Glendale Supercross by the numbers

When Eli Tomac broke out of his tie with Ricky Carmichael at Daytona International Speedway for sole possession of third on the all-time wins list, James Stewart asked him not to make him wait long to lose his second-place ranking and as the four-time and defending winner at Glendale, Tomac’s Supercross numbers are solid. He will need another strong run this weekend if he wants to take over sole possession of the red plate as he enters Round 12 tied for the top spot with Cooper Webb.

*Cooper Webb is ready to shine in Glendale with a better TC performance in 2023 than Eli Tomac. – Feld Motor Sports*

Notably, with four victories Tomac shares the top spot in regard to Arizona winners with Stewart and Carmichael.

But Tomac has struggled with the Triple Crown format this year, scoring one of two results outside the top five at Anaheim and barely finishing on the podium in Arlington. In both of those races, he finished behind the rider who shares the red plate. Webb was fourth in Anaheim 2 and won the Arlington race. The good news for Tomac fans is that he was almost perfect in this race last year, winning the first two features and finishing third in the final race.

Webb struggled on most tracks with the newly designed KTM bike and Glendale was no exception. In this event, he scored an 8-8-5 to finish eighth overall.

If Chase Sexton wants to remain in points contention, he must finish ahead of Tomac and Webb. His Glendale Supercross numbers could be construed favorably, but he struggled in the first feature and finished 11th last year. He rebounded to finish third in Race 2 and win the final moto.

There is no doubt Sexton has speed in 2023, but major mistakes in the last three rounds have cost him 25 points. He crashed while leading in both the Indianapolis and Seattle races. He won in Detroit, but was docked seven points for jumping in a red cross section of the track. Had he not lost those points, Sexton would likely have the points lead instead of being almost a full race behind (-22 points).

While Sexton (49 points) and Webb (45) have not been perfect in Triple Crowns either, they top the chart in points earned.

Tomac continues to rewrite the record books. Now tied for second on the wins’ list with six rounds remaining, it is difficult to imagine he won’t win at least one more time. With last week’s victory in Seattle, he now has the most wins among riders in their 30s after surpassing Kevin Windham’s five.

As tight as the 2023 season has been, it will come as no surprise that this is the closest the points have ever been after Round 11, but not by much. In 1985 one point separated Jeff Ward from Broc Glover in what was then the final race of the season.

Ken Roczen cannot be discounted. As the only rider other than the three points’ leaders to win this season, he also has a solid record in Arizona with wins in 2020 and 2016. When he’s failed to win there, he’s still been on the box in the majority of races with five podiums in seven starts.

*If Jett Lawrence wins this week, he will move to fourth on the 250 wins’ list. – Feld Motor Sports*

Jett Lawrence is the prohibitive favorite to win the 250 West championship with four wins, a worst finish of second and a 22-point lead. About the only thing giving his competitors hope is that the one race he failed to win came in the Triple Crown format of Anaheim 2.

Jett will also need to race his brother Hunter Lawrence in two East/West Showdowns and that rider has been practically perfect as well. Of course, it won’t matter which Lawrence brother wins in East Rutherford or Salt Lake City as long as they beat their divisional rivals.

With 11 Supercross 250 wins, Jett stands ninth on the wins’ list in a tie with eight riders. A win this week would elevate him to fourth.

Still, Jett is not entirely out of the woods. If he begins making mistakes, RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo are prepared to strike. Those three riders shared the podium in four of the five 250 West rounds this year (Anaheim 2, San Diego, Oakland and last week in Seattle).

Last Five Glendale Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2020: Ken Roczen
2019: Blake Baggett
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Eli Tomac

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2020: Austin Forkner
2019: Adam Cianciarulo
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Justin Hill

By the Numbers

Seattle
Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

More SuperMotocross coverage

How to Watch: Glendale Supercross
450 Midseason Recap
250 Midseason Recap
Enzo Lopes, Phil Nicoletti are Club MX’s dynamic duo
Cameron McAdoo will miss Glendale with injury
Davey Coombs evaluates SX, previews MX
Vicki Golden has a unique story
Ashley Fiolek builds community
Power Rankings after Seattle
Results and points after Seattle
Eli Tomac wins in Seattle, shares red plate
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”

For the second consecutive week, Jett Lawrence had perfect results in the Pro Motocross round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California with a pair of moto wins and the overall victory, only this time he didn’t have Chase Sexton, who sat out the round with a concussion, to keep him honest in the second race.

*Jett Lawrence’s performance in the first two Motocross rounds has him thinking of a rookie championship. – Align Media*

Lawrence led all 16 laps of both races after taking the holeshot in the second moto and grabbing the lead from Dylan Ferrandis in Turn 2 of Moto 1. Lawrence claimed a four-second lead in Moto 1 and five seconds in Moto 2, but as dominant as it seems on paper, there were some exciting moments during the weekend. In the second race, Lawrence wanted to build an advantage that would allow him to maintain his pace and he nearly high-sided a couple of times in heavy ruts.

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

In his second race back from a concussion, Ferrandis finished in the runner-up spot with a second in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. While his finish of second overall goes into the record books, Pro Motocross points are rewarded for each individual race and that meant Ferrandis lost eight points in championship battle to Lawrence. With Sexton failing to mount up for the race, Ferrandis advanced to second in the standings with an 18-point gap to Lawrence. Equally important, Ferrandis gained ground in the SuperMotocross World Championship (WSX) points and now has a gap of 44 over 21st-place Justin Starling.

Cooper Webb is also in his second round since returning from a Supercross injury suffered in Nashville at the end of their season. Claiming results of fourth and second in the two races, Webb earned 40 SuperMotocross points at Hangtown and closed in on Sexton in the WSX battle. Sexton entered Hangtown with a large enough lead that he could not be overtaken, but he is now only 38 points up and could face a difficult decision next week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado if he wants to hold onto his lead.

Aaron Plessinger had an adventurous weekend in which he seemed to close on Lawrence in his second race before crashing and dropping to fourth. Coupled with a fifth-place finish in Moto 1, he earned 35 points and was credited with fourth overall.

Cashing in on confidence he gained in the final rounds of the Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo earned his first top-five of the Pro Motocross championship after narrowly missing out last week with a sixth. He earned the distinction with consistent results of fifth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

*Hunter Lawrence showed his back to the competition at Hangtown, just as he did the week prior at Fox Raceway. – Align Media*

The Lawrence brothers made history last week as the first siblings to win in two Pro Motocross divisions on the same day. Fans should get accustomed to seeing this happen with some regularity as Hunter Lawrence posted identical results in Hangtown to those he had at Fox Raceway in the season opener.

In both races, Lawrence got off to a slow start in Moto 1 and had to claw his way back to the podium. He dominated Moto 2 in both rounds to earn the overall victories.

Justin Cooper did not allow Lawrence to gain much of an advantage in the Motocross points’ standings, however. Finishing second in both motos, the earned only one point less than Lawrence. His modest showing in Round 1 of the outdoor season has him 12 points out of first in the championship standings.

Haiden Deegan scored his first moto win in just his fourth start in the series. In the first race of the day, he had to withstand constant pressure from Cooper, but when his teammate closed in on him, Deegan reached down and found a little more speed. Now that he’s won one of these races, he has his sight set on challenging Lawrence for the title. Deegan is second in the Pro Motocross championship standings with a 10-point deficit to the leader.

*Haiden Deegan scored podiums in both Motocross rounds of 2023. – Align Media*

Tom Vialle tied his career-best finish of fourth overall with a seventh-place finish in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. Vialle was fourth last week in overall ranking and has one fourth-place finish in the Supercross series that came in the Triple Crown format at Arlington.

Click here for 250 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five with a pair of fifth-place results and 32 points for the round. Even though the deficit is a whopping 61 points, Hampshire climbed to second in the SuperMotocross championship standings now that Jett Lawrence has moved to the big bikes.

Jalek Swoll struggled last week and finished 21st overall at Fox Raceway. This week, he finished on the cusp of 10th in both races with a ninth in Moto 1 and 11th in Moto 2. In the SuperMotocross standings, he has a lot of ground to make up. He currently sits 49th on the chart with a 70-point gap to Chance Hymas, who is on the bubble to earn a guaranteed position in the SMX Mains for the three playoff races that will be held on September.

2023 Motocross Results

Round 1: Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence win

2023 Supercross Results

Round 17: Chase Sexton, Jett Lawrence win
Round 16: Chase Sexton, RJ Hampshire win
Round 15: Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence win
Round 14: Justin Barcia, Max Anstie win
Round 13: Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence win
Round 12: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Round 1: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win