Supercross Round 16 Denver: Start times, schedule, TV

Saturday’s Round 16 of the Monster Energy Supercross Series in Denver could be the biggest homecoming of Eli Tomac’s life.

The Colorado native leads Jason Anderson by a comfotable 43 points in the 450 championship standings with two rounds remaining in the 2022 season.

Tomac, who has seven wins this season, can clinch his second championship in three years in Supercross’ premier category with a finish of sixth or better before a crowd of family and friends at Empower Field.

Saturday’s main event will begin at 3 p.m. ET on NBC with qualifying getting started at 9 a.m. ET on Peacock Premium.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 16 of the 2022 Supercross season in Denver:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of Supercross Round 16 at Empower Stadium in Denver will begin live Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Qualifying will begin on Peacock at 9 a.m. ET. Todd Harris will handle play by play with analyst Ricky Carmichael, and Will Christien and Daniel Blair will report from the pits.

All 17 rounds of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross schedule will be broadcast across the NBC, CNBC, USA Network, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.

Peacock will stream live coverage of heats, qualifiers and main events. All Supercross heats, qualifiers and live and on-demand replays of races will be available on Peacock. Click here for more details (information on how to sign up is available by clicking here).

POINTS STANDINGS: 450 division l 250 division

ENTRY LISTS: 450 division l 250 division

EVENT SCHEDULE (all times ET):

Here are the start times and schedule for Saturday’s Supercross Round 16 at Empower Field in Denver:

9:15 a.m.: 250 Group B Qualifying
9:30 a.m.: 250 Group A Qualifying
9:45 a.m.: 450 Group A Qualifying
10 a.m.: 450 Group B Qualifying
10:15 a.m.: 450 Group C Qualifying
11:35 a.m.: 250 Group B Qualifying
11:50 a.m.: 250 Group A Qualifying
12:05 p.m.: 450 Group A Qualifying
12:20 p.m.: 450 Group B Qualifying
12:35 p.m.: 450 Group C Qualifying
3:07 p.m.: 250 Heat 1
3:21 p.m.: 250 Heat 2
3:34 p.m.: 450 Heat 1
3:48 p.m.: 450 Heat 2
4:19 p.m.: 250 LCQ
4:29 p.m.: 450 LCQ
4:53 p.m.: 250 Main Event
5:26 p.m.: 450 Main Event

TRACK LAYOUT: Click here to view the track map for Supercross Round 16 at Empower Field in Denver.

HOW TO WATCH SUPERCROSS IN 2022: Full NBC Sports schedule

ROUND 1: Ken Roczen scores his fourth victory in the season opener at Anaheim

ROUND 2: Jason Anderson earns first victory since 2018 championship

ROUND 3: Breakthrough victory for Chase Sexton

ROUND 4: Eli Tomac scores first win aboard a Yamaha

ROUND 5: Tomac takes Triple Crown event in Glendale

ROUND 6: Anderson triumphs in Anaheim

ROUND 7: Anderson takes advantage of late stumble by Sexton

ROUND 8: Tomac nips Anderson in Arlington Triple Crown

ROUND 9: Tomac sets Daytona victory record

ROUND 10: Tomac takes command with third consecutive victory

ROUND 11: Tomac remains unstoppable in Indianapolis

ROUND 12: Tomac ties Chad Reed for fourth on win list

ROUND 13: Marvin Musquin takes St. Louis triple crown

ROUND 14: Jason Anderson scores fourth win of season

ROUND 15: Jason Anderson wins again; Jett Lawrence wraps title

FINAL 2021 STANDINGS: 450 points standings | 250 East points standings | 250 West points standings

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Saturday’s Supercross Round 16 in Denver: How to watch, start times, schedule, TV info

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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