When Eli Tomac won the Daytona Monster Energy Supercross race to take sole possession of third on the all-time wins’ list and was one away from tying James Stewart, that rider asked him to make short work of surpassing him and the results show Tomac quickly granted Stewart’s wishes in Glendale, Arizona. With consecutive wins at Seattle and Glendale, Tomac now has seven for the season and broke the deadlock for the red plate.
After a difficult night for Cooper Webb, Tomac assumes a seven-point advantage in the championship standings with five rounds remaining. Glendale marked the third and final Triple Crown format this season, which is likely welcome news for the leader. Despite winning this round, Tomac has not been particularly strong in Triple Crown races with a sixth at Anaheim in the first event and a distant third in Arlington.
And for the moment, Tomac’s assault on the record book stops. Ranked second, he will not match Jeremy McGrath’s 72 anytime soon, if ever. Tomac can now focus on the championship.
RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results
Taking second overall with results of 4-1-3, Chase Sexton earned the award for having the best record in the three Triple Crown events of 2023 after winning Anaheim 2 and finishing second in Arlington. Sexton needed the solid run to arrest a three-race slide that cost him 35 points due to mistakes. In Race 2 at Glendale, Sexton almost gave up the lead again when he briefly stalled his bike with Tomac on this back wheel. Sexton rebounded to win that feature.
Justin Barcia earned his fourth podium of the season but his first in a Triple Crown race. He stood on the box in two of the three Supercross Triple Crown features in Glendale and with results of 3-6-2, he tied Webb in event points and earned the tiebreaker, costing Webb an additional two points in his bid to be the 2023 champion.
Click here for 450 Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Last Chance Qualifier
Seven points might not sound like much with five rounds remaining and Webb controls his own fate, but Tomac seems to be hitting his stride.
Webb began the Glendale round with a lot of promise. Finishing second to Tomac in Race 1, he set a comfortable pace that seemed to reverse his earlier struggles in practice and qualification. He squandered a good gate pick in Race 2 in order to lineup next to his rival and could not execute the same sweeping move as Tomac on the opening lap. He never recovered from the mistake and finished fourth overall with a 2-5-4.
Ken Roczen rounded out the top five with a 5-3-5. Still learning his new Suzuki bike, Roczen’s consistency has been his greatest strength and this is the 11th time in 12 rounds he’s finished seventh or better.
Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points
With his 12th career win, Jett Lawrence moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time wins list in the support division with multiple riders. Among those included in this list are legends like Tomac, Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Dungey. One more win moves him into third on the wins’ list with McGrath and it is not out of the question that he could tie Nathan Ramsey (15) for second. With this as his last season on a 250, James Stewart’s 18 wins are safe for now.
Even without those milestones, Lawrence marked something off his bucket list in Glendale. During his short and successful career, he’s struggled with the Triple Crown format. There were moments in the Glendale Supercross program that it appeared he might be overthinking his approach and the results show as much. Riding conservatively in Race 2 cost him the chance to challenge for the lead and put him one point behind entering the finale, but wins in the first and third races were enough to claim the overall victory.
Click here for 250 Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Last Chance Qualifier
For the fifth time in six rounds, RJ Hampshire finished second to Lawrence in the 250 West division. Hampshire scored a morale victory of sorts in Race 2 by winning that feature, which gave him the event points’ lead heading into the final race. Hampshire finished third in that race and his 2-1-3 was one point shy of Lawrence’s total.
Levi Kitchen is making a name for himself in Triple Crown races. He won the Anaheim 2 round under that format and swept the podium in Glendale. With a 3-2-2, he easily outpaced fourth place to earn his second podium and third top-five of the season.
Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points
Pierce Brown was the feel-good story of the round. Crashing on the first lap of Race 1, he fell to the back of the pack and had to work his way forward. By the end of that feature, he was solidly in fourth. He repeated that result in Race 2 of the Glendale Supercross Triple Crown and finished fifth in the final race.
Rounding out the top five was Enzo Lopes, who did so by improving in each race. He started the night with a fall of his own before recovering to finish seventh in Race 1. He improved to fifth in Race 2 and fourth in the finale. This was his third top-five of the season and he’s finished just outside that mark in two other races with sixth-place results.
2023 Results
Round 12: Eli Tomac retakes points lead with seventh win
Round 11: Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win
2023 SuperMotocross Power Rankings
Week 11: Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac overtake Chase Sexton
Week 10: Sexton leads with consistency
Week 8: Sexton unseats Tomac
Week 7: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
Week 6: Perfect Oakland night keeps Tomac first
Week 5: Webb, Sexton close gap
Week 4: Tomac retakes lead
Week 3: Ken Roczen takes the top spot
Week 2: Roczen moves up; Sexton falls
Week 1: Tomac tops 450s; Jett Lawrence 250s