TAMPA, Fla. — Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb put in an outstanding ride to earn his first win of the season at round six of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross season in Tampa, Fla. at Raymond James Stadium.
The crowd witnessed a battle of determination that saw Webb take over the lead late in the race from second-place finisher Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton. Nabbing third place was Webb’s teammate Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger, who earned his first podium finish of the year.
In a nail-biter of a 250SX class race, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence took the race down to two dramatic passes in the final two corners to win his second consecutive race in the Eastern Regional 250SX class series.
Sporadic rain throughout the day exacerbated the tough, changing track conditions but when the gate dropped on the 450SX class main event, the skies were clear.
Webb was credited with the official holeshot but Sexton’s momentum over the stripe put him directly into the lead with Webb, Plessinger, Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo in tow.
Points leader and defending champion Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac was ninth out of the first corner.
Before one minute had run off the race clock Anderson collided with Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia. The riders tangled and dropped to the back of the pack. Three minutes into the 20-minute, plus one lap, main event Sexton had pulled a 1.7-second gap on the pack.
Through the race, Cooper Webb pulled within a second of Sexton on two occasions but seemed to be biding his time for a pass attempt.
Meanwhile, Tomac seemed settled into fifth position, eight seconds behind Roczen and eight seconds ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper.
Webb’s strategy of patience almost fell apart when, with less than three minutes on the race clock, he got wildly out of control in the whoops section.
It was the longest whoops section of the year and was breaking down rapidly. Webb kept his feet on the pegs and the bike on the track, putting his head down again to make up the time he’d lost on Sexton.
The next lap, Sexton made a nearly identical mistake and could not save it.
With Sexton’s crash, Webb took over the lead and brought home the win — his first of the season. Sexton recovered quickly and took second place, while Plessinger took third without pressure for the podium spot. The win for Webb tightened the season standings so that only four points now separate the top three athletes.
The Eastern Regional 250SX class provided all the drama the fans could ask for.
Up front, Nate Thrasher looked untouchable. Fire Power Honda’s Max Anstie held second place and rookie Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan looked like a seasoned pro in third ahead of one of the class’ true seasoned pros, Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Michael Mosiman.
Behind all the action at the front, Lawrence was on the move slicing rapidly through the pack after a bad start. Less than six and a half minutes into the 15-minute, plus one lap, main event Lawrence cut under Mosiman, taking out his front wheel and dropping the GASGAS rider to the dirt. The move put Lawrence in third place and he quickly closed the distance to Anstie.
With 5:47 minutes on the race clock, Lawrence took over the second place spot, but Thrasher was 5.9 seconds ahead.
Rain from earlier in the day was back, and as it intensified, so did the excitement. As the front runners battled the changing conditions, Lawrence drew the lead down to 2.89 seconds as the race clock reached :00. When the white flag came out, the gap was 2.4 seconds.
Lawrence got to Thrasher’s rear wheel when the riders came to the sand section for the final time. Exiting the sand, Thrasher moved to the outside line and the two riders made hard contact. Neither hit the ground and Thrasher maintained the lead.
As they reached the final corner Lawrence pitched his Honda sideways on the slick dirt. He finessed his bike to the inside of the corner, drove across the turn’s exit ruts and cut off Thrasher’s straight-shot to the checkered flag. The athletes both charged toward the checkered flag with Lawrence taking the win just .2 seconds ahead of Thrasher.
The crowd went wild with the dramatic finish, which extended Lawrence’s points lead in the 250SX East class.