Tampa Supercross Results and Coverage |
Tomac, Musquin, and Anderson On Top
Monster Energy AMA Supercross returned to Tampa for the first time since 1999. With all the drama, everyone in the stands had to be holding their breaths, but at the end the riders expected to be on the podium were there, with Eli Tomac winning, followed by Marvin Musquin and series leader Jason Anderson. Here’s what you need to know about another mind-bending night of Supercross.
1. The track was the big star at Raymond James Stadium. There was a long lane of deep sand, a fascinatingly complicated rhythm section, a tricky chicane, and a number of slick flat turns. Although there were huge gaps between the riders at the end of the Main, early racing was highly competitive and unpredictable. There were plenty of places to pass, so when another rider was close, a good battle resulted.
2. Eli Tomac wins again, though it wasn’t quite so easy this week. Although Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) qualified first, he had to settle for a second place finish in his Heat behind Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series leader Jason Anderson. Tomac’s riding in the Main was mixed early on. After a second place start, he battled with Cooper Webb for the lead, taking it on Lap 2 (of 26). However, Marvin Musquin chased Tomac down to take the lead on Lap 4, with temp rider Justin Hill passing Tomac a lap later. However, Hill went down, putting Tomac back in second. Tomac chased down Musquin and passed him on Lap 15. There was a bit of a skirmish between Tomac and Musquin, however Tomac eventually pulled away and won with a comfortable 4.5-second lead over Musquin.
3. The Curse of 2nd Place strikes again. For the third consecutive week, the rider who was second in series points got injured. Following in the footsteps of Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia, this time it was Cole Seely (Team Honda HRC) who went down hard. In his Heat he came up short on a jump. Seely got hit by his bike, and the race had to be red flagged to get Seely off the track. According to Honda Powersports’ Twitter feed, Seely suffered a broken pelvis and tailbone—surgery to come. Marvin Musquin takes over second in points, and must be feeling nervous.
4. Marvin Musquin led nearly half the race, but couldn’t hold off Tomac. After passing Tomac early, it looked like Musquin (Red Bull KTM) might return to the top of the podium. After passing Tomac and Webb early, Musquin built up a two-second lead by Lap 9. That’s when Tomac started chipping away at it. Musquin held off Tomac for a couple of laps, and even repassed Tomac in the chicane after getting passed. Musquin was quickly passed back by Tomac who was faster than Musquin in every one of the final 17 laps of the Main in Tampa. Musquin’s third second-place in a row moves him up to second place in the standings, 39 points behind Anderson.
5. Jason Anderson rode a quiet trouble-free race and made the podium. Getting a mediocre sixth place start in the Main, after a holeshot in his Heat, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) picked riders off in a methodical manner. He passed Weston Peick (Lap 5), Justin Hill (Lap 7, after Hill crashed), and Cooper Webb (Lap 10) to put himself on the podium. Anderson was in touch with Tomac and Musquin, but eventually fell out of contention. At the end, Anderson was 12 seconds behind Tomac, who he had beaten in their Heat race.
6. Justin Hill made a splashy 450SX debut at the 2018 Tampa Supercross. The reigning 250SX West Champion won his Heat race, and was running right up front in the Main. Hill (Autotrader/JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing) got off to a fourth place start and passed the likes of Webb and Tomac before battling with Musquin for the lead. Two ferocious laps later, Hill miscalculated in a turn on Lap 7, hitting Musquin’s rear wheel. That put Hill onto the dirt and back to eighth place before he got settled. Hill eventually repassed teammate Malcolm Stewart, and later battled with another teammate, Weston Peick. As Hill was pressuring Peick in the sand section, Peick swapped out and fell. Hill will go to bed tonight wondering what-if.
7. Blake Baggett’s run of podiums came to an abrupt halt. After scoring three third-place finishes in a row, Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) got off to a 13th place start, and dropped to last place the next lap. Baggett battled back, but was only able to make his way up to ninth place. However, with Seely not qualifying due to a crash injury, Baggett remains in third place in the standing, though he now sits behind Musquin. Baggett trails Musquin by eight points and is 47 behind Anderson.
8. Cooper Webb, Dean Wilson, and Malcolm Stewart all had their best nights of 2018. Webb (Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing) led the first lap, but was quickly punted back to fourth place. He regained a podium position when Hill fell, but Anderson went by Webb on Lap 10, and Webb settled for a strong fourth. Wilson, who suffered an early shoulder injury, is hitting his stride. Wilson has bettered his position every single race this year, going from an 18th at A2 to a seventh at Tampa. Stewart, who stepped in as a fill-in rider at the second round for the Autotrader/JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing team, made his way to the top 10 for the first time in 2018 with an eighth. Stewart’s previous bests were three 11th place finishes.
9. Justin Brayton and Weston Peick had bad nights. Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda) sits in fourth place in the Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series standing, but he has two 10th place finishes in a row. A bad start ruined the Main for Brayton. Peick (Autotrader/JGR/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing) was running as high as fifth place. Broc Tickle—who had a nice fifth place finish on his Red Bull KTM—passed Peick on Lap 15 and a lap later Peick crashed in the sand while defending himself from Hill. Brayton and Peick leave Tampa tied in points at 125, and sharing fourth place.
10. Chad Reed took sole ownership of the Most Mains Started record in Supercross with 228 Main starts. Although Chad took the record from Mike LaRocco, he didn’t do it in style. Reed had to go to the LCQ to make the Main, and in the Main he was running outside of the top 10 until he had a motor problem and called it a night. Reed is 16th in the standings, despite appearing in every Main.
11. Just short of the midway point in the season, eight riders have made all eight Mains. Making the list are Anderson, Baggett, Brayton, Peick, Tickle, Webb, Reed, and Vince Friese. On the other end, in addition to sixth-place Hill, there were two riders making the Main for the first time in 2018—Justin Starling (18th) and Brandon Scharer (20th).
2018 Tampa Supercross Results, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
1. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
2. Marvin Musquin, KTM
3. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
4. Cooper Webb, Yamaha
5. Broc Tickle, KTM
6. Justin Hill, Suzuki
7. Dean Wilson, Husqvarna
8. Malcolm Stewart, Suzuki
9. Blake Baggett, KTM
10. Justin Brayton, Honda
11. Vince Friese, Honda
12. Weston Peick, Suzuki
13. Kyle Chisholm, Yamaha
14. Tyler Bowers, Kawasaki
15. Cole Martinez, Husqvarna
16. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki
17. Ben Lamay, Honda
18. Justin Starling, Husqvarna
19. Matt Bisceglia, Suzuki
20. Brandon Scharer, Yamaha
21. Chad Reed, Husqvarna
22. Benny Bloss, KTM
2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 8 of 17 rounds)
1. Jason Anderson, 181 points (3 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 142 (1 win)
3. Blake Baggett, 134
4. Justin Brayton, 125
5. Weston Peick, 125
6. Cole Seely, 124
7. Eli Tomac, 116 (4 wins)
8. Broc Tickle, 114
9. Justin Barcia, 113
10. Cooper Webb, 108
11. Ken Roczen, 102
12. Josh Grant, 83
13. Vince Friese, 79
14. Dean Wilson, 70
15. Malcolm Stewart, 68
16. Chad Reed, 57
17. Tyler Bowers, 51
18. Kyle Cunningham, 41
19. Ben Lamay, 39
20. Jeremy Martin, 36
21. Benny Bloss, 27
22. Alex Ray, 22
23. Kyle Chisholm, 20
24. Justin Hill, 17
25. Cole Martinez, 13
26. Adam Enticknap, 12
27. Justin Bogle, 12
28. Matthew Bisceglia, 10
29. Dakota Tedder, 10
30. AJ Catanzaro, 7
31. Jake Weimer, 5
32. Justin Starling, 5
33. Henry Miller, 5
34. Austin Politelli, 4
35. Brandon Scharer, 3
