ARLINGTON, Texas — The Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship returned to Texas and Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb kicked off the Arlington tripleheader inside AT&T Stadium with a dominant 450SX class victory that pushed him from second to the lead in championship points.
Opening-round winner Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia earned second at the 10th round of the season with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson battling aggressively through the pack to grab a podium finish in third. In the third Round of Western Regional 250SX Class racing, a third different winner was crowned. This time it was Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s rookie Seth Hammaker who led wire to wire to the screams of the limited-attendance, pod-seated Texas crowd.
Cooper Webb left Texas with a win at round three and returned to the state to win at Round 10 without any bona fide challenges from the other racers. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Dean Wilson grabbed the holeshot but Webb pushed his way past immediately and was never challenged.
Barcia started outside the top three but within five minutes of the 20-minute plus one lap main event had worked into second place. Barcia shaved a bit of time off the three second deficit to Webb over the next five minutes, but as the race clock ticked to 10 minutes Webb began to stretch his lead back out.
On a track that proved difficult to gain time or make a pass, Anderson was the rider on the move. After one lap he sat eighth, but on the sixteenth of what turned out to be a 28-lap race, Anderson pushed past Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton and held the final podium spot to the checkers.
Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen, the points leader going into the race, was the victim of a bad starting gate pick after a heat race crash. A bad launch put Roczen in 11th after one lap; he managed his way slowly through the pack to earn a sixth-place finish, which dropped him to second in the points.
The 2020 defending champion and the winner of the previous round, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, had a night that paralleled Roczen’s but a few positions back. The No. 1 plate rider sat 16th on lap one and passed eight riders to finish eighth at the first of three Arlington events.
The Western Regional 250SX class served another surprising race as rookie Seth Hammaker launched off the line, grabbed the holeshot, and lead every moment of his career-first victory ride. It wasn’t easy, as Hammaker’s Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki teammate Jordon Smith applied the pressure from the start until a bobble that sent him temporarily off the track dropped him back to third.
Meanwhile, series leader Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper were back in the pack in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
McAdoo and Cooper clawed their way forward, but progress through the pack was slow. As Hammaker was composed in the lead, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence was just out of reach in second.
Just over four minutes into the 15-minute plus one lap race McAdoo had reached the rear wheel of teammate Smith when Smith lost traction on a small jump and landed hard, putting him out of the battle. Things stabilized until the final lap and a half when Cooper reached and then charged past McAdoo. McAdoo countered a corner later and darted back into third. On the second to last corner Cooper made a final pass attempt, slid out, and low-sided trying to cut under McAdoo.