It’s impossible to win every week in the Monster Energy Supercross Series, and knowing how not to ride to his limit is a big part of Eli Tomac’s success in the sport and why he tops the SuperMotocross Power Rankings once more following Tampa.
By Tomac’s standards, last week was disappointing. He failed to win the main for only the second time this season and was more than 30 seconds off the pace at the end of 25 laps. But bad by Tomac’s standards is a decent day for most other riders and he finished fifth in the feature after standing on the podium in his heat behind two riders who went on to score top-threes in the main. Tomac knew the conditions weren’t right for him and instead of risking injury, he protected his points’ lead.
Aggressive riding has gotten Jason Anderson where he is, but an ongoing feud with Justin Barcia threatens to put his season at risk. Anderson is currently on probation following an incident in Tampa that sent Barcia to the ground. Anderson finished sixth, but considering that he was coming off back-to-back podiums, more was expected at Tampa.
MORE: Cooper Webb wins Tampa, closes points gap
Chase Sexton has some lessons that still need to be learned. Riders can’t discount the need for experience, which showed last week as Sexton waited too long to find a better line through the whoops. He got crossed up while skimming the tops of the bumps and caught an edge that sent him down. Finishing second in Tampa, He remains one of only two riders with a perfect sweep of the top five through five rounds.
Cooper Webb is the other rider with a perfect record of top-fives, but despite his four previous strong runs, he told NBC Sports last week that the only way to make up ground on Tomac was to win. He pressured Webb into a mistake, but felt he could have passed him even without that. In his two previous championship years of 2019 and 2021, he rattled off a lot of victories after getting his first of the season. Webb closed the gap on Tomac and currently trails by two after six rounds.
Ken Roczen is riding well with four top-five finishes and an eighth, but he is starting to lose contact with the leaders. While Roczen currently sits 21 points out of first, last week’s performance by Webb shows just how quickly things can change.
450 Rankings
| This Week |
Rider | Power Avg. |
Last Week |
Diff. |
| 1. | Eli Tomac [3 Main; 3 Heat Wins] |
84.58 | 1 | 0 |
| 2. | Jason Anderson [3 Heat Wins] |
82.75 | 2 | 0 |
| 3. | Chase Sexton [1 Main; 4 Heat Wins] |
82.67 | 5 | 2 |
| 4. | Cooper Webb [1 Main] |
82.42 | 3 | -1 |
| 5. | Ken Roczen | 81.25 | 4 | -1 |
| 6. | Aaron Plessinger | 74.17 | 7 | 1 |
| 7. | Dylan Ferrandis | 71.60 | 6 | -1 |
| 8. | Justin Barcia | 70.50 | 8 | 0 |
| 9. | Justin Cooper | 68.00 | 9 | 0 |
| 10. | Adam Cianciarulo | 67.67 | 10 | 0 |
| 11. | Marvin Musquin | 61.00 | 12 | 1 |
| 12. | Joey Savatgy | 60.50 | 11 | -1 |
| 13. | Christian Craig | 59.33 | 14 | 1 |
| 14. | Malcolm Stewart [1 Heat Win] |
58.75 | 13 | -1 |
| 15. | Colt Nichols | 56.92 | 15 | 0 |
| 16. | Dean Wilson | 50.08 | 16 | 0 |
| 17. | Cole Thompson | 47.50 | NA | |
| 18. | Justin Hill | 41.91 | 17 | -1 |
| 19. | Shane McElrath | 38.36 | 18 | -1 |
| 20. | Fredrik Noren | 34.40 | 21 | 1 |
Here’s your updated points standings after round 6️⃣ of @MonsterEnergy Supercross 📋#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/sOWIMi2fkA
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 13, 2023
Hunter Lawrence had a poor start to last week’s Tampa race, ending the first lap outside the top five. He settled into fourth by Lap 4, but he really started to make ground as the field encountered lapped traffic. As soon as he could see race leader Nate Thrasher, Lawrence found another gear and caught him with one to go. The highlight reel at the end of the season will feature the final two turns as the leaders battled for position with Lawrence taking the lead for the first time in the final corner of the final lap.
Max Anstie has a new lease on life with his move to the 250cc class. Back-to-back podiums places him second among the East riders and third overall. The only thing missing is a heat or main win and when that comes, Anstie is going to be mentioned as Lawrence’s main challenger for the championship.
No one was quite certain if Haiden Deegan’s fourth-place finish in Houston was a fluke, including the rider himself. Before the race, he told NBC Sports there was no pressure to back up his Texas top-five. Riding loose and comfortable, Deegan matched his inaugural showing and sits third in the points.
Jeremy Martin has quietly scored consecutive fifth-place finishes in the first two rounds of the 250 East division. It’s easy to fly under the radar when the Lawrence brothers are doing aerial acrobatics. Along with a pair of top-fives last year before he was injured, Martin now has four consecutive.
One gets the sense that a podium finish is right around the corner for the MXGP champ turned SX star Tom Vialle. His Main results of seventh and sixth have not served him well in the points’ battle, but Vialle has raced strong in his heats. His Achilles Heel for the moment may be a tendency to override a little in an attempt to make a strong first impression with American fans.
250 Rankings
| This Week |
Rider | Power Avg. |
Last Week |
Diff. |
| 1 | Hunter Lawrence – E [2 Main; 2 Heat Wins] |
91.75 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Jett Lawrence – W [2 Main; 2 Heat Wins] |
89.13 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Max Anstie – E | 86.00 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Haiden Deegan – E [1 Heat Win] |
84.75 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | Jeremy Martin – E | 79.25 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | Tom Vialle – E | 78.00 | 7 | 1 |
| 7 | Cameron McAdoo – W [1 Heat Win] |
77.63 | 6 | -1 |
| 8 | Mitchell Oldenburg – W | 77.00 | 7 | -1 |
| 9 | Stilez Robertson – W [1 Heat Win] |
76.75 | 11 | 2 |
| 9 | Nate Thrasher – E [1 Heat Win] |
76.75 | 21 | 12 |
| 11 | Jordon Smith – E [1 Heat Win] |
75.75 | 2 | -9 |
| 11 | Chance Hymas – E | 75.75 | 12 | 1 |
| 13 | Michael Mosiman – E | 74.75 | 7 | -6 |
| 14 | Levi Kitchen – W [1 Main] |
73.75 | 13 | -1 |
| 15 | RJ Hampshire – W [3 Heat Wins] |
70.00 | 14 | -1 |
| 16 | Max Vohland – W | 69.29 | 15 | -1 |
| 17 | Derek Kelley – W | 63.75 | 18 | 1 |
| 18 | Enzo Lopes – W | 63.25 | 19 | 1 |
| 19 | Pierce Brown – W | 61.29 | 20 | 1 |
| 20 | Phil Nicoletti – W | 59.25 | 22 | 2 |
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Eli Tomac retakes lead after rebounding from A2 crash
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Chase Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage
