Supercross 2022: Results and points after Round 12 in Seattle

By Mar 27, 2022, 2:02 PM EDT
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Eli Tomac rocketed to the lead of Monster Energy Supercross Round 12 in Seattle, Washington and extended his points lead after scoring his fifth straight win.

After a modest start that landed Tomac sixth in the opening round at Anaheim 1 and a fourth the following week in Oakland, California, Tomac has finished either first or second in nine of the last 10 rounds and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

With his fifth consecutive win, Tomac ties Chad Reed for fourth on the all-time winners list and will catch Riky Carmichael for third if he wins four of the next five races.

RESULTS: Click here for 450 Results; Click here for 250 Results

After three disastrous weeks that saw him outside the top five, Jason Anderson rebounded to win his sixth heat of the season and finish second in the main. Recent incidents with Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barcia have been partly responsible for his run of bad finishes, but he crashed by himself at Detroit for his worst result of 21st this season.

Marvin Musquin finished third in Seattle. During his career, he has never finished off the podium there in either the 250 or 450 class. This was Musquin’s second consecutive podium finish and the third in this season.

Click here Heat 1 results | Heat 2 | LCQ

With eighth-place finishes in two of the last four rounds, Malcolm Stewart has fallen to fourth in the standings, 60 points behind the leader. He finished fourth Saturday night to earn his ninth top-five of the season.

Justin Barcia won his heat and was riding second in the opening laps of the Seattle feature until he jumped wide and landed on a Tuff Blox. He fell to fifth at the checkers and third in the points.

Cooper Webb put in another gutsy performance with his sixth-place ride. Earlier on Saturday in qualification, he crashed hard for the second consecutive week. Fortunately, he and the rest of the 450 riders have a week off before heading to St Louis, Missouri for Round 13 of the 2022 Supercross campaign.

Click here for Round 12 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points | Lap Chart

Hunter Lawrence won his second 250 West Supercross race to earn his sixth podium finish of the first seven rounds. After winning the Triple Crown formatted race in Glendale, Arizona in Round 5, he expressed disappointment that it was not a standard feature win. He was on his way to getting that elusive victory the following week before crashing out of Anaheim 3 and finishing 18th.

Then, the West riders took five weeks off, forcing Lawrence to wait a little longer for his first standard-format win. Lawrence trails Christian Craig by 26 points – the equivalent of one full race – with three rounds remaining on their schedule. Two of these will be East/West Showdowns.

Craig finished second in the feature and was “sour about how (it) went.” He led the first couple of minutes of the race before he getting “cleaned out” by an aggressive pass by Michael Mosiman. Craig dropped as far back as sixth in the field before mounting his comeback. With this second-place finish, Craig retains his perfect streak of podium results in 2022.

Click here Heat 1 results | Heat 2 | LCQ

Mosiman’s contact with Craig resulted in a bent rear rotor and brake fade. For the first few laps after the accident, he wasn’t positive what had gone wrong, but slowly the problem worsened and Mosiman fell to third after holding off a determined charge by Jo Shimoda in the closing laps.

For fourth-place Shimoda, this was his third top-five in six races. He was forced to sit out Anaheim 3 with injury,

Vince Friese has been keeping his skills sharp by riding in the 450 class during the five-week hiatus for the 250 West and it worked. He won his heat and rounded out the top five in the feature. That was his third consecutive top-five this season.

Click here for 250 West Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Rider East/West Points Combined | Lap Chart

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 1 AT ANAHEIM: Ken Roczen, Cooper Webb renew rivalry with 1-2 finish

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 2 AT OAKLAND: Jason Anderson wins, Roczen struggles to tighten points’ standings

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 3 AT SAN DIEGO: First time wins for Chase Sexton (450s) and Michael Mosiman (250s)

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 4 AT ANAHEIM: Eli Tomac solidifies points’ lead with first win of season

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 5 AT GLENDALE: Tomac is first rider to repeat in 2022

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 6 AT ANAHEIM: Anderson ties Tomac with two wins in 2022

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 7 AT MINNEAPOLIS: Anderson makers it three, closes in on Tomac

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 8 AT ARLINGTON: Tomac wins the overall and takes maximum points, Anderson wins two features

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 9 AT DAYTONA: History made: Tomac is winningest Daytona rider

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 10 AT DETROIT: Tomac makes it three in a row and takes sole possession of fifth on winners list

POINTS, RESULTS AFTER ROUND 11 AT INDIANAPOLIS: Justin Barcia moves to second after controversial race

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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.

INDYCAR IN DETROIT: Entry list, schedule, TV info for this weekend

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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.”