TAMPA, Florida: Malcolm Stewart pressured Chase Sexton into a mistake late in Round 5 of the Monster Energy Supercross race and took the lead when the red plate holder crashed in the whoops.
“To do this in front of my home crowd, this is a dream come true,” Stewart said from the top of the podium. “I’ve been waiting a long time. In my 15th season doing this, for a split second I wasn’t sure if I could do it. This 32-year-old boy got it done in Tampa.”
UPDATE: Eli Tomac breaks leg in Tampa
Stewart did not get the best of starts. He completed Lap 1 in eighth-place and quickly moved up to fifth. In a chaotic affair, he was in fifth on Laps 2-4, moved up to third on Lap 6 and continued his steady progression. By Lap 9 he was in the runner-up spot and chasing the leader, Sexton down.
Riders feed off the energy of the crowd. The opposite is also true, and in the post race news conference Stewart acknowledged that their intensity played a factor in his win. It not only made him faster, it caused Sexton to alter his lines all the way around the track and ultimately pressured him into a mistake.
Stewart rode to the lead not only in front of his home crowd, but also his brother James Stewart who got to call his first victory.
After apparently damaging his bike in the crash, Sexton fell out of podium consideration and dropped to fifth. Sexton retained the points lead, successfully defending the red plate for the first time in his career with a five-point advantage over Cooper Webb.
It was a race of comers and goers as Webb overcame a poor start of 12th in the opening lap to climb back to second at the checkers.
“The start was good but i ended up spinning out of the gate and that was all she wrote,” Webb said.
Jason Anderson took the final podium spot. In five rounds now, Anderson has earned three podium finishes. All of them have been third-place results with two coming at Anaheim and a seventh-place finish last week in the Glendale, Arizona Triple Crown that has elevated Anderson to third in the points.
Justin Cooper finished fourth.
One other major storyline of the night was the fate of two title contenders. Eli Tomac dabbed his leg in qualification and was questionable for the start of the heat. He advanced into the feature, but faded quickly and rode safely to a 17th-place result — two laps off the pace.
Ken Roczen fared even worse. He was third on Lap 12 when lapped riders created a traffic jam ahead of him. Roczen attempted to thread the needle but struck a lapped rider and crashed hard. His chain came off the bike in the accident and ended his night in 21st.
Hunter Lawrence failed to make the feature after clipping a Tuff Blox crashing hard in his heat. He was slow to rise and did not line up for the Last Chance Qualifier.
Click here for complete 450 feature results
The 250 division was equally chaotic and when the dust settled, Max Anstie had the win. He took the lead on a mid-race restart and held off Daxton Bennick in the first 250 East race of the season.
Anstie earned the holeshot but lost the lead to Pierce Brown early. Brown pulled away from the field but crashed hard on Lap 6 and was carted off the track by the Alpinestars Medical crew.
Brown gave the crowd a thumbs up as he was carted off the track by the medical staff, and the race complexion changed after a staggered restart with Anstie in the lead.
UPDATE: Pierce Brown breaks T5 vertebra
Bennick chased him for the remainder of the race before settling for second.
“Last year I was on the podium but we had a very hard year from there,” Bennick said. “We ended up getting second. It was cool; little of a comeback story.”
Bennick finished third in his first start of 2024 but could not sustain the momentum and scored only one more top-five finish during the year.
The most unlikely rider on the podium was Cameron McAdoo, however. Racing with a torn ACL, he gutted out his injury and stood on the last step of the podium.
“Honestly, I talked about being grateful last year racing,” McAdoo said. “But I’m so grateful for the strength God gave me to be able to be here racing. It was a difficult day. We’re making the best of it.”
McAdoo was a race day decision entering the race.
Fourth-place Seth Hammaker and Tom Vialle rounded out the top five.
RJ Hampshire crashed early in the race and got hung up on a Tuff Blox before losing a lap. He will start his championship bid with an 18th-place finish in Tampa.
Click here for complete 250 East main results
Pre-race Notes
Sunny skies are overhead with temperatures climbing to 80 degrees contribute to an almost carnival atmosphere as the Monster Energy Supercross series head to the East Coast for the first time in 2025.
As the 250 East division takes center stage for the first time this year, there will be a lot to learn this weekend. Will Tom Vialle or RJ Hampshire get the best start in their quest to earn a second championship.
It is a stacked 250 field: Hampshire has nine combined SuperMotocross wins to his credit. Vialle (four), Austin Forkner (14), Levi Kitchen (seven), Nate Thrasher (five), Cameron McAdoo (three), Max Anstie (two), and Seth Hammaker, Chance Hymas and Pierce Brown have one each.
The field will roll off without Jett Lawrence after his injury in Glendale, Arizona, last week. Chase Sexton has the red plate but Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, and Cooper Webb have an opportunity to wrest it from his grasp.
Chase Sexton took the early lead as Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac got terrible starts, which helps in his quest for defend the red plate.
Jason Anderson slotted into second.
Webb settled into 10th on Lap 1 and Tomac was all the way back in 21st. The other rider in championship contention, Ken Roczen was challenging from third. He will keep the pressure on Sexton.
Tomac took it easy with whatever injury he suffered in qualification. He did not make much ground from the back of the pack.
Webb moved up to sixth on Lap 5. He would not be discounted.
On Lap 7, Webb moved up to fourth around Anderson. Malcolm Stewart was behind Roczen in third.
In heavy traffic on Lap 10, Stewart made the move into second around Roczen.
Webb moves into third on Lap 12.
Roczen went down after hitting a lapped rider in the sand section soon after Webb moved ahead of Roczen.
Roczen lost his chain in the crash.
With five minutes remaining, things have settled somewhat with Sexton, Stewart and Webb in the top three. Stewart was bearing down on the leader.
Anderson and Justin Cooper rounded out the top five.
With two minutes remaining, Sexton crashed under pressure from Stewart.
Stewart took the lead and could not hear the roar of his engine over the sound of the crown.
Webb got around Sexton a lap later. Sexton may have damaged his bike in the crash.
Sexton falls off the podium with one lap to go. Anderson took the final podium spot with Cooper slotting into fourth.
Max Anstie earned the holeshot but Pierce Brown gets around him on Lap 1.
Daxton Bennick slotted into third.
Levi Kitchen dropped to the back.
RJ Hampshire crashed, shredded a Tuff Blox at the end of one of the rhythm lanes, and lost a lap.
Seth Hammaker was in fourth on Lap 5 with Cameron McAdoo close behind.
Brown crashed out of the lead on Lap 6 and falls outside the top 10. The red flag waved for this crash. Brown gave the grandstands a thumb’s up as he is carted off the track.
This necessitated a staggered restart.
Anstie took the lead on the restart over Bennick.
Riding with a torn ACL, McAdoo moved into third.
Austin Forkner crashed on Lap 7 after being run into by Cullin Park.
When time ran off the clock, Anstie held a 3.3-second lead over Bennick.
Hunter Schlosser got the best start but was passed on Lap 1 by Kevin Moranz.
Mitchell Oldenburg and Kyle Chisholm pushed Moranz back to third.
Oldenburg held on for the win over local rider Kyle Chisholm.
Moranz held onto third with Anthony Rodriguez also making his way into the feature.
Hunter Lawrence will not line up in the 450 LCQ after his heat crash. With Jett Lawrence’s retirement from the season, neither brother will be in the Tampa feature.
Update on Hunter after his tough heat race crash 🚨 #SupercrossLIVE #SMX #Honda pic.twitter.com/CuhzsZGiYC
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 9, 2025
Luke Neese had the best gate pick.
Neese got a good start by Crockett Myers jump was better. They were one-two on Lap 1.
Neese got the position back on Lap 2 with Lance Kobusch coming along with him.
Myers fell outside the transfer positions on Lap 3.
Kobusch got around Neese to win the LCQ.
Trevor Culp and Preston Boesplug also advance.
Jerry Robin got the holeshot but crashed on Lap 1 in the whoops.
That handed the lead to Justin Cooper. This would be his first 450 heat win.
Mitchell Oldenburg owned second on Lap 1 but went down and gave the spot to Chase Sexton.
When things settled down, Malcolm Stewart settled into third.
Sexton caught Cooper.
Cooper won’t get the win after as Sexton took the lead with 45 seconds on the clock.
Stewart passed Cooper one lap later.
Sexton responded to Webb’s Heat 1 pressure to win Heat 2.
Stewart (second) and Cooper (third) hung onto the podium positions.
Fourth-place Shane McElrath and Benny Bloss rounded out the top five.
Joey Savatgy (sixth), Ken Roczen (seventh), Colt Nichols (eighth), and Mitchell Harrison (ninth) also advanced.
Oldenburg staged a comeback, but landed one spot outside the transfer.
Click here for complete 450 Heat 2 results
Roczen and Bloss share words after 450 heat 2 😬#SMX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/dmBd9mFlyw
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 9, 2025
Everyone got through the first turn, but Cooper Webb did it best.
Hunter Lawrence crashed out of second at the finish line on Lap 1 after clipping a Tuff Blox. He was slow to get up but stood under his own power.
That moved Aaron Plessinger into second. A red cross flag waved at that corner.
Jason Anderson moved into third.
Eli Tomac got a bad start and climbed to only seventh with a minute on the clock.
Webb held on for the win over Plessinger (second) and Anderson (third).
Fourth-place Justin Barcia and Justin Hill rounded out the top five.
Justin Starling (sixth), Tomac (seventh), Tristan Lane (eighth) and Jeremy Hand (ninth) also moved directly into the feature.
Pierce Brown got the early lead. He also won the last 250 race he was in in the SMX Championship finale in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Levi Kitchen has recovered from flu and pneumonia and settled into second. The choke turned off on the opening lap.
Three seconds back, Cullin Park settled into third.
On Lap 2, Carson Mumford moved into second and Kitchen fell to ninth with the mechanical issue.
One lap later Max Anstie took second; Mumford fell to third.
A red flag waved for a crash by Carter Stephenson. It necessitated a staggered, single-file start.
Mumford got a great restart and muscled Hampshire out of the way. Anstie got around Brown also.
Anstie took the lead as time ran off the clock.
Anstie held on to win over Chance Hymas, who got around Mumford on the last lap.
Fourth-place Seth Hammaker and Kitchen also got around Mumford.
Mumford finished sixth, with Park (seventh), Jack Chambers (eighth) and Gage Linville (ninth) also advancing directly to the feature.
The head-to-head battle began in this heat: RJ Hampshire took the early lead over Tom Vialle.
Riding with a torn ACL, Cameron McAdoo overtook Vialle on Lap 3 — and McAdoo staid in close contact with Hampshire.
As time ran off the clock, Hampshire built an advantage over McAdoo. Vialle was still third.
And that is how they finished.
Fourth-place Nate Thrasher and Maximus Vohland rounded out the top five.
Daxton Bennick (sixth), Austin Forkner (seventh), Henry Miller (eighth), and Hardy Munoz (ninth) also advanced into the feature.
Eli Tomac dabbed his foot in Qualification 2 and was helped off track by the medical staff. He was running seventh at the time.
Tomac walked into the tunnel under his own power..
Tomac is out of Q2 favoring his left leg 😳 #SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/0VcaYGNT6t
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 8, 2025
Tomac is okay and will race tonight:
🚨UPDATE🚨
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 8, 2025
Eli Tomac is ok, and will race tonight in Tampa 👊 #SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/QRobyc42ED
Midway through Qualification 2, Eli Tomac landed badly and he pulled off the track in pain. He was walked into the tunnel under his own power.
Chase Sexton (54.179) ended the session on top of the board as he attempts to defend the red plate.
The defending Tampa winner, Cooper Webb (54.543) was second on the chart with an impressive Malcolm Stewart (54.750) in third.
Fourth-place Hunter Lawrence (54.772) and Justin Cooper (54.894) rounded out the top five.
Tomac ended the session eighth on the chart.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 2 results
Click here for combined 450 qualification results
Max Anstie (54.827) posted the fastest lap in Qualification 2 with a .151-second advantage over RJ Hampshire (54.978).
Seth Hammaker (55.735) landed third on the chart as time ran off the clock.
Fourth-place Nate Thrasher (55.779) and Levi Kitchen (56.025) round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250E Qualification 2 results
Click here for combined 250 Qualification results
In Qualification 1, Peacock’s Haley Shanley reported Dylan Ferrandis may not make the grid this weekend. He missed the first timed session.
It’s official: Ferrandis will not race this week in Tampa.
Due to a practice crash on Thursday, Dylan Ferrandis will sit out tonight in Tampa. #SMX #SupercrossLIVE pic.twitter.com/eY44j9M1CZ
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) February 8, 2025
Eli Tomac (55.265) posted the fastest time early. He’s pushing the limit and had a casual tip over in the sand section.
Cooper Webb (55.518) took the top spot away from Tomac briefly neat the end of the session but Tomac responded and jumped back to the top.
Malcolm Stewart (56.097) rounded out the top three. After posting that speed, he tipped over in the sand. That will be one of the trouble spots tonight.
Fourth-place Chase Sexton (56.344) and Jason Anderson (56.466) completed the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 1 results
Not the beach day Malcolm wanted in Q1 🏖️ #SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/D8KpoTqrLZ
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) February 8, 2025
In the opening laps, RJ Hampshire and Tom Vialle jumped to the top in the first two laps.
Halfway through the session, Vialle tipped over in the whoops and heads to the mechanic’s area to straighten his handlebars.
Chance Hymas tipped over near the end of Qualification 1.
Seth Hammaker (56.276), Max Anstie (56.354), and Pierce Brown (57.117) end up on top.
Hampshire landed fifth on the chart and after his tip over Vialle landed 10th.
Cameron McAdoo picked up the pace slightly from Free Practice and lands ninth on the chart.
Jason Anderson shows the fastest speed early with a lap of 56.890 seconds, which is a tenth of a second faster Chase Sexton.
Eli Tomac rounds out the top three.
Fourth-place Malcolm Stewart and Cooper Webb round out the top five.
Joey Savatgy was also notably fast with the sixth-best time.
Click here for complete450 Group A results
Click here for 450 combined results
In the 250 division, Levi Kitchen secures the top spot.
In the head-to-head battle between champions, RJ Hampshire is second to Tom Vialle’s eighth-best time.
Maximus Vohland rounds out the top three.
Cameron McAdoo takes some easy laps and lands 11th on the chart.
Click here complete results from 250 East, Group A
Click here for combined 250 East combined results
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Supercross Tampa preview
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Jett Lawrence on his ACL tear: “It is cooked”
What riders said after Glendale
Chase Sexton, Jordon Smith win Glendale
Glendale 450 results | 250 results
Injured Jett Lawrence fails to finish Glendale
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