb’s fourth win of the season elevated him to the points lead. (Feld Entertainment, Inc./Align Media)

Justin Barcia settled into second early in the race.

“It was a good week leading up to this. I did a lot of testing with my team. Got me comfortable again. Tonight was very special for us. To charge into second was cool.”

After winning the opening round for the third consecutive year, Barcia struggled in two of his next three starts. He finished second at Indianapolis 2 and was 19th in the next round, but has now finished sixth or better in his last four attempts. Barcia ended the night fourth in the standings with last year’s champion Eli Tomac in sight.

Jason Anderson finished third. He had an eventful night that drew the attention of the Supercross series. Midway through the race it was announced they were looking into a couple of on track incidents when he aggressively rode Malcolm Stewart wide and contributed to a crash by Dylan Ferrandis.

“I’m just up there racing,” Anderson said afterward. “I just want to do good. I’ve been following those guys all year. I just want to be on the podium … I’m going for it and that is all there is to it.”

Anderson’s third-place finish was his first podium of the season.

Stewart attempted to retaliate for the on-track incident, but only succeeded in taking himself out of contention.

Chase Sexton also had a season-best at Arlington with his fourth-place finish.

He crashed out of Round 2 at Houston and was forced to sit out the next six events. Last week he returned to Daytona and finished eight.

Aaron Plessinger earned his first career podium at Daytona. He kept his momentum alive with a heat win and fifth-place finish in the Main.

Roczen ended the night sixth with Joey Savatgy in seventh.

Eli Tomac hoped to capitalize on last week’s Daytona win. But he also struggled in his heat. Like Roczen, a less than optimal gate pick mired him in the pack. After finishing Lap 1 in 14th, he was able to climb to eight at the checkers, but lost more ground in the points and trails Webb by 33 with seven events remaining.

Tomac is still mathematically in the running to defend last year’s championship, but realistically needs to win multiple times in the closing races.

Dean Wilson in ninth and Martin Davalos rounded out the top 10.

Marvin Musquin crashed in his heat with time running off the clock. Several riders had to pick there way between the rider and his bike at full speed. Musquin was unable to start the Last Chance Qualifier after getting stitches for a gash in his arm.

Supercross Round 10
An aggressive move by Cooper Webb on Dean Wilson on Lap 1 set the tone for Round 10. (Feld Entertainment, Inc./Align Media)

The 250s class had its second first time winner in as many weeks.

At Arlington, Seth Hammaker followed up last week’s inaugural win by teammate Cameron Mcadoo with one of his own.

“That was the longest race of my life,” Hammaker told NBCSN after the race. “Literally, every time I went past the flagger I was like, ‘Dude! Where is the white flag. What are you doing. Let’s get it over with.’ I was just trying to hit my lines steady, clean.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little tired out there, but I’m super stoked to get this win.”

 

Hunter Lawrence scored a career-best second.

“I am super pumped,” Lawrence said. “Second is a good building block for us from where we were six months ago.

“Even two months ago, we were happy to be top five. That was the goal, so to be here at the third round, we are super pumped.”

Mcadoo held onto his points lead with his third-place finish. He battled Justin Cooper over the last several laps as the the two championship leaders swapped position.

“That was a hard-fought one,” Mcadoo said. “I made a mistake off the start. That was on me, big time, and I was pretty buried.

“I was  happy with parts of the way I rode and not so much  with others. Hunter and Seth were riding amazing. They were going fast. Same with Justin. It was a dogfight out there. I got to third and just couldn’t make anything happen.”

On the final lap, Cooper made a bold attempt but lost traction and fell while trying to tack the final spot on the podium.

“I was close,” Cooper said. “I had to try something and after that quad I tried to dive to the inside and it was really slick there. I went down pretty quick. I was able to get up and get fourth. I’m just going to give it my all every time out.”

Mcadoo holds a six-point advantage over Cooper.

Garrett Marchbanks rounded out the top five.

ROUND 1, HOUSTON: Justin Barcia wins opener for third consecutive time

ROUND 2, HOUSTON: Eli Tomac rebounds, wins after Round 1 disappointment

ROUND 3, HOUSTON: Cooper Webb wins, Ken Roczen denied revenge

ROUND 4, INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen makes it four winners in four races

ROUND 5, INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen goes back to back for first time since 2017 injury

ROUND 6, INDIANAPOLIS: Ken Roczen is perfect in Indy for third straight win

ROUND 7, ORLANDO: Cooper Webb trims Ken Roczen lead

ROUND 8, ORLANDO: Cooper Webb sweeps Orlando to put pressure on Ken Roczen

ROUND 9, DAYTONA: Eli Tomac ties Ricky Carmichael at Daytona; Ken Roczen, Copper Webb war 

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After New York whirlwind, Josef Newgarden makes special trip to simulator before Detroit

By Jun 2, 2023, 10:00 AM EDT
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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.

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“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).

“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.”