ST. LOUIS, Missouri: Ken Roczen brought momentum with him from Detroit after winning last week and built on it with a second consecutive win.
Roczen trimmed nine points off the championship lead and left St. Louis with only a five-point deficit. Two weeks ago, his deficit was 31 points and many were beginning to count him out of the competition for the title.
Justin Cooper passed Jorge Prado late in the race to secure second. He followed up on his heat win to scored his second podium finish of the season and his fourth consecutive top-five.
Hunter Lawrence and Eli Tomac struggled in qualification and their heat. Lawrence also struggled at the beginning of the feature, but regained speed in the second half and climbed to second. He is now tied with Tomac in points, but an early season surge and four victories would give Tomac the tiebreaker if the season ended now.
Prado is known for his great starts and he got another in St. Louis. He slotted into second, but lost contact with the Roczen early. Once he lost the tow of the leader, he became susceptible to Cooper and Lawrence.
Cooper Webb took fifth from Tomac late in the race.
Before the race, Tomac insisted he is completely healthy, but his riding tells a different story. He finished third in Birmingham, but was well behind the leaders at the checkered flag. His last two results were fifth in Detroit and sixth in St. Louis.
In-Race Notes
Lawrence earned the holeshot with Tomac sixth.
Roczen took the lead on the second lap by passing Lawrence and Prado.
Prado grabbed second from Lawrence, which helps Roczen in the points.
Roczen accumulated a three-second lead over Prado one lap later.
As they ran, Tomac had a one-point lead over Lawrence on Lap 4 and six on Roczen.
Cooper took third from Lawrence on Lap 5.
Webb was in seventh on Lap 6.
Webb moved into sixth one lap later.
The top five were spread out as the riders settled into a rhythm.
Roczen checked out in the second half of the race. He had a 6.8 second lead on Lap 10.
Sexton went down later that same lap.
Webb took fifth from Tomac on Lap 12.
Sexton retired.
Prado dropped two positions on Lap 16 and allowed Lawrence to salvage points.
Roczen beat Cooper to the line by more than 13 seconds.
This was Cooper’s best finish of the season. His previous podium in Seattle was a third-place finish.
