Ken Roczen brought momentum into Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, as Eli Tomac and Hunter Lawrence each wanted to take over sole possession of the red plate.
A poor start by Lawrence and Tomac gave Roczen breathing room early, but Lawrence made some early-race passes and closed the gap. Tomac did not.
Lawrence scored the victory and grabbed a significant lead over Roczen and Tomac. Lawrence left Nashville with a 10-point lead over the new second-place holder, Roczen. After a lackluster race and a crash, Tomac fell to 15 points out of of the lead.
Cooper Webb lost points to Lawrence, but he was encouraged by a second-place finish.
After a see-saw race, Roczen rebounded from a stall and finished third.
Chase Sexton finished fourth, with Dylan Ferrandis initially rounding out the top five. Ferrandis was penalized one position for cutting the course, which moved Justin Hill into the top five.
This was Hill’s first top-five since he finished third in Salt Lake City in 2023. Notably, he was on a three-race, top-five streak that began in Nashville.
After a poor start, Tomac’s day went from bad to worse when he crashed in the second half of the race, dropping him outside the top 10 in 12th.
In-Race Notes
Hill grabbed the lead early over Roczen as Lawrence and Tomac struggled out of the gate.
Tomac was outside the top 10 on Lap 2. Lawrence was fifth and gaining a ton of points on his closest rival entering the round. Tomac was seven seconds behind Lawrence and 10 seconds behind Lawrence.
Lawrence moved into third on Lap 5, and as they ran, he and Roczen were tied in points.
Lawrence moved into second on Lap 6. Tomac could not make up any ground.
Lawrence caught Roczen on Lap 7. He could afford to be patient for a few laps.
Hill hung onto third halfway through the race.
Jorge Prado was in fourth, and Webb rounded out the top five.
Tomac remained in 10th on Lap 9, but he continued to lose contact with the leaders. He was 18 seconds behind.
Once Lawrence caught Roczen, the German rider picked up the pace and stretched his lead over the Australian.
Prado jumped off track midway through the race, which moved Webb up to fourth and Dylan Ferrandis to fifth.
Roczen bobbled and handed the lead to Lawrence on Lap 14.
Roczen stalled on Lap 15 and dropped to fourth.
Tomac moved into eighth on Lap 16.
Hill and Webb were embroiled in a battle for second, which ended with Webb in the position.
Tomac crashed out of eighth and fell to 11th on Lap 19.
Roczen grabbed third from Hill on Lap 20. Sexton came along with Roczen and landed in fourth.
Lawrence beat Webb to the line by 7.2 seconds. Roczen took the final podium position.
Tomac lost one additional position and finished 12th.
