Eli Tomac Back on the 450 SX Podium at Seattle

Eli Tomac (Star Racing/Yamaha) raced his way back to a share of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship points lead on Saturday, putting up a masterful, virtually mistake-free performance at Seattle’s Lumen Field for the premier 450 class victory, and tying Cooper Webb (KTM) in the overall class points lead (248-248). The win, his career 50th, also puts Tomac in a 2nd place tie with the legendary James “Bubba” Stewart for 2nd place in all-time supercross wins.

Charging hard and to the early lead in the 450 main event was Monster Energy’s Chase Sexton (Honda). But a mistake ten laps in would put the previous round (Detroit) winner on the ground, and Tomac blazed by for the lead. Webb would attempt to reel in Tomac, but the Monster Energy racer was back on point after a couple of off weeks (Indianapolis and Detroit), winning the 23-lap main by nearly five seconds over Webb.

Also in the 450 main, Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson overcame a mediocre start to catch, and pass, two of the hotter racers on the circuit (Sexton & Suzuki’s Ken Roczen) to place 4th. Sexton would rebound and bring ‘er home in 5th, with Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) a few spots back in 8th. Justin Hill (Monster Energy/Tedder Racing) rounded out the top ten with another solid performance in 10th.

The 250 class returned to the Western Region and Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) picked up right where he left off, racing to another podium finish (3rd) and holding onto his 3rd overall position in the 250 WSX standings. Monster Energy’s Levi Kitchen (Star Racing/Yamaha) raced to a solid 6th place finish while Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki racer Carson Mumford, who picked up injured Austin Forkner’s ride and made his debut at Seattle, managed a descent top ten (8th) place finish. Also noteworthy on the 250s at Seattle was the performance of Stilez Robertson (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) who pulled the holeshot and led the first four laps before crashing out of the contest. Word on Robertson’s condition later in the week from Star Racing’s officials.

Seattle 450 class results                                             250 WSX class results

1st - Tomac (Monster/Star/Yamaha)                           3rd - McAdoo (Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki)

4th - Anderson (Monster/Kawasaki)                           6th - Kitchen (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

5th - Sexton (Monster/Honda)                                     8th - Mumford (Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki)

Overall Standings (11 of 17 rounds)

450 class                                                                     250 WSX class

1st - Tomac, 248 points (tie, Webb)                            3rd - McAdoo, 101 points

3rd - Sexton, 226 points                                              6th - Kitchen, 80 points

4th - Anderson, 199 points (tie, Roczen)                    10th - Robertson, 53 points

450

Rebounding from a tough get off at the Indianapolis SX three weeks ago, Tomac qualified in the 5th spot, nearly a second-and-a-half back of top qualifier Sexton (50.7 to 51.9). In total, Monster Energy racers put up four of the top five fastest qualifying times, with Cianciarulo (2nd) and Anderson (3rd) on it as well. In the main event Sexton would take the lead early in the race, and looked to be in control with a near three second lead – much like he was in his ride to victory the previous weekend in Detroit. Tomac would show speed early as well, parlaying a powerful line through the whoop section to pass then current 450 point leader Webb on Lap 3, Cianciarulo on Lap 4 and the race’s 2nd place rider, Roczen, on Lap 6. And no sooner did Tomac begin to bear down and reel in the leader Sexton, did Sexton miscalculate a rut and wound up endo’ing his bike. Sexton would remount in 4th position, but Tomac had seized the opportunity – and blown by for the lead on Lap 10. As Tomac continued to gain momentum, particularly in the whoop section, he put time on Webb. Then Webb would claw back, only to have Tomac put the hammer down and extend his lead again. During this time Anderson put on a huge charge towards the front, with consistent laps in the 52 to 53-second range through the mid portion of the contest – allowing him to pass much of the field (including Sexton, Roczen and KTM’s Aaron Plessinger). The well-deserved checkers went to Tomac, with Anderson (4th) and Sexton (5th) rounding out the top five for Monster Energy.

250 WSX

Monster Energy’s Robertson, who had a great start in his heat race, ripped out the Seattle 250 main start gate for the holeshot and early lead. Robertson, in 2nd place behind Jett Lawrence (Honda) a few laps later, would lose his balance in the whoop section, get sideways, then tossed violently to the track. He was unable to return to the race. From there McAdoo took over for Monster Energy, battling feverously with Husqvarna rider RJ Hampshire in pursuit of Lawrence. Grabbing the Seattle fans’ attention, McAdoo and Hampshire would trade spots multiple times before, ultimately, Hampshire caught McAdoo on the white flag lap with a sharp inside move into a bowl turn, exiting in 2nd, with McAdoo earning 3rd. Starting in 7th place, Kitchen would put in a consistent performance, just missing the top five in 6th place. And Mumford, who joined Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki for the Seattle round, would bring his KX250 home in a respectable 8th place.

Notes & Quotes

“I needed that bounce back,” said Tomac. “It was almost like I was in a little bit of a slump the past couple weeks… just a little bit off. I’m feeling much better now.”

“You’ve got to be more aware. That’s one’s completely on him and he’s gonna have to own that,” said NBC TV announcer Ricky Carmichael of Sexton’s main event crash while leading.

“He got a burst of something. Maybe cracked a Monster. And he is back up in it.” – said NBC announcer Todd Harris on Webb’s pursuit of Roczen for 2nd place.

Seattle’s 1-2 finish for Tomac and Webb was the fifth time this season that those two have finished 1-2. Also, Tomac has won three of the last four races at Seattle.

So far this season Anderson has made the top ten in all 11 rounds. He placed 4th at Seattle.

In 250 qualifying Monster Energy was led by Kitchen in 3rd (51.841) and Mumford in 4th (52.286).

Kitchen, a Washington local, was enjoying his hometown race at Seattle’s Lumen Field. The crowd definitely got behind him during qualifying, heats and, especially, the 250 main. Kitchen is the only racer to have beat WSX point leader Jett Lawrence this season, doing to at the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown.

“The track was really demanding tonight. It did change a lot and the key thing was to get off the rhythms every time. We (including Hampshire) were swapping back and forth,” said McAdoo, who’s podium finish at Seattle was his fourth of the 250 WSX season.

Mumford, who made his debut for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki this weekend, was supposed to debut at the Oakland SX. But an off-season injury (wrist) and more recent training injury (leg) postponed his first race until Seattle.

The latest on Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner, who was injured (knee) at the 250 WSX start at Anaheim 1, is that he’s hoping to return toward the end of the MX Nationals season (August). Mumford has Forkner’s ride with the team.

For core fans of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, CNBC will re-air the Seattle Supercross on Monday, March 27th, 1 a.m. EST (10 p.m. PST, Sunday the 26th).