The top of the 450 Supercross Power Rankings after Round 6 remained largely unchanged, but Jason Anderson’s win in the final race of the West Coast swing has provided momentum that could bear fruit in the next couple of weeks as the series heads to the middle part of the country.
Eli Tomac held onto the top spot both in terms of the points’ standings, by 12 over Anderson, and in the Power Rankings. He has not put a wheel wrong since finishing sixth in the first race at Anaheim in early January. Since then, he has finished fourth or better in all of his heats and feature races. He did not add to his victory total last week, but swept the podium and gave notice that he will not be passed easily.
Considering how last year was interrupted by an injury sustained in Houston at the start of the 450 SX season, it is understandable that Sexton has a few irregularities in his 2022 statistics. He has hit the ground on a few occasions and finished outside the top five in two of the five rounds contested so far. He finished 11th in one of the Triple Crown races in Glendale, Arizona, but the rest of his efforts have been solidly inside the top five.
MORE: Jason Anderson closes the gap on Eli Tomac with Anaheim 3 win
Malcolm Stewart has had a career season so far. He scored his best finish two weeks ago with a second in the overall ranking in Glendale’s Triple Crown format. In 14 combined features and heats, he has only been outside the top five once. If Tomac or Sexton bobble in Minneapolis, he is close enough to take the lead in the Supercross Power Rankings, but he’s going to need to win in order to get see the momentum shift in regard to his title hopes.
With his win in Anaheim, @ElHombre_21 moves into second in the 450SX Championship Point Standings 🔥#SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/7rmpQ5Au37
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 13, 2022
Anderson is also nipping at Tomac’s heels. Unless something catastrophic happens in the next two weeks, the best he can do is slowly chip away at Tomac’s advantage. Last week’s sweep of the heat and the feature was a step in the right direction and while he didn’t move in the Supercross Rankings after Round 6, he is in a great position. For the moment, a modest showing at Anaheim in the season opener, with Anderson finishing eighth in his heat and 10th in the feature, drags down his overall number, but this format looks back at the last 45 days and Anaheim 1 is about to age out of the formula.
Barcia owes his place in the top five of the Supercross Rankings after Round 6 to consistency. He’s been just outside the top five in most of his recent races, but he had only one result worse than seventh leading into last week. He finally got his program turned in the right direction in Anaheim 3 with his first heat win of the season and a third in the feature.
450 Rankings
1. Eli Tomac (last week: 1); [2 feature wins, 4 heat and wins]
2. Chase Sexton (2); [1 feature win, 4 heat wins]
3. Malcolm Stewart (3)
4. Jason Anderson (4); [2 feature wins; 2 heat wins]
5. Justin Barcia (5); [1 heat win]
6. Cooper Webb (7); [1 heat win]
7. Ken Roczen (6); [1 feature, 1 heat win]
8. Marvin Musquin (8)
9. Aaron Plessinger (10)
10. Dylan Ferrandis (9)
11. Shane McElrath (12)
12. Dean Wilson (11)
13. Justin Brayton (14)
14. Joey Savatgy (13)
15. Max Anstie (16)
16. Mitchell Oldenburg (15)
17. Brandon Hartranft (17)
18. Kyle Chisholm (18)
19. Justin Bogle (20)
20. Josh Hill (19)
Anaheim Sweep 🧹 @_christiancraig @StarRacingYam @SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/01OrA30b8J
— Monster Energy (@MonsterEnergy) February 13, 2022
As the 250 West series gears up for a five-week hiatus, Christian Craig remains the hottest rider. Craig’s seven heat wins and four features get added to a worst finish of fourth in one of the Triple Crown races to make him all but perfect. This week Supercross fans will watch with interest to see if any of the 250 East guys get off to an equally strong start.
Racing has a way of humbling riders quickly. Hunter Lawrence was a little dismissive of his Triple Crown win two weeks ago in Glendale because of the unique format of that race, but had he known what awaited in Anaheim 3, he probably would have relished it more. An accident early in the feature dropped him to 18th in the final shakedown, but that was only the second time this season he finished off the podium in either a heat or feature. The good news is that Lawrence has time to heal from his crash before the West riders mount up in Seattle this March.
An uncharacteristically poor showing in Arizona hurt Michael Mosiman’s title hopes. All he can do now is to stack strong finishes and put himself in a position to capitalize if anything happens to Craig. Mosiman’s third-place finishes in both his heat and feature last week have him hovering near the top with a third-place standing in the Power Rankings.
Vince Friese moved up one spot in the rankings a week after he incurred a warning for rough riding in Glendale. Friese’s second-place finish in the Anaheim 3 Main was his first podium of the season and one might be tempted to think this might dial back his aggression a smidge. Unfortunately, he has a long 250 West break to make him hungry again.
Jo Shimoda finished 13th in his heat last week after crashing hard at the end of the race. He failed to make the gate for the Last Chace Qualifier, but had an excellent excuse because he was at the hospital getting his ankle x-rayed. Like Lawrence, he has time to heal before he has to get on the bike again, but Shimoda’s status for Seattle is questionable.
250 Rankings
1. Christian Craig (1); [4 feature wins, 7 heat wins]
2. Hunter Lawrence (3); [1 feature win, 2 heat wins]
3. Michael Mosiman (2); [1 feature win, 3 heat wins]
4. Vince Friese (5)
5. Jo Shimoda (4)
6. Nate Thrasher (6)
7. Garrett Marchbanks (13); [1 heat win]
8. Carson Brown (11)
9. Jalek Swoll (8)
10. Robbie Wageman (12)
11. Chris Blose (9)
12. Carson Mumford (7)
13. Cole Thompson (9)
14. Ryan Surratt (14)
15. Dylan Walsh (17)
16. Derek Kelley (19)
17. Dominique Thury (15)
18. Logan Karnow (16)
19. Mitchell Harrison (21)
20. Dilan Schwartz (18)
Triple Crown wins included with Heat wins
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ-E8OYvuOq/
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
POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 4 AT ANAHEIM: Eli Tomac remains on top as competition levels
POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 5 AT GLENDALE: Malcolm Stewart move up as Eli Tomac stays No. 1