After an eventful break, Supercross made its return to St. Louis, Missouri after a year off. Just five rounds remain in the season, and this year 450 championship will likely be clinched well before the final round in Salt Lake City. That is due to the run Eli Tomac has been on as of late, giving himself a two-round points lead on the field. For 250 East points leader Jett Lawrence meanwhile, his path to his first Supercross title got much easier, due to a press day injury to Cameron McAdoo. More on that and some other notable news before we get into last night’s action from the final Triple Crown of the year.
Be sure to catch up on all of our Supercross coverage.
Supercross Injury Report
Starting off with McAdoo, the Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider’s injury, it is unknown where he sustained it. What is known, is that it is a shoulder injury that was significant enough to keep him on the mend for this weekend at the minimum. Gotta feel for Wackers, especially considering he was only 11 points back of Lawrence before Saturday. With both East/West rounds still looming, he still had a real shot to get back to him.
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Elsewhere, defending 450 Champion Cooper Webb, who got hurt in practice on Wednesday, is also now on the mend. According to Red Bull KTM, he did not break anything, but it is no secret Webb has been banged up at points this season. Although he and the team both claim that Webb should be back at Atlanta, Steve Matthes says the odds of him missing the rest of the season are “high”.
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To close things out we have some good news. Defending 250 West Supercross Champion Justin Cooper is officially back on the bike as of this week. Although he won’t run Supercross this year, this is a great sign with the Motocross season set to kick off here in May.
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Butler Bros. KTM Drama
The other big story leading into Saturday evening revolves around the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS team. Lots to unpack here, and we can start off with this being the last week that the team name is being used. Rocky Mountain is officially pulling their sponsorship from the Butler Bros. team, leaving them without a main backer for the time being. However, they claim to have a new sponsor lined up already.
Next up is their lineup, which now only features the injured Joey Savatgy. Both Shane McElrath and the returning Max Anstie have left the team, allegedly along with several other team members. Both riders were in St. Louis on Friday ready to race as well, making this all the more interesting. The team also made an effort to secure privateer KTM rider Freddie Noren for the evening, however, he declined the offer. Overall, this is a rough deal for the folks on the ground with the Butler Bros. operation. Hopefully, a resolution can happen soon for all involved parties.
250 East Class Roundup
No. 24 R.J. Hampshire – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (2-2-1 for 1st)
Hampshire was on point all day yesterday. Despite losing out on the first two races to Lawrence, he beat him on starts the entire evening, and a Main Event 3 blunder for the Australian all but secured Hampshire his first career Supercross win. A great story for a great rider, who has Motocross wins to his name, but never found the top step of the Supercross podium before tonight. It wasn’t for the lack of effort either, Hampshire has always had the speed to be a race-winning rider both indoors and out.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcJ4m6DJjxd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 18 Jett Lawrence – Honda HRC (1-1-5 for 2nd)
Similar to Dallas, one off Main Event did Lawrence in, costing him a fifth win on the season. Although the win alluded him, the Australian pulled off a 22nd to 5th run in the final race to get himself into second for the evening. Additionally, Lawrence’s points lead has ballooned to 34 points with three rounds to go. Meaning that he can clinch the 250 East title in two weeks at Foxborough.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcJ2B09jUPg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 11 Kyle Chisholm – Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (4-4-3 for 4th)
One position on the evening is what separated us from having Chiz on the podium. Although a travesty, this was his best outing on the Star Yamaha 250 machine. The only riders to run better on the evening were Hampshire, Lawrence, and Mitchell Oldenburg of the MCR Honda team. Depleted field or not, Chiz has acclimated himself to the small-bore bike nicely, even if it’s only a short-term gig.
No. 44 Pierce Brown – Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing (DNF-DNS-6 for 16th)
Not the night the Utah native was hoping for at all. A tangle-up with Josh Varize in Main 1 took him out of the race due to some internal bike damage. He was not allowed to run in Main 2, even after a red flag restart when he was ready. Finally, He was out front in Main 3 but crashed out of the lead to finish sixth. That of course isn’t horrendous, but the two non-finishes put him outside of the top 15.
250 East Class St. Louis Top 10
1st No. 24 R.J. Hampshire 2-2-1
2nd No. 18 Jett Lawrence 1-1-5
3rd No. 54 Mitchell Oldenburg 3-3-4
4th No. 11 Kyle Chisholm 4-4-3
5th No. 715 Phil Nicoletti 5-10-2
6th No. 90 Jordon Smith 6-5-11
7th No. 81 Jace Owen 8-8-9
8th No. 38 Josh Varize 18-7-8
9th No. 72 John Short 12-13-10
10th No. 70 Ramyller Alves 10-11-15
450 Class Roundup
No. 25 Marvin Musquin – Red Bull KTM (2-1-2 for 1st)
What a time for Musquin to pick up a win, as he was close to going a full year without one in Supercross. For the Frenchman, his excellent 2-1-2 performance was enough for just his 10th career 450 win. It is worth noting that both Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart both got their final wins in St. Louis, and Musquin potentially got his there as well. Although it sounds like he may be back for 2023, but will it be for Red Bull KTM?
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No. 3 Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (4-4-1 for 3rdd)
The starts in the opening two Main Events cost Tomac six straight wins, but a wire-to-wire win in the final race earned him third for the evening. Him having the number of good starts he was having for that long was unprecedented, and the Supercross Gods issued a market correction in the early part of the evening. Chase Sexton and Musquin were all but gone out front by the time Tomac got into a top-five spot. On the flipside, ET3 points lead continues to increase as his second title comes closer to reality.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcJ8I_MOK5M/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 27 Malcolm Stewart – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (3-DNF-6 for 9th)
A rough-looking knee injury in Main Event 2 looked to end Mookie’s evening prematurely, but he was able to come back in the final race of the evening and almost get a top five. Stewart even got back on the bike in that second Main Event to test his knee out before ultimately going back to the pits as well. The crash itself took place right before the tunnel jump, where he hit a tuff block and tweaked his knee while going to the ground. Here’s to hoping it looked worse than it was and Stewart is a full go for Atlanta.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcJxynBv-Z6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
No. 15 Dean Wilson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (DNF-DNS-DNS for 22nd)
Wilson’s night ended right off the bat after a horrendous incident in the whoops section. The Scottish Husky rider went off on the inside part of the whoops and went down badly on the opposite end of the finish line jump. Despite Wilson seemingly bleeding from his lower back and being in a great deal of pain, the opening 450 Main Event never was red-flagged which felt odd. Where he was situated was a rough spot to get him to a safe spot, and he ended up where he wrecked until the race ended. Regardless, we hope that Deano ends up being ok, truly a scary-looking incident.
450 Class St. Louis Top 10
1st No. 25 Marvin Musquin 2-1-2
2nd No. 23 Chase Sexton 1-3-3
3rd No. 3 Eli Tomac 4-4-1
4th No. 21 Jason Anderson 6-2-5
5th No. 51 Justin Barcia 5-5-4
6th No. 10 Justin Brayton 7-7-7
7th No. 62 Vince Friese 8-6-10
8th No. 41 Brandon Hartranft 9-8-9
9th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart 3-DNF-6
10th No. 19 Justin Bogle 17-9-8
Week 13 PulpMX Fantasy Supercross Lineup
250 West: R.J. Hampshire (All-Star, +4), Max Miller (+16), Jeremy Hand (+12), Josh Cartwright (+13)
450 Class: Jason Anderson (All-Star +3), Logan Karnow (+12), Benny Bloss (+11), Justin Brayton (+3)
FFL: Jett Lawrence (250; Unsuccessful) and Eli Tomac (450; Successful)
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
