After a weekend off the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship returns this weekend for round 12 in Glendale.
Stats and Images courtesy of Feld Motor Sports, Inc
On the 450 front, Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb are tied on points, who will break the gridlock this weekend? Is the title chase now just between these two or can Chase Sexton go on an end-of-season Winning streak like Jason Anderson did last year? It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
The 250 action see’s the West resume their battle which as it stands sees Jett Lawrence pretty much unstoppable but can RJ Hampshire step up to the plate a take the scalp of the Australian before the season’s out??
450 Class Recap: Seattle
Eli 50mac: Eli Tomac scored his 50th 450SX Class victory in Seattle tying James Stewart for second on the all-time 450SX Class wins list. ET 450SX Stats: 158th start (10th all-time), 92nd podium (fourth all-time), 116th top-five (fifth all-time), and 143rd top-10 (fifth all-time). SMX Wins: ET sits third all-time in SMX wins with 106. James Stewart (114) and Ricky Carmichael (161) are the only riders that are ahead of him. SMX Titles: ET sits fifth by himself with eight SMX titles (3 SX/5 MX), one more than Stewart. Ryan Dungey sits right ahead of him in fourth with nine titles.
Tie Needs Breaking: Going into the series break Cooper Webb and Tomac are tied for the points lead. Webb was making his 102nd 450SX Class start and scored his 54th podium with a runner-up finish, tying Jeff Stanton for 12th on the all-time podiums list. It was his sixth runner-up finish of the season and second in-a-row.
So Close Sexton: Chase Sexton (5th) threw away yet another win with a wreck while leading in Seattle. He has done this while leading or contending in Tampa, Oakland, and Indianapolis as well. Additionally, he let a lapper take his Arlington Triple Crown overall away from him and was docked down to fourth-place points in his Detroit victory. Sexton did recover for fifth in Seattle, his 28th top-five finish through his first 38 450SX Class starts.
Notes: Justin Barcia (3rd) tied Jeff Emig for 29th on the all-time podiums list; Grant Harlan (13th) earned a career best 450SX Class finish; Kyle Chisholm (18th) made his 150th 450SX Class start, good for 12th on the all-time list; Cole Seely (21st) made his 80th 450SX Class start and his first since 2019; Cade Clason (22nd) made his 45th career 450SX Class start; For the 20th Time in 450SX Class history a different brand finished in the top-six in the results (Yamaha, KTM, GasGas, Kawasaki, Honda, and Suzuki). The all-time record is eight at the 1975 Daytona Supercross (Can-am, Honda, Husqvarna, Bultaco, Kawasaki, Maico, Suzuki, and Yamaha).
450 Class: Arizona Historical Facts
History Lesson: The First 450SX Class race held in Arizona was on May 10, 1986 in Tempe’s Sun Devil Stadium and Rick Johnson won on a Honda. Sun Devil Stadium hosted four more races through 1998 before the series moved to Chase Field in Phoenix from 1999-2015. State Farm Stadium in Glendale became the home of the Arizona Supercross in 2016 and has only missed one season since.
Breaking it Down: Arizona has hosted five races in Tempe, 17 in Phoenix, and six in Glendale. This will be the 29th race held in the Arizona market and the seventh for Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
Thrice as Nice: For the third time in-a-row Glendale will be a Triple Crown event. The 2020 Glendale Triple Crown featured Ken Roczen pulling the only sweep so far of any of the 13 previous 450SX Class Triple Crown events. Eli Tomac won in 2022 with a 1-1-3 score. Glendale will join Anaheim and Arlington as cities to host three Triple Crown events.
Championship %: The winner of the Glendale Supercross is only 1/6 in winning the 450SX Class title. Tomac last year was the first rider to pull it off. Arizona Supercross winners overall are 14/28 (50%) in winning the 450SX Class title.
450 Class: Arizona Winners
Manufacturer Wins in Arizona (Last Win)
Kawasaki: 9 (’18)
Honda: 8 (’20)
Yamaha: 5 (’22)
Suzuki: 4 (’16)
KTM: 2 (’19)
Top Winners in Arizona
1) Ricky Carmichael: 4 (’01- ’02, ’05- ’06)
1) James Stewart: 4 (’07- ‘09, ’11)
1) Eli Tomac: 4 (’15, ’17- ’18, ‘22)
4) Ryan Dungey: 2 (’10, ’12)
4) Ken Roczen: 2 (’16, ‘20)
First-Time Winners in Arizona
2010: Ryan Dungey, Suzuki
2013: Justin Barcia, Honda
2015: Eli Tomac, Honda
2019: Blake Baggett, KTM
250 Class Recap: Seattle
250 Class Recap: Seattle
Back-to-Back Bros: Jett Lawrence completed a back-to-back weekend sweep with his brother Hunter of the Eastern Regional 250SX Class series when he nabbed his 11th career 250SX Class victory in Seattle. Jett has now tied a slew of riders for ninth on the all-time 250SX Class wins list: Carmichael, Villopoto, Webb, Jeff Matiasevich, Kevin Windham, Christophe Pourcel, Barcia, and Adam Cianciarulo.
Runner-Up RJ: RJ Hampshire cruised to his fourth runner-up finish in Seattle, good for his 11th career 250SX Class podium. He has four podiums on the season after only securing seven in his first eight seasons of 250SX Class racing. He is now tied with Dean Wilson for 16th on the all-time 250SX Class top-fives list with 27 and tied with Branden Jesseman and Ryan Morais for 18th on the all-time 250SX Class top-tens list with 42.
75: Mitchell Oldenburg (9th) became just the sixth rider in 250SX Class history to make his 75th start. He is one behind Nathan Ramsey (76) for fifth on the all-time list and 43 behind all-time 250SX Class start’s king Barry Carsten (118). Oldenburg’s 53rd top-10 finish is good for sixth all-time also behind Nathan Ramsey (57) who sits in fifth.
Notes: Cameron McAdoo (3rd) nailed down his 17th career 250SX Class podium, tying him for 30th all-time with Jordon Smith, Sexton, Webb, and others on the list; Enzo Lopes (4th) rode to a career best tying fourth place, his third top-five finish in 250SX Class racing; Robbie Wageman (11th) made his 30th career 250SX Class start; Max Miller (16th) career best finish in sixth career 250SX Class start.
250 Class: Glendale Historical Facts
History Lesson: The First 250SX Class race in Arizona was on May 10, 1986 and Willie Surratt won on a Honda. He would eventually lose a tight contest to Donny Schmit for the 1986 Western Regional title. Down 24-points with only Arizona and L.A. to go, Surratt won those final two races but came up 12-points short of the title.
Ramsey the Great: Nathan Ramsey won the first 250SX Class Phoenix Supercross in 1999 and also won it in 2006, seven seasons after his 1999 victory. This is the longest a 250SX Class rider has gone between winning at any specific venue. Ramsey’s victories came on two separate brands (Kawasaki and KTM). Mitchell Oldenburg is looking to tie him for fourth in all-time 250SX Class starts (76) in Glendale.
Latest Glendale Race Ever: This is the first time Glendale has been the 12th race of the season and only the second time Arizona has been the 12th race of the season (1987). Arizona has never been a 250SX Class opener or finale, but was the penultimate race of the aforementioned 1986 Western Regional 250SX Class.
Better Odds in 250SX: The winner of the Glendale 250SX Class race has won the Western Regional title in only 2/6 seasons. This brings the total to 11/28 (39%) in Arizona 250SX Class racing. This will be the 29th 250SX Class race held in Arizona and seven in Glendale, just like the 450SX Class.
250 Class: Arizona Winners
Manufacturer Wins in Arizona (Last Win)
Kawasaki: 11 (’20)
Yamaha: 6 (’18)
Honda: 6 (’22)
Suzuki: 3 (’09)
KTM: 2 (’14)
Top Winners in Arizona
1) James Stewart: 2 (’02- ’03)
1) Jake Weimer: 2 (’08, ’10)
1) Nathan Ramsey: 2 (’99, ’06)
First-Time Winners in Arizona
1999: Nathan Ramsey, KTM
2000: Casey Lytle, Honda
2005: Broc Hepler, Suzuki
2007: Christophe Pourcel, Kawasaki
2008: Jake Weimer, Honda
2015: Cooper Webb, Yamaha
2016: Christian Craig, Honda
Glendale Track Map
