2018 St. Louis Supercross Preview | Anderson Up By 40

With seven rounds remaining in the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series, Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson holds a commanding 40-point lead over KTM’s Marvin Musquin.

If Anderson podiums the rest of the way, he will be the Supercross Champion. However, if we have learned anything about the 2018 Supercross season, it’s that the unexpected is the norm. Here is what to look for at the 2018 St. Louis Supercross round at The Dome at America’s Center.

1. It is hard to imagine the 2018 St. Louis Supercross being wilder than last week in Daytona. Of course, every week something dramatic happens, so it’s all about wondering how we will be surprised this week. Who would have thought that Anderson, Musquin, and Eli Tomac would all crash at least once in the Main? We also would say that very few Fantasy Supercross players picked Justin Brayton to win.

2. Jason Anderson survived his first bad night of 2018. After getting a bad start and then crashing, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing FC 450) survived Daytona with only a two-point loss in his lead. Given that Musquin (Red Bull KTM 450 SX-F) needs to make up over five points per round, that is actually a gain for Anderson, even though he finished in seventh place. Expect Anderson to return to his previous strategy of always finishing in the top 4.

3. Justin Brayton didn’t just win in Daytona, he also moved into second place in the series standings. Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda CRF450R) started the year strong, but had a rough run of 9-6-10-10 in rounds 5 through 8. Since then, Brayton has a fourth in Atlanta and a record-setting win in Daytona—he now holds the title of Oldest Supercross Winner, as he turns 34 this week. Brayton rode a smart race as the favorites hit the dirt, so we’ll have to wait and see what he will do coming off his first-ever Supercross win.

4. Marvin Musquin knows he missed a huge opportunity in Daytona. With Anderson finishing in seventh place, Musquin had a chance to pick up 10 points on Anderson. Instead, Musquin crashed twice and gained just two points on Anderson—a huge psychological win for Anderson. At this point, Musquin needs to start winning so that he can take advantage if Anderson has a DNF for any reason. It will take something extraordinary to happen for Musquin to win the Supercross championship, as he hasn’t won a round since the opener in Anaheim.

5. Eli Tomac surely feels as though he can win out for the rest of the year. Coming from last in Daytona, Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F) stormed up to second place and even made Brayton a little nervous. Remember that Tomac has won every Main Event that he has raced in and didn’t crash in (Triple Crowns excluded, of course). Still, even if Tomac has a run of seven straight wins starting in St. Louis, he will need to make up an average of nine points per round to catch Anderson, which equals a string of sixths for Anderson—highly unlikely.

6. Cooper Webb will be looking to repeat his podium result. The first third of the season was tough for Webb (Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing) with no top 6 finishes. However, in the last four races, Webb has gone 6-4-6-3. He looks to have both speed and consistency back. While it’s always tough to get on the podium, now that Webb has done it once in 2018, he will surely want to quickly return to the box.

7. Blake Baggett is a great unknown. After having scored three podiums in a row in Oakland, San Diego, and Arlington, things have not gone well for Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM). He got a poor start in Tampa, and then fell and finished ninth. Baggett hurt his wrist in Atlanta, and finished seventh before going to Daytona and coming in ninth again. Baggett has three ninths and three podiums this year. If his wrist is healed up for St. Louis we could see the podium Baggett, but we probably won’t have an idea until qualifying practice.

8. The 2018 St. Louis Supercross will be shown live on FS1 at 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Having said that, we saw what happened at Daytona. FS1 missed the 250SX Heats, cut off Brayton’s celebration, and skipped the interviews with Musquin and Webb on the podium. It was not a good night for Fox Sports 1. Let’s hope they do better at St. Louis.

2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 10 of 17 rounds):

1. Jason Anderson, 223 points (4 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 183 (1 win)
3. Justin Brayton, 170 (1 win)
4. Blake Baggett, 164
5. Eli Tomac, 160 (4 wins)
6. Weston Peick, 153
7. Cooper Webb, 146
8. Broc Tickle, 131
9. Cole Seely, 124
10. Justin Barcia, 113
11. Ken Roczen, 102
12. Dean Wilson, 100
13. Malcolm Stewart, 89
14. Vince Friese, 87
15. Josh Grant, 83
16. Chad Reed, 81
17. Tyler Bowers, 69
18. Kyle Cunningham, 57
19. Benny Bloss, 51
20. Ben Lamay, 45
21. Kyle Chisholm, 40
22. Christian Craig, 37
23. Jeremy Martin, 36
24. Alex Ray, 22
25. Cole Martinez, 20
26. Justin Hill, 18
27. Matthew Bisceglia, 15
28. Dakota Tedder, 14
29. Adam Enticknap, 12
30. Justin Bogle, 12
31. Cedric Soubeyras, 7
32. AJ Catanzaro, 7
33. Bradley Taft, 5
34. Justin Starling, 5
35. Jake Weimer, 5
36. Henry Miller, 5
37. Austin Politelli, 4
38. Brandon Scharer, 3
39. Carlen Gardner, 2