2022 Supercross Power Rankings after Round 4: Eli Tomac holds onto the top spot as Justin Barcia climbs to third

By Feb 3, 2022, 6:59 PM EST
Supercross Rankings Round 4
Feld Entertainment, Inc.
0 Comments

Last week at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., Eli Tomac became the fourth winner in four Monster Energy Supercross Series races and solidified his position at the top of the Power Rankings after Round 4.

Tomac got off to a slow start for the 2022 SX season with a third in his heat and sixth in the feature in Anaheim 1. The following week, he showed promise by winning his heat, but a poor start in the feature in Oakland denied him a podium finish; Tomac was fourth in Round 2. Since then, he found his rhythm with a second in his heat last week, followed by a second in the feature. More importantly, that gave him the red plate heading back to Anaheim.

A perfect weekend in Round 4 not only solidified his points lead, it keeps him atop our Supercross Power Rankings.

MORE: Eli Tomac becomes fourth winner in four Supercross rounds

With a second heat win in 2022 by more than six seconds over teammate Ken Roczen, Chase Sexton held onto the second position in the rankings. He followed that with a second podium finish  in the main, and if not for a couple of falls in the season opener, he would challenge Tomac for both the series’ points lead and the top spot in the Supercross Power Rankings after Round 4.

Justin Barcia edged Cooper Webb in both his heat and the feature last week to assume the third spot on the list. Barcia’s podium in Heat 2 followed Webb’s sixth-place finish in the first heat. In the feature, they were nose-to-tail with Barcia finishing seventh and Webb eighth.

Last year, Supercross began with four winners in four races and both Barcia and Webb were part of that list, so this week’s Triple Crown race in Glendale, Ariz. should be watched closely.

This week there was a tie for fourth.

Jason Anderson followed his Round 3 victory with a runner-up finish last week and bounded up the rankings from seventh. A sixth-place finish in his heat in Anaheim 2 kept him from taking the spot outright.

For the second straight week, contact between Anderson and Roczen sent last year’s second-place points’ finisher to the ground. With the crash, Roczen fell from fifth in the points to seventh, but his position in the championship standings took an even bigger hit because of a 13th-place feature finish. He is now ninth with 23 points that need to be made up on Tomac.

450 Rankings

1. Eli Tomac (last week: 1); [1 feature win, 2 heat wins]
2. Chase Sexton (2); [1 feature win, 3 heat wins]
3. Justin Barcia (4)
4. Cooper Webb (3); [1 heat win]
4. Jason Anderson (7); [1 feature win; 1 heat win]
6. Malcolm Stewart (6)
7. Ken Roczen (5); [1 feature, 1 heat win]
8. Dylan Ferrandis (10)
9. Marvin Musquin (9)
10. Aaron Plessinger (8)
11. Justin Brayton (11)
12. Shane McElrath (13)
12. Dean Wilson (12)
14. Max Anstie (14)
15. Joey Savatgy (15)
17. Mitchell Oldenburg (17)
18. Brandon Hartranft (18)
19. Fredrik Noren (19)
20. Kyle Chisholm (20)

Christian Craig wasted no time rebounding from his third-place finish in San Diego. Craig immediately rebounded to win both his heat and feature last week in Anaheim 2, but he felt pressure from the second-place rider for most of that race as Michael Mosiman led early and did not lose contact with Craig once he was passed.

Mosiman’s third heat win combined with his runner-up finish in the feature to elevate him one spot in the rankings, but more importantly he is learning how to contend for wins. Although the points’ differential right now is 14 between these two riders, it will only take a bobble or two by Craig for Mosiman to pounce.

Three was the operative number for Lawrence in Anaheim 2. He finished third in his heat, third in the feature and landed third in the Supercross 250 Power Rankings. Except for a fourth in the Anaheim 1 heat, Lawrence has been on the podium for every race this year.

Jo Shimoda climbed one spot in the rankings from fifth to fourth. Part of the reason for this advance was a hard crash by Vince Friese late in the feature, but Shimoda has also been a model of consistency with a worst of seventh all season.

It could have been much worse for Friese. After crashing in the whoops and getting hit in the helmet by Shimoda’s front tire in Anaheim 2, Friese failed to finish the main and was credited with 19th. Friese bit his tongue and required stitches, but he might just as easily have been forced to sit out a race or two with a concussion.

That is precisely what happened to Jalek Swoll after a hard crash in Anaheim 1. He was forced to sit out Oakland, but roared back and landed 13th on the chart last week by benefit of seventh-place finishes in his San Diego heat and feature. In Anaheim 2, he swept the top five in both events and climbed to 13th to make his debut among the 250 Supercross Power Rankings after Round 4.

250 Rankings

1. Christian Craig (1); [3 feature, 4 heat wins]
2. Michael Mosiman (3); [1 feature; 3 heat wins]
3. Hunter Lawrence (2); [1 heat win]
4. Jo Shimoda (5)
5. Vince Friese (4)
6. Nate Thrasher (6)
7. Carson Mumford (9)
8. Jalek Swoll (13)
9. Cole Thompson (10)
9. Chris Blose (8)
11. Carson Brown (12)
12. Robbie Wageman (11)
13. Garrett Marchbanks (7)
14. Ryan Surratt (14)
15. Dominique Thury (15)
16. Logan Karnow (17)
17. Dylan Walsh (16)
18. Dilan Schwartz (18)
19. Justin Rodbell (26)
19. Derek Kelley (20)

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 1 AT ANAHEIM: Ken Roczen, Christian Craig have a perfect weekend

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 2 AT OAKLAND: Justin Barcia climbs to the top spot

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 3 AT SAN DIEGO: Consistency pays off for Eli Tomac

Read more about Motorsports

Indy 500 Tony Kanaan
Tony Kanaan at peace with IndyCar career end: ‘I’ll always be an...
Lopes ClubMX 2024
Supercross: Enzo Lopes will race with ClubMX in 2024
NBC IndyCar power rankings
IndyCar Power Rankings: Alex Palou still first as Newgarden, Ferrucci make...

Tony Kanaan at peace with IndyCar career end: ‘I’ll always be an Indianapolis 500 winner’

By May 31, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
0 Comments

INDIANAPOLIS – Few drivers in Indy 500 history have been as popular as Tony Kanaan.

Throughout his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that began with his first Indy 500 in 2002, the fans loved his aggressiveness on the track and his engaging personality with the fans.

The Brazilian always got the loudest cheers from the fans during driver introductions before the Indy 500.

Sunday’s 107th Indianapolis 500 would be his last time to walk up the steps for driver introductions. Kanaan announced earlier this year that it would be his final race of his IndyCar career, but not the final race as a race driver.

He will continue to compete in stock cars in Brazil and in Tony Stewart’s summer series known as the “Superstar Racing Experience” – an IROC-type series that competes at legendary short tracks around the country beginning in June.

Kanaan was the extra driver at Arrow McLaren for this year’s Indy 500 joining NTT IndyCar Series regulars Pato O’Ward of Mexico, Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden, and Alexander Rossi of northern California.

He had a sporty ride, the No. 66 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that paid homage to McLaren’s first Indianapolis 500 victory by the late Mark Donohue for Team Penske in 1972.

Because Kanaan has meant so much to the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT IndyCar Series, the 2013 Indy 500 winner was honored before the start of the race with a special video.

It featured Kanaan sitting in the Grandstand A seats writing a love letter to the fans of this great event. Kanaan narrated the video, reciting the words in the letter and it finished with the driver putting it in an envelope and leaving it at the Yard of Bricks.

Lauren Kanaan with daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Bruce Martin Photo).

Many in the huge crowd of 330,000 fans watched the video on the large screens around the speedway. On the starting grid, Kanaan’s wife, Lauren, who bears a striking resemblance to actress Kate Beckinsale, watched with their four children.

Kanaan’s wife is an Indiana girl who was a high school basketball star in Cambridge City, Indiana.

Kanaan proposed to Lauren in 2010, and after a three-year engagement, they were married in 2013 – the year he won his only Indianapolis 500.

She has been Kanaan’s rock, and this was a moment for the family to share.

After receiving an ovation and the accolades from the crowd, Kanaan walked to his car on the starting grid and exchanged hugs with people who were important in his career.

One of those was Takuma Sato’s engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing, Eric Cowdin.

Tony Kanaan shares a moment with former engineer Eric Cowdin (Bruce Martin Photo).

Kanaan and Cowdin shared a longtime relationship dating all the way back to the Andretti Green Racing days when Kanaan was a series champion in 2004. This combination stayed together when Kanaan moved to KV Racing in 2011, then Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014-2018 followed by two years at AJ Foyt Racing.

Kanaan returned to run the four oval races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 in the No. 48 Honda that was shared with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

In 2022, Johnson ran the full IndyCar Series schedule, and Kanaan drove the No. 1 American Legion entry to a third-place finish in his only IndyCar race of the season.

Kanaan knew that 2023 would be his last Indy 500 and properly prepared himself mentally and emotionally for his long goodbye.

But one could sense the heartfelt love, gratitude, and most of all respect for this tenacious driver in the moments leading up to the start of the race.

Tony Kanaan gets emotional during an interview after the Indy 500 (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“The emotions are just there,” Kanaan said. “I cried 400 times. This guy came to hug me, and I made Rocket (IndyCar Technical Director Kevin Blanch) cry. I mean, that is something.

“Yeah, it was emotional.”

Kanaan started ninth and finished 18th in a race that was very clean for the first two thirds of the race before ending in disjointed fashion with three red flags to stop the race over the final 15 laps.

“Yellows breed yellows and when you are talking about the Indianapolis 500 and a field that is so tough to pass, that happens,” Kanaan said. “It’s the Indy 500. Come on. We’ve got to leave it out there.

“Every red flag, everybody goes, I’m going to pass everybody. It’s tough to pass. It’s the toughest field, the tightest field we ever had here. It was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen.

“I wouldn’t want it any different. We left it all out there. Everybody that was out left it out.”

At one point in the second half of the race, Kanaan passed Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin by driving through the grass on the backstretch.

“That was OK, right?” Kanaan said. “That is one thing I have not done in 22 years here. Even (team owner) Sam Schmidt came to me and said, ‘That was a good one.’

“That was a farewell move.”

On the final lap, it was Kanaan battling his boyhood friend from Brazil, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, for a mid-pack finish.

“Helio and I battling for 15th and 16th on the last lap like we’re going for the lead,” Kanaan said. “It was like, who’s playing pranks with us.

“We both went side by side on the backstretch after the checker and we saluted with each other, and I just told him actually I dropped a tear because of that, and he said, ‘I did, too.’

“We went side by side like twice. A lot of memories came to my mind, and I even said how ironic it is that we started it together and I get to battle him on the last lap of my last race.

Tony Kanaan is embraced by his wife, Lauren, after finishing 16th in the 107th Indianapolis 500 ((Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“It’s pretty neat. It’s a pretty cool story. He’s a great friend. My reference, a guy that I love and hate a lot throughout my career, and like he just told me — I was coming up here and he just said, who am I going to look on the time sheet when I come into the pits now, because we always said that it didn’t matter if I was — if I was 22nd and he was 23rd, my day was okay. And vice versa.

“It was a good day for me, man. What can I say? We cried on the grid.

“Not the result that we wanted. I went really aggressive on the downforce to start the race. It was wrong. Then I added downforce towards the end of the race, and it was wrong. It was just one of those days.”

After the race was over, Kanaan drove his No. 66 Honda back to the Arrow McLaren pit area and climbed out of the car to cheers of the fans that could see him. Others were focused on Josef Newgarden’s wild celebration after the Team Penske driver had won his first Indianapolis 500.

There were no tears, though, only smiles from Kanaan who closes an IndyCar career with 389 starts, 17 wins including the 2013 Indianapolis 500, 79 podiums, 13 poles, and 4,077 laps led in a 26-year career.

Kanaan came, he raced, and he raced hard.

“That’s what we did, we raced as hard as we could,” Kanaan told NBC Sports.com. “It wasn’t enough.

“The win was the only thing that mattered. If we were second or 16th, we were going to celebrate regardless.

“In a way, being 16th will stop people wondering if I’m going to come back.

“I’m ready to go. I’m ready to enjoy the time with my family, with my team and doing other things as well.”

Kanaan’s face will forever be part of the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the Indianapolis 500.

“I won one and that is there, and it will always be there,” Kanaan said. “It was an awesome day.

“The way this crowd made me feel was unbelievable. I don’t regret a bit.”

Tony Kanaan hugs his son Max before the Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar/USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

Kanaan actually announced the 2020 Indianapolis 500 would be TK’s last ride because he wanted to say goodbye to the fans.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit, the Indianapolis 500 was moved from Memorial Day Weekend to August 23 and because of COVID restrictions, fans were not allowed to attend the Indianapolis 500.

Three years later, Kanaan was finally able to say goodbye to this fans that were part of the largest crowd to see the Indianapolis 500 since the sold-out gathering for 350,000 that attended the 100th running in 2016.

“That’s it, that’s what I wanted, and I got what I wanted,” Kanaan said. “This moment was so special; I don’t want to ever spoil it again.

Tony Kanaan kisses his daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“We’ve been building and growing this series as much as we can. I’m really glad and proud that I was able to be part of building something big and this year’s race was one of the biggest ones.”

Kanaan walked off pit lane and rejoined his family. He will always be part of the glorious history of the Indianapolis 500 and fans will be talking about Tony Kanaan years from now, not by what he did, but the way he did it.

“This is what it is all about,” Kanaan said on pit lane. “Having kids, be a good person. Even if you don’t win, it’s fine if you don’t, as long as you make a difference.

“Hopefully, I made a difference in this sport.

“I will always be an IndyCar driver. I will always be an Indy 500 winner and I will always make people aware of IndyCar in the way it deserves.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500 

(Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY Sports Images Network)