Nashville Supercross by the numbers: Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb take their battle south

Dan Beaver

Fri, Apr 28, 2023, 4:52 PM·3 min read

The Monster Energy Supercross Series will race at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee for only the second time in their history so the statistical numbers are a little thinfor this venue. Notably, the two riders with the best chance of winning the 2023 stood on the podium together with Eli Tomac scoring his fourth win of that season and Cooper Webb’s third-place result keeping him on track to become the 2019 Supercross champion.

It wasn’t an easy day for Tomac. With engine problems in his heat, Tomac was pushed into the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). Tomac’s engine was smoking in that race as well, but he held on to make the feature and become the first rider in more than six years to win a main after advancing from the LCQ. Most recently, Ryan Dungey had performed the feat in 2013 in Anaheim.

Once he was in the big show, Tomac found his rhythm and beat Blake Baggett by nearly 12 seconds.

Webb’s day was not without its own drama. He crashed on the first lap of his heat but was given a mulligan with a complete race restart. He finished second in his heat to Joey Savatgy and was third in the main.

Chase Sexton also has a Nashville podium to his credit after finishing 3.5 seconds behind Martin Davalos in the 250 East division.

The three top points’ earners this year have dominated the podium, taking nearly 70 percent of the available positions on the box (29 of 42). Those three shared the podium in five of the first 10 rounds, but have not repeated the feat since Detroit.

Their dominance has been interrupted by a surging Justin Barcia, who took the top spot in the NBC Power Rankings following the Atlanta race and held onto it through New Jersey. Barcia easily slots into fourth in terms of podiums earned with six to Ken Roczen’s four, but the battle in the championship standings is much closer with six points separating them with three rounds remaining in their quest to finish fourth.

Roczen finished eighth in Nashville in 2019; Barcia was 19th.

In the 250 class, the heralded battle between Hunter and Jett Lawrence was literally rained on. As that division lined up to start their main and bolt of lightning and crack of thunder halted the event. When the lightning hold was cleared, the track was muddy and heavy. Hunter and Jett did not see one another for most of the race until a final lap crash, when Jett was submarined by RJ Hampshire, bunched the top five up and had them crossing the line together.

Statistically, the two brothers remain about as even as possible with both finishing second in their New Jersey divisional heats. Jett had the edge at the line and finished second to Hunter’s third.

Hunter had an opportunity to wrap up the championship in New Jersey, but Max Anstie had other thoughts. Winning the first Supercross race in his career, Anstie kept the points close enough to push the battle to Nashville, where Hunter will be crowned the 250 East champion.

Previous Nashville Winners

450s
2019: Eli Tomac

250s
2019: Martin Davalos

By the Numbers

New Jersey
Atlanta
Glendale
Seattle
Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego