Chase Sexton became the first two-time Monster Energy Supercross winner of 2025 last week and secured the red plate for the second time this season. He began the season with a victory in the season-opener in Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, and lost it the following week in San Diego. In fact, during his career, he has not yet successfully defended the red plate in Supercross but there is reason to be hopeful that he can change that in Round 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
While Sexton holds a slim two-point margin over Ken Roczen, the German rider has yet to win this year and he has one podium in two Tampa starts. Sexton is also winless there, but he was the runner-up to Cooper Webb the last time Supercross visited Tampa.
Webb also stood on the podium in 2020, making him one of two riders in the field with more than one top-three finish at the “Ray Jay.”
If Sexton and Roczen both struggle out of the gate, Eli Tomac is next in line to take the red plate. His history in Tampa suggests that is possible as he won the 2018 and 2020 editions of this race. Tomac finished fifth there in 2023, however, and has been erratic at best in the first lap after the gate drop.
A new ballgame: Jett out for remainder of 2025 SX
There are additional reasons to believe Sexton could reverse his fortune this week. Sexton lost the red plate in San Diego in part because of a crash and he has shown speed in every round. As Clinton Fowler from WeWentFast.com points out, Sexton has been among the three fastest riders in seven of eight qualification sessions this year.
No matter what happens, the race will be interesting with established veterans regaining the spotlight after the Young Gun Jett Lawrence announced he will miss the remainder of the 2025 Supercross season while he recovers from Achilles surgery. According to the rider, the tendon “is cooked” after he dabbed his leg in heavy traffic in Glendale.
If it seems that Roczen is having one of his best seasons at the ripe old age, by Supercross standards that is, of 30 — that’s because he is. The 2025 season represents his third-best start behind 2020 when he won twice and scored a third podium in the opening races and 2021 when he had one win and two runner-up finishes in the first four rounds.
Round 5 in Tampa marks the season-opener for the 250 East division and after the Western riders failed to crown a repeat winner in four tries, that streak will continue. Jordon Smith gave Factory Triumph their first win in Arizona, but that will not diminish Austin Forkner’s desire to give them a second victory. Forkner has to stay healthy, however. He’s completed only one full 250 season in 2020 and in eight and half years, he’s competed in slightly more than 50 percent of the races available.
Triumph’s first win in their 24th SuperMotocross start was historic in its own right: In the past 25 years, that is the fastest a new manufacturer has made it to the top of the box. It took GasGas 32 SMX starts to win with Michael Mosiman in 2022, Husqvarna 36 SMX starts (Travis Preston in 2001), and KTM 54 SX starts (Grant Langston in 2001) after they left the sport and re-entered it in 1998.
The 250 East division is packed. In addition to Forkner, it inherited Levi Kitchen after he switched coasts at the last minute because of an illness. Both 2024 250 champions RJ Hampshire (West) and Tom Vialle (East), as well as Cameron McAdoo, Pierce Brown, Max Anstie, Nate Thrasher, Seth Hammaker, and Chance Hymas will mount up this week.
2025 Top-10 finishers
450s
Chase Sexton, (2 wins, 2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Eli Tomac, (1 win, 1 podium, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Jett Lawrence, (1 win, 2 podiums, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s)
Ken Roczen, (3 podiums, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Cooper Webb, (2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Hunter Lawrence, (2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Jason Anderson, (2 podiums, 2 top-fives, 3 top-10s)
Malcolm Stewart, (4 top-10s)
Justin Barcia, (3 top-10s)
Justin Cooper, (2 top-10s)
Justin Hill, (2 top-10s)
Aaron Plessinger, (2 top-10s)
Dylan Ferrandis, (1 top-10)
Joey Savatgy, (1 top-10)
250s
Julien Beaumer, (1 win, 3 podiums, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Jordon Smith, (1 win, 3 podiums, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Haiden Deegan, (1 win, 3 podiums, 4 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Jo Shimoda, (1 win, 1 podium, 1 top-five, 4 top-10s)
Cole Davies, (2 podiums, 3 top-fives, 4 top-10s)
Ryder DiFrancesco, (2 top-fives, 2 top-10s)
Coty Schock, (1 top-five, 4 top-10s)
Michael Mosiman, (1 top-five, 3 top-10s)
Garrett Marchbanks, (3 top-10s)
Anthony Bourdon, (3 top-10s)
Hunter Yoder, (2 top-10s)
Drew Adams, (1 top-10)
Parker Ross, (1 top-10)
Cole Thompson, (1 top-10)
Previous Tampa Winners
450s
2023: Chase Sexton (Followed by Chase Sexton, Aaron Plessinger)
2020: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen)
2018: Eli Tomac (Marvin Musquin, Jason Anderson)
1999 (250s, premiere division): Kevin Windham (Jeremy McGrath, Ezra Lusk)
1998 (250s): Larry Ward (Ezra Lusk, Kevin Windham)
250s
2023: Hunter Lawrence (Nate Thrasher, Max Anstie)
2020: Shane McElrath (Chase Sexton, Jeremy Martin)
2018: Austin Forkner (Dylan Ferrandis, Zach Osborne)
1999 (125s, small bike): Ernesto Fonseca (Stephane Roncada, Brock Sellards)
1999 (125s): Ricky Carmichael (Robbie Reynard, Robbie Horton)
Previews
More SuperMotocross News
Cullen Park returns with Phoenix Honda
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
Betting lines and odds for Glendale Supercross
Jett, Hunter Lawrence sue former agent | fire agent
Jorge Prado (shoulder) to miss remainder of SX
SuperMotocross tickets, track maps
