For the first time since 2020, a ‘Triple Crown’ round of Supercross went down at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Just what the doctor ordered after four exciting rounds to kick off the new season. Star Yamaha still has a stranglehold on both classes, with Eli Tomac and Christian Craig in complete control of the two-class points leads. Saturday represented a rare event where one mistake couldn’t completely ruin your night. With two extra starts that matter, however, the opportunity for chaos was as big as it’s been so far this year.
Be sure to catch up on all of our Supercross coverage.
Valley of The Suns
Jerry Robin is back at it again with a special bike wrap, but he was not alone. He, along with the Team Solitare boys broke out some Phoenix Suns City Edition Uniform inspired bikes for Glendale. Once again, the results were spectacular on both fronts. Hopefully, more teams catch on to the special bike wrap game. Maybe not every single week, but a few times a season/year couldn’t hurt.
With the Triple Crown format in effect, were now going straight into the roundups for both classes. Without any further delay here we go.
250 West Class Roundup
No. 41 Hunter Lawrence – Honda HRC (2-1-2 for 1st)
Saturday was more about Craig’s second Main Event than Lawrence on the whole, but the Australian was more than due for a win. Especially after the herculean effort that almost won him the Main Event at San Diego in a late-race charge. With his second career win, he not only stops the points bleeding but now pulls to within 12 points of Craig in the title hunt. Any more mishaps and Lawrence will be right there.
No. 28 Christian Craig – Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (1-4-1 for 2nd)
Both times Craig hasn’t walked out of a Supercross event with a win this season were not his fault. He can thank Vince Friese going for a kill shot pass less than 30 seconds into Main Event 2 for that. Even after that, Craig did what he did at San Diego and salvaged a fourth. That in turn also gets him second on the evening, on a day where he was untouchable otherwise. Don’t think the Craig’s will be sending the Friese family any Christmas cards later this year.
No. 30 Jo Shimoda – Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki (5-3-3 for 3rd)
It took five rounds in, but Shimoda has finally picked up a podium in 2022. This was a nice return to 2021 form, with minimal mistakes and solid results through the night. It’s a shame that he just now found his footing, with only one round remaining in this main stint for the 250 West Class. Hard to get into a groove then just go back to the practice track for a month and a half.
No. 62 Vince Friese – Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts Honda (3-10-4 for 5th)
Can’t say Friese did many favors for his reputation on Saturday because holy smokes that kill shot on Craig was bad. He’s lucky that Craig didn’t respond in kind when he got by him later on either. Despite those shenanigans, Friese made it out of Glendale ok points-wise. Just that Main Event 2 move on Craig was really bad.
250 West Class Glendale Top 10
1st No. 41 Hunter Lawrence 2-1-2
2nd No. 28 Christian Craig 1-4-1
3rd No. 30 Jo Shimoda 5-3-3
4th No. 35 Garrett Marchbanks 4-6-6
5th No. 62 Vince Friese 3-10-4
6th No. 31 Jalek Swoll 6-5-7
7th No. 49 Nate Thrasher 8-7-5
8th No. 910 Carson Brown 9-9-8
9th No. 29 Michael Mosiman 10-2-15
10th No. 69 Robbie Wageman 15-8-10
450 Class Roundup
No. 3 Eli Tomac – Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (1-1-3 for 1st)
Welp, it’s official, Tomac has the YZ450 figured out, and that’s bad news for the rest of the field. In an event as rare as Haley’s Comet, he pulled off not one, but two holeshots on the same night. Both of which carried him to a pair of opening Main Event wins, which in turn set him up for the Overall win. With that, Tomac now has 39 in his 450 career, which is just two back of Ryan Villopoto for fifth all-time.
No. 27 Malcolm Stewart – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing (3-2-4 for 2nd)
We were so close to reaching peak Mookie Fever, but a career-best second will have to do. Fitting that this comes in the building where his season ended early in 2019 as well. Stewart had good speed from whenever they set up the team rig out back to when the final Main Event ended. This also breaks a streak of three straight fifth-place finishes as well. At this point of the season, Mookie may not be in the top tier of riders (Tomac, Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton) but he is comfortably the leader in the clubhouse of the second tier.
No. 23 Chase Sexton – Honda HRC (11-3-1 for 3rd)
Heck of a rebound from Main Event 1 for Sexton last night. If not for the 11th, he conceivably could have won last night if that finish was on par with his latter two. His third Main Event performance was arguably the best of the 450 class for the entire night. A great start, and set sail on the field in a statement victory. Although not for a true win, Sexton took home the last spot on the podium.
No. 21 Jason Anderson – Monster Energy Kawasaki (2-12-2 for 4th)
Anderson also had a nice rebound from a poor outing in one of his Main Events. He drifted off to the left on the final rhythm section in Main 2, and went down off to the side of the track. Not helping things either, was that his clutch needed to be knocked back into place. In addition to Anderson’s KX450 being stuck on a tuff block to boot. His 12th was bookended by a pair of second-place runs which helped the cause. Also, hope the chipped tooth feels better soon.
No. 12 Shane McElrath– Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS (10-11-8 for 10th)
Had a feeling McElrath would do well with this Triple Crown format, and he did enough to secure a second straight top 10 finish. The 27-year-old currently sits 12th in points to this point, which is pretty good all things considered. Given that he is now the lead guy for this Rocky Mountain team, at least indoors, the team should feel good about how the No. 12 is riding as of late.
No. 14 Dylan Ferrandis– Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha (7-5-DNF for 12th overall)
Ferrandis almost certainly would have had a top-five night on Saturday, but some bike gremlins in Main Event 3 denied him. The Frenchman was scored nearly 40 seconds back when times first popped up which raised some questions from fans. Then he was seen in the mechanics’ area, then his night was over. Now Ferrandis is far back in points through no fault of his own five rounds in.
450 West Class Glendale Top 10
1st No. 3 Eli Tomac 1-1-3
2nd No. 27 Malcolm Stewart 3-2-4
3rd No. 23 Chase Sexton 11-3-1
4th No. 21 Jason Anderson 2-12-2
5th No. 94 Ken Roczen 4-6-7
6th No. 51 Justin Barcia 6-7-6
7th No. 25 Marvin Musquin 5-4-11
8th No. 1 Cooper Webb 8-8-5
9th No. 15 Dean Wilson 9-9-9
10th No. 12 Shane McElrath 10-11-8
Week 5 PulpMX Fantasy Supercross Lineup
250 West: Christian Craig (All-Star, No Handicap), Jerry Robin (+14), Wyatt Lyonsmith (+16), Geran Stapleton (+16)
450 Class: Dylan Ferrandis (All-Star +5), Ken Roczen (No Handicap), Shane McElrath (+3), Justin Brayton (+5)
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Main Image via Yamaha
