Cooper Webb Wins a Wild Night in Texas with Arlington Supercross Victory
February 26, 2023
Image from Feld Motor Sports, Inc.
PRESS RELEASE FROM FELD MOTOR SPORTS, INC.
Arlington, Texas, (February 26, 2023) Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb earned a dramatic win at round seven of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season inside AT&T Stadium. The race was the second Triple Crown-format event of the 2023 season that combines three Main Event race results to determine the overall finishing order for the night. The event pays points toward both the 17-round Supercross season and the brand-new, 31-round SuperMotocross World Championship.
Team Honda HRC's Chase Sexton took the second place spot with a night of big highs and some frustrating lows. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac went home with third place points at the event directly following his announcement that he will postpone his retirement and compete in the entire 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship series. In the Eastern Regional 250SX Class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Nate Thrasher took the victory with plenty of action and drama en route to 2-2-3 race finishes.
Race 1 of the 450SX Class held enough thrills to be its own event. Eli Tomac grabbed the Holeshot with Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki's Ken Roczen, Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Justin Barcia, and Team Honda HRC's Colt Nichols right behind. Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jason Anderson crashed in the first corner and Sexton was caught up in it. The incident put Sexton well back in the field, showing in 11th position after the first lap. Up front Roczen was keeping Tomac honest. By the midpoint of the race Roczen was alternately gaining and losing ground on Tomac while Sexton had worked up to fifth and Webb was moving forward and up to seventh. With under two minutes left on the race clock Sexton forced his way past Barcia to take third while further up the track Roczen was only .7 seconds behind Tomac. Webb reached Barcia in the final laps, but Barcia was able to hold off the KTM rider. At the checkered flag Roczen had proven he had the speed to run up front in Texas, but the most impressive ride came from Sexton, who had been rapidly closing on the leaders when he ran out of time in the short 12-mintue plus one lap race.
Jason Anderson got off to a much better start in Race 2 with a Holeshot and a clear track ahead. Webb was in second at the Holeshot stripe and Roczen held third ahead of Sexton, Red Bull KTM's Aaron Plessinger, and Tomac. On the opening lap Sexton put his Honda into third but then one turn later slid out before the whoops and gave up the spot to Tomac. Just over four minutes into the race Sexton was on Tomac, who had two close calls while blitzing the whoops. It took a couple laps for Sexton to take back third. Anderson was out to a comfortable lead four seconds ahead of Webb. Sexton was less than two seconds behind Webb and if the first race were any indication Sexton looked poised to reel in both riders. But both Anderson and Webb were flying, and Sexton was never able to get within striking distance. At the checkered flag Anderson won comfortably, Webb took second, Sexton finished third, and Tomac held fourth. Going into the final race Tomac was in the lead for the overall event win with five points, Sexton held six points, Webb was at seven, Roczen had eight, and Anderson sat with nine.
The 450SX Class delivered a dramatic Race 3. Tomac got the Holeshot, Sexton was second at the Holeshot stripe with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Justin Cooper third, Barcia fourth, and Webb fifth. Soon Tomac, Sexton, and Barcia held the top three spots and distanced themselves from the pack. As the race clock ticked down toward eight minutes Barcia got out of shape in the whoops and overshot the berm of the following corner. At nearly the same time Sexton washed out his front end and crashed just one turn further up the track. Sexton got going in time to stay in second but then had Anderson and Webb right on his rear fender. Tomac then crashed in the flat turn after the bridge jump. He remounted in fourth while Sexton took over the race lead and was poised to win the overall for the event. Then Anderson got wild in the whoops and Webb tucked under him to take over second; but Webb was 2.2 seconds behind. Then with 1:34 left on the race clock, a lapper unintentionally pushed Sexton wide, and Webb capitalized. Webb seized the lead and rode perfect to the end. Webb took the race win and the Triple Crown overall. It was Webb's third Triple Crown win, his last coming in 2019. Sexton garnered second for the night and Tomac took third overall even though he'd fallen back to sixth in the final race. The night's points tightened up the battle for the title. Tomac leaves Texas with the red plate, but Webb is back only two points and Sexton is back only five.
The Eastern Regional 250SX Class kicked off the night's racing with Fire Power Honda's Max Anstie grabbing the Holeshot in 250SX Race 1. Team Honda HRC's Hunter Lawrence was quickly into the lead with Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle following, pushing Anstie back to third. A few corners later Nate Thrasher dove into second while Anstie passed Vialle back to reclaim third. Lawrence and Thrasher slowly inched away from the pack as Thrasher edged closer to Lawrence's rear tire in the opening laps. After whittling the gap down to just .7 second a mistake by Thrasher gave Lawrence some breathing room. Anstie held third until the end of the 10-minute plus one lap race. Behind him, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Jordon Smith was the rider on the move, reaching fourth place with just under two minutes left on the race clock. At the finish it was Lawrence, Thrasher, Anstie, Smith, and Vialle.
In the second 250SX Class race Jordon Smith nailed the Holeshot ahead of Hunter Lawrence, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan, and Team Honda HRC's Chance Hymas. Nate Thrasher was sixth at the start stripe but on the opening lap he moved up and made an aggressive contact pass on Lawrence in the corner after the whoops. Lawrence lost two positions while the Yamaha teammates ran first and second. Lawrence got into third place before the race's midpoint and steadily reeled in the Yamaha riders. Soon the top three were within one second of each other, but a mistake from Thrasher sent him sideways over the bridge jump and Lawrence ran into him and went down. With just over a minute left on the race clock the incident put Thrasher out of striking distance for the win. Lawrence picked up his bike and salvaged third. Heading into the final race, Lawrence looked to have the advantage with track speed, but the points were tied between Lawrence and Thrasher with Smith only one point out.
Race 3 was wild from start to finish. Nate Thrasher took the holeshot and early lead while Hunter Lawrence crashed in the first turn. Anstie then hit Lawrence and the Hondas pinned Lawrence down adding extra delay as the pack roared away. Up front Thrasher led Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Michael Mosiman, Jordon Smith, Tom Vialle, and Phoenix Racing Honda's Jace Owen. Lawrence and Anstie started slicing through the pack while up front Smith pressured Mosiman for second. With under four minutes left on the race clock Mosiman crashed under the tunnel and Smith ran into him giving second place to Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha's Jeremy Martin. Thrasher was gone out front with more than a nine second lead. But Thrasher had been racing with an injured ACL in his knee and that possibly contributed to a big crash in the whoops. Thrasher remounted in third, a position would give him the overall event victory. On the final lap Smith crashed hard in the whoops but remounted to finish fifth and earn second overall. Lawrence crossed the line in sixth to take third place overall for the night.
The series returns to Florida next weekend for one of the most physically demanding races of the year, the DAYTONA Supercross. Round 8 of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series and the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship takes place on a Supercross track carved out of the Daytona International Speedway trioval infield. The unique track design will be a look ahead to the three hybrid-track SuperMotocross events in September. Playoff 1 and Playoff 2 pay increasing points that combine with the triple-payout points of the SuperMotocross World Championship Final held inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 23rd.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross series and the SuperMotocross World Championship rounds are all streamed live on Peacock, with select events also broadcast domestically on NBC, USA Network, and CNBC. International coverage can be found through SuperMotocross.tv. Tickets for the DAYTONA Supercross as well as the other nine remaining Supercross events are on sale now. To purchase tickets, read race results and feature stories, and find airtimes on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, and CNBC go to SupercrossLIVE.com.
