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.
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.
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
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