2018 Atlanta Supercross Results and Coverage |
Anderson Takes Triple Crown Win

The Triple Crown format returned to Monster Energy AMA Supercross for the first time since Anaheim 2. With it came some excellent racing in the Georgia clay at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The 2018 Atlanta Supercross podium—Jason Anderson, Marvin Musquin, Eli Tomac—is a familiar one, yet there was plenty of drama along the way.

1. Jason Anderson had an outstanding winning night, riding both fast and smart. After scoring a second in Main 1 and a win in Main 2 (leading every lap), Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) played it safe in Main 3. Rather than tangling with the likes of Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, he gave them plenty of room to pass in Main 3, as he needed only a sixth place to clinch the win. Anderson soundly beat protagonists Tomac and Musquin in the first two Mains, allowing him the luxury of a safe and sane third Main. Anderson took advantage of that, and stretched his lead to 42 points over Musquin with less than half of the Supercross season remaining.

2. Marvin Musquin was doomed by mediocre starts in the first two Mains. A seventh place start for Musquin (Red Bull KTM) in the 13-lap Main 1 could only be improved to a fifth place, and a ninth place start in the 15-lap Main 2 resulted in a fifth place. That put Musquin six points behind Anderson going into Main 3. Musquin started third in Main 3, passed a downed Blake Baggett on the Lap 3, and then holeshotter Christian Craig on Lap 5. From there, no one showed Musquin a wheel and he led Tomac by a consistent three seconds for the last half of Main 3. It is Musquin’s fourth consecutive second-place finish. While consistent and impressive, Musquin needs to win to catch Anderson in the Supercross Championship Series points.

3. It just wasn’t quite Eli Tomac’s night, but he did dodge a huge bullet. Tomac’s bad start in Main 1 seemed to take the wind out of his sails. Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) finished fifth in Main 1 after a ninth place start, but also was passed by Musquin near the end of the race. Tomac was in third place every lap of Main 2, unable to catch Cooper Webb, but able to hold off Baggett. Tomac took a second place in Main 3, and looked like he might challenge Musquin at one point. However, Tomac made a mistake in the rhythm section that could have knocked him out of the race, but a brilliant save bailed him out. Tomac moves into fifth place in the points, but he is 70 points behind Anderson with eight rounds remaining, as well as 35 points shy of Musquin.

4. Justin Brayton took a big win in a wild Main 1, but couldn’t back it up. The top six riders in Main 1 were extremely close most of the race, with any of them being potential winners of the race. Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda) took the lead after Christian Craig went down at the midway point, then withstood a withering amount of pressure to impressively take the win. Despite top 7 starts in Mains 2 and 3, Brayton could only muster a pair of sixth place finishes for a fourth-place overall. With that, Brayton takes sole control of fourth place in the standings, as Weston Peick faltered.

5. Cooper Webb has to be wondering what-if. Webb (Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing) went 2-3 in Mains 2 and 3. Unfortunately, in Main 1, Webb came together midpack with Peick on Lap 5 and they both went down. Peick was out for Main 1, and Webb was at the back and only able to work his way up to 14^th Even then, sixth place overall is a good result for Webb, who jumped from 10^th to 7^th in the Supercross Championship Series standings, moving ahead of the injured Cole Seely and Justin Barcia, as well as Broc Tickle (who also suffered a crash at Atlanta).

6. Christian Craig led 11 laps over two Mains at Atlanta. Filling in on Team Honda HRC for the injured Seely and Ken Roczen, Craig pulled holeshots in Mains 1 and 3. Craig led more than half of Main 1 before going down and finishing in sixth. After leading Main 3 for four laps, he faded to fifth place. Add in a seventh in Main 2, which is where he finished Lap 1, and Craig scores fifth overall on his first fill-in ride of 2018.

7. Baggett was on track for an overall podium position, and then lightning struck in Main 3. Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) quietly went 3-4 in Mains 1 and 2. He was in second place in Main 3, right on Craig’s rear fender, when it appeared Baggett missed a shift in the rhythm section. He went down hard and a wrist injury put him out for the night. However, his 3-4-18 combo was good enough for seventh place, allowing him to retain third place in the series standings.

8. Chad Reed had a strong start in Main 1 and converted that to his first top 10 of the year. Reed (CR22/Husqvarna) was in the top 5 early in Main 1 before dropping down to seventh place. He dropped to 15^th in Main 2 after a mediocre start, and then rebounded for ninth in Main 3. Put them all together and he beats out Benny Bloss for 10^th place overall by a point. The 11^th place finish for Bloss (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) was also his best of 2018.

9. It was a tough Saturday for Weston Peick. After a brutal crash in qualifying, Peick came into the evening hurting. Coming together with Webb in Main 1 resulted in a 19^th place finish, so it wasn’t going to be a good overall for Peick. He characteristically battled back to go 8-7 in the other two Mains, for 12^th The difficult night for Peick dropped him from fourth in the series standings to sixth place, as he was passed by Brayton and Tomac.

10. Justin Hill’s run in the 450SX class came to an abrupt end. He was a front-runner last week in Tampa, and second-fastest qualifier at Atlanta as a fill-in rider for Autotrader/JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing. However, Hill crashed hard on a big triple on the first lap of Main 1, breaking a toe.

Photography by Simon Cudby

2018 Atlanta Supercross Results, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta

1. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna, 2-1-4
2. Marvin Musquin, KTM, 4-5-1
3. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki, 5-3-2
4. Justin Brayton, Honda, 1-6-6
5. Christian Craig, Honda, 6-7-5
6. Cooper Webb, Yamaha, 14-2-3
7. Blake Baggett, KTM, 3-4-18
8. Dean Wilson, Husqvarna, 9-10-10
9. Malcolm Stewart, Suzuki, 8-9-12
10. Chad Reed, Husqvarna, 7-15-9
11. Benny Bloss, KTM, 11-13-8
12. Weston Peick, Suzuki, 19-8-7
13. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha, 13-11-13
14. Tyler Bowers, Kawasaki, 10-17-11
15. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki, 12-12-16
16. Cole Martinez, Husqvarna, 15-19-14
17. Cedric Soubeyras, Suzuki, 18-18-15
18. Matt Bisceglia, Suzuki, 16-16-20
19. Broc Tickle, KTM, 22-14-19
20. Ben Lamay, Honda, 21-20-17
21. Vince Friese, Honda, 17-22-22
22. Justin Hill, Suzuki, 20-21-21

2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 9 of 17 rounds)

1. Jason Anderson, 207 points (4 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 165 (1 win)
3. Blake Baggett, 150
4. Justin Brayton, 144
5. Eli Tomac, 137 (4 wins)
6. Weston Peick, 136
7. Cooper Webb, 125
8. Cole Seely, 124
9. Broc Tickle, 118
10. Justin Barcia, 113
11. Ken Roczen, 102
12. Dean Wilson, 85
13. Josh Grant, 83
14. Malcolm Stewart, 82
15. Vince Friese, 81
16. Chad Reed, 70
17. Tyler Bowers, 60
18. Kyle Cunningham, 49
19. Ben Lamay, 42
20. Benny Bloss, 39
21. Jeremy Martin, 36
22. Kyle Chisholm, 30
23. Alex Ray, 22
24. Cole Martinez, 20
25. Christian Craig, 18
26. Justin Hill, 18
27. Matthew Bisceglia, 15
28. Adam Enticknap, 12
29. Justin Bogle, 12
30. Dakota Tedder, 10
31. AJ Catanzaro, 7
32. Cedric Soubeyras, 6
33. Justin Starling, 5
34. Jacob Weimer, 5
35. Henry Miller, 5
36. Austin Politelli, 4
37. Brandon Scharer, 3