2018 St. Louis Supercross Results: Tomac Easily Takes Win #5

There wasn’t much of a race at the St. Louis round of the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series. The riders quickly spread out on the fast, treacherous track. Passes were few and far between. Eli Tomac won the St. Louis Supercross by a staggering 20 seconds, and third place Marvin Musquin never challenged runner-up and series leader Jason Anderson. With six rounds remaining, Anderson extends his lead over Musquin to 42 points.

1. Eli Tomac nabbed the holeshot and led the St. Louis Supercross all the way to the checkers. It wasn’t even close. Early on the first lap, Anderson was running in second place and missed a jump. Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) had a nearly two second lead after the first lap, consistently building on it throughout the 27-lap Main Event. Tomac now leads in wins for the year with five victories, but is still 60 points behind Anderson. Tomac passed Blake Baggett in the standings, and Tomac is now in fourth place.

2. Jason Anderson put in a Championship winning ride. Rather than worry about Tomac, who is far behind him in points, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) established himself in second place for the race. Anderson finished well ahead of Musquin, Anderson’s closest rival in the points. Anderson safely put in the laps and picked up 23 points, putting him 42 points ahead of Musquin. That is a seven-points-per-round lead, which is virtually insurmountable as long as Anderson continues to finish races. If anyone thought the seventh place last week in Daytona—Anderson’s worst finish of the year—would rattle him, those hopes were dashed. Anderson has podiumed in all but three races, and two of those were fourth place finishes. As Anderson said on the podium, “Points are cool.”

   

3. Although Marvin Musquin finished a lonely and distant third, he rode a smart race. Musquin (Red Bull KTM) has to know that he can no longer catch Anderson in the series on the track. So, instead of pushing excessively and risking a crash or injury, Musquin looks to be playing a waiting game. Should some misfortune prevent Anderson from finishing a couple of Main Events, Musquin is there to pick up the pieces. At this point, it’s the only way Musquin will win the Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

   

4. Justin Brayton followed up his Daytona victory with a strong St. Louis ride. Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda) didn’t get the start he needed in the Main. He was seventh at the start, and was able to work his way up to fourth place—Brayton’s third fourth-place of the year. To get there, he passed Weston Peick and Christian Craig on Lap 2, and then Broc Tickle two laps later. From there, it was a solitary ride for Brayton, who was over 32 seconds behind Tomac at the end, and eight seconds shy of Musquin.

   

5. Weston Peick returned to the Top 5 since his run of three fifth-places to start the season. Peick’s MO this season has been great starts, followed by fading back to fifth. At the St. Louis Supercross, Peick (Autotrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing) started eighth and worked his way up. Peick passed Craig and Malcolm Stewart on Lap 2, and held steady in sixth place for a while. Peick passed Broc Tickle for fifth place on Lap 12, and that was as far as he could move up.

6. A sixth place is Blake Baggett’s best non-podium finish of the year. Other than his three consecutive podiums a third of the way into the Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series season, Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) hasn’t finished higher than seventh place, which he has done three times. Baggett is still recovering from injury, so it is a good ride after the ninth place in Daytona.

7. Christian Craig has been brought back to earth. Filling in on Team Honda HRC for injured Ken Roczen and Cole Seely, Craig had a fifth in Atlanta and a fourth place finish in Daytona. Lacking a good start in St. Louis—he was sixth—his expected fade took him back to ninth place. Still, that’s a good result for a fill-in rider.

8. Cooper Webb didn’t get to follow-up on his Daytona podium. Webb (Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Racing) injured his shoulder during the week, and then had a scary crash in practice. He called it a night and didn’t line up for a Heat. That’s gotta hurt, as Webb was on a 6-4-6-3 run after a terrible start to the year.Photography by Simon Cudby

2018 St. Louis Supercross Results, The Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis

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

 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 11 of 17 rounds)

1. Jason Anderson, 246 points (4 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 204 (1 win)
3. Justin Brayton, 189 (1 win)
4. Eli Tomac, 186 (5 wins)
5. Blake Baggett, 181
6. Weston Peick, 171
7. Broc Tickle, 147
8. Cooper Webb, 146
9. Cole Seely, 124
10. Dean Wilson, 115
11. Justin Barcia, 113
12. Ken Roczen, 102
13. Malcolm Stewart, 102
14. Vince Friese, 98
15. Josh Grant, 83
16. Chad Reed, 82
17. Tyler Bowers, 78
18. Kyle Cunningham, 67
19. Benny Bloss, 63
20. Christian Craig, 51
21. Ben Lamay, 51
22. Kyle Chisholm, 48
23. Jeremy Martin, 36
24. Alex Ray, 22
25. Cole Martinez, 20
26. Justin Hill, 18
27. Adam Enticknap, 17
28. Matthew Bisceglia, 15
29. Cedric Soubeyras, 14
30. Dakota Tedder, 14
31. Justin Bogle, 12
32. AJ Catanzaro, 10
33. Bradley Taft, 5
34. Justin Starling, 5
35. Jake Weimer, 5
36. Henry Miller, 5
37. Dylan Merriam, 4
38. Austin Politelli, 4
39. Brandon Scharer, 3
40. Scott Champion, 2
41. Carlen Gardner, 2