2022 Supercross Power Rankings after Round 13: Marvin Musquin surges after Triple Crown win

By Apr 14, 2022, 6:00 AM EDT
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Eli Tomac’s streak of five consecutive wins ended last week in the St. Louis Triple Crown, but he swept the top five and won one of the three features to remain at the top of the Supercross Rankings after Round 13.

In addition to stacking feature wins, Tomac has a perfect record of top-fives in heats and Triple Crown features during the past 45 days. His third-place in the overall results last week didn’t cost him anything in the championship hunt as he managed to finish ahead of his two closest rivals, Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia.

The big winner was Marvin Musquin, however. His first overall win of the season came with a pair of runner-up finishes and a feature win in the Triple Crown format. Equally important, since the Power Rankings looks at the past 45 days, he is no longer being drug down by his worst result of the season, which was a 14th overall in the Arlington, Texas Triple Crown.

MORE: Marvin Musquin dominates St Louis Triple Crown

Barcia also swept the top five last week in St. Louis with a 5-5-4 that landed him fifth in the overall results. Barcia’s aggressive riding style has paid off with a perfect record of top-fives in heats and features during the past 45 days.

With a win in the first feature of the St. Louis Triple Crown and podium finishes in the other two races, Chase Sexton managed to stay out of trouble and finish second overall. That contributed to a rapid rise from sixth on the chart to fourth. Sexton fans are left to wonder what his year might look like without a couple of hard offs spread throughout the season.

Anderson slipped one position, but rounds out the top five after finishing fourth overall in St. Louis with a 6-2-5. Anderson now trails Tomac by a margin that is greater than two races. Four rounds remain.

Outside the top five, Justin Brayton advanced two positions from 10th to eighth with his 7-7-7 effort in St. Louis that put him sixth on the overall chart.

450 Rankings

1. Eli Tomac (last Week: 1); [7 feature wins, 6 heat wins]
2. Marvin Musquin (7); [1 feature win, 1 heat win]
3. Justin Barcia (3); [3 heat wins]
4. Chase Sexton (6); [1 feature win, 6 heat wins]
5. Jason Anderson (4); [3 feature wins; 6 heat wins]
6. Malcolm Stewart (2); [3 heat wins]
7. Cooper Webb (5); [3 heat wins]
8. Justin Brayton (10)
9. Vince Friese (11)
10. Dylan Ferrandis (8)
11. Justin Bogle (14)
11. Shane McElrath (12)
13. Kyle Chisholm (16)
14. Brandon Hartranft (13)
15. Dean Wilson (9)
16. Justin Starling (17)
17. Ryan Breece (15)
18. Cade Clason (18)
19. Benny Bloss (NA)
20. John Short (20)

Triple Crown wins included with Heat wins

After taking a week off to give the 250 West riders center stage in Seattle, the 250 East riders were back in action. The next four rounds will feature one standalone event for both divisions and two East/West showdowns, which will give us a chance to compare the riders head-to-head. Saturday’s race on the Atlanta Motor Speedway frontstretch will be one of the showdowns.

West rider Christian Craig holds onto the top spot in the combined rankings as Jett Lawrence continues to be the best in the East.

Lawrence had a chance to make a big statement after winning the first two features. He hit the dirt on the first lap of the third race last week, however, and climbed to only fifth at the end. His pair of victories were enough to give him second overall and keep him high in the rankings, but with Craig’s near-perfect record, he could not ascend to the top.

Fifth overall, Kyle Chisholm is ranked second among the East riders. He had a yeoman’s performance in St. Louis with a 4-4-3 that allowed him to surge up the chart from 10th.

One has to slide all the way down to ninth overall to find Mitchell Oldenburg, who is ranked third in the East. Oldenburg finished third overall with a 3-3-4.

Jordon Smith rounds out the top 10 overall and ranks fourth among the East riders after finishing 6-5-11 in last week’s Triple Crown.

250 Rankings

1. Christian Craig – W (1); [4 feature wins, 8 heat wins]
2. Jett Lawrence – E (2); [4 feature wins, 5 heat wins]
3. Hunter Lawrence – W (4); [2 feature wins, 2 heat wins]
4. RJ Hampshire – W (8); [1 feature win, 3 heat wins]
5. Kyle Chisholm – E (10)
5. Jo Shimoda – W (6)
7. Michael Mosiman – W (5); [1 feature win, 3 heat wins]
8. Vince Friese – W (7); [1 heat win]
9. Mitchell Oldenburg – E (15); [1 heat win]
10. Jordon Smith – E (11)
11. Nate Thrasher – W (12)
12. Carson Brown – W (16)
13. Jalek Swoll – W (14)
14. Garrett Marchbanks – W (17)
15. Robbie Wageman – W (20)
15. Pierce Brown – E (13); [2 heat wins]
17. Jace Owen – E (18)
18. Phil Nicoletti – E (22)
19. Enzo Lopes – E (19)
20. Derek Kelley – W (30)

Triple Crown wins included with Heat wins

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: Tomac remains on top as competition levels

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 5 AT GLENDALE: Malcolm Stewart move up as Tomac stays No. 1

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 6 AT ANAHEIM: Jason Anderson closes the gap

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 7 AT MINNEAPOLIS: Jett Lawrence steps up to challenge Craig in 250s

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 8 AT ARLINGTON: Consistency once more give Tomac a Triple Crown win

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 9 AT DAYTONA: Tomac rides historic wave into the second half of 2022

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 10 AT DETROIT: Tomac holds position as Lawrence moves up

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 11 AT INDIANAPOLIS: Barcia surges to second

POWER RANKINGS AFTER ROUND 12 AT SEATTLE: Stewart’s turn at second

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Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).