2018 Salt Lake City Supercross Results: Musquin Wins; Disaster For Anderson

Jason Anderson’s champagne was put on ice at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as his expected clinching of the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship at the Salt Lake City Supercross round failed to materialize.

After a poor start, Anderson tangled with Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac going into the first turn. Anderson went down and then was forced to the pits to replace a damaged front wheel. Anderson’s closest rival, Marvin Musquin, took the win, staving off elimination and cutting Anderson’s lead to 14 points going into the final round at Las Vegas.

1. Jason Anderson played it safe in his Heat, but didn’t get the start he needed in the Main. Riding to a comfortable fourth place in his Heat, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing FC 450) got a middling gate pick for the Main. That cost Anderson, as he was sandwiched between Barcia and Tomac as they slowed for the first turn. As Anderson went down, Weston Peick’s footpeg looked to have got caught up in Anderson’s front wheel. Anderson remounted, but had to enter the pits to replace his front wheel, which had spokes torn out. The wheel replacement did not go smoothly, and Anderson returned to the race two laps down. Anderson was able to work his way up to 17th place by the end, earning him six points toward the title. Anderson has a defensible 14-point lead going into Las Vegas, which means he can win the title with a ninth place or better at Sam Boyd Stadium.
2. Marvin Musquin did what he needed to do to stay in the championship hunt. With Anderson’s crash and the resulting damage to his bike, Musquin (Red Bull KTM) made the most of the Salt Lake City Supercross Main after qualifying second behind Tomac and winning his Heat. After following Blake Baggett for three laps, Musquin cleanly took the lead and never looked back, leading 23 laps of the 26-lap Main. By Lap 21, Musquin had built up a lead of over nine seconds, and cruised to a six-second win over Eli Tomac. Musquin goes into the final round at Las Vegas 14 points behind Anderson, so Musquin is still a longshot to take the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, but he still has a shot when no one expected the series to go to the final round.
3. Eli Tomac looked like he might make a run at Musquin, but a crash meant he had to settle for second place. When Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) found himself battling with Baggett on Lap 16, the duo was about seven seconds behind Musquin. Tomac made an ill-advised pass attempt on Baggett over a bump on the inside of a left-hander, and he went down. That ended any hope of Tomac avenging his loss to Musquin the previous week, which included Musquin making a hard pass that caused Tomac to crash. Tomac lost a position to Christian Craig in the fall, but remounted to pass both Craig and Baggett to take second place.
4. Blake Baggett returns to the podium after an eight-race dry spell, and into a tie for fourth place in the standings. After scoring three consecutive podiums just before the halfway point of the season, Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) never visited the podium again. He pulled a holeshot in the Salt Lake City Main and held off Musquin for three laps before Musquin took the lead. Baggett then held off Tomac, with Tomac going down. However, Tomac charged back and passed Baggett for second place on Lap 23. Baggett finished a comfortable six seconds clear of fourth place Craig. With his third place finish, Baggett goes into Las Vegas tied with Justin Brayton on points, 264-264, in their battle for the fourth place spot in the Monster Energy Supercross Championship Standings.
5. Justin Brayton ran a lonely sixth place for most of the early evening race. Brayton (Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda) started in sixth, went past a downed Chad Reed on the second lap, and then was passed by Tomac on Lap 6. Other than that, Brayton was on his own, finishing four seconds behind Barcia.
6. Christian Craig’s fourth place matched his best finish of the season as a fill-in rider for Team Honda HRC. Craig started third and held the position until Lap 14 when Tomac breezed by. Craig regained a podium spot when Tomac crashed while attempting to pass Baggett on Lap 16. That was short-lived, as Tomac retook third just three laps later.
7. Tensions will be high in Las Vegas with the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross Championship Title on the line for Anderson and Musquin. Anderson is still in a strong position to take the title—he only needs a ninth or better—but as we saw in Salt Lake City, anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Live coverage of the final round at Sam Boyd Stadium starts at 10 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday, May 5. Keep any eye on our 2018 Monster Energy Supercross TV Schedule for any possible changes.

2018 Salt Lake City Supercross Results, Rice-Eccles Stadium

1. 1. Marvin Musquin, KTM
   2. Eli Tomac, Kawasaki
   3. Blake Baggett, KTM
   4. Christian Craig, Honda
   5. Justin Barcia, Yamaha
   6. Justin Brayton, Honda
   7. Weston Peick, Suzuki
   8. Benny Bloss, KTM
   9. Vince Friese, Honda
   10. Tyler Bowers Kawasaki
   11. Chad Reed, Husqvarna
   12. Kyle Cunningham, Suzuki
   13. Dean Wilson, Husqvarna
   14. Malcolm Stewart, Suzuki
   15. Cedric Soubeyras, Suzuki
   16. Josh Hill, Yamaha
   17. Jason Anderson, Husqvarna
   18. Austin Politelli, Honda
   19. Cody Vanbuskirk, KTM
   20. Scott Champion, Yamaha
   21. Dakota Tedder, KTM
   22. Alex Ray, Yamaha

2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 16 of 17 rounds)

1. Jason Anderson, 338 points (4 wins)
2. Marvin Musquin, 324 (4 wins)
3. Eli Tomac, 292 (7 wins)
4. Justin Brayton, 264 (1 win)
5. Blake Baggett, 264
6. Weston Peick, 235
7. Dean Wilson, 193
8. Broc Tickle, 184
9. Cooper Webb, 181
10. Justin Barcia, 163
11. Malcolm Stewart, 159
12. Vince Friese, 155
13. Chad Reed, 147
14. Tyler Bowers, 146
15. Cole Seely, 124
16. Benny Bloss, 123
17. Christian Craig, 115
18. Ken Roczen, 102
19. Kyle Cunningham, 98
20. Josh Grant, 83
21. Ben Lamay, 71
22. Cedric Soubeyras, 56
23. Kyle Chisholm, 48
24. Jeremy Martin, 36
25. Alex Ray, 28
26. Henry Miller, 22
27. Cole Martinez, 20
28. Dakota Tedder, 20
29. Adam Enticknap, 19
30. Justin Hill, 18
31. Austin Politelli, 16
32. Matt Bisceglia, 15
33. AJ Catanzaro, 13
34. Justin Bogle, 12
35. Josh Hill, 9
36. Brandon Scharer, 9
37. Dylan Merriam, 9
38. Cody Vanbuskirk, 8
39. Deven Raper, 6
40. Bradley Taft, 5
41. Jake Weimer, 5
42. Justin Starling, 5
43. Scott Champion, 5
44. Carlen Gardner, 5
45. Collin Jurin, 4
46. Theodore Pauli, 3
47. Dustin Pipes, 2
48. Nick Schmidt, 1