450s

Ken Roczen is a 450 Supercross main event winner again. Yes you read that right. What an unbelievable night of Supercross last night in Indianapolis. Arguably the best race of the season in the 450 division. Ken Roczen got out to an early lead and led the entire race, while holding off a charging Justin Barcia. Barcia looked strong all night, taking the victory in heat 1 and getting around the new championship leader in Cooper Webb in the main event for 2nd place. Barcia cut the lead to Roczen down to a second in the final laps and it seemed like a certainty that he’d get around Roczen, but somehow Roczen held off Barcia and won. Congrats to Barcia for not taking out Roczen, in what seemed like a guarantee.

The final few laps of the main event were simply must watch racing. It was also as loud and as crazy of a Supercross crowd as you’ll ever see. Roczen truly is a fan favorite who seems to have really no enemies. Even if Roczen isn’t your favorite rider, you still pull for Roczen on the side and especially when he’s out front. On top of the crowd going crazy for the Roczen win, you could also see how much respect he has around the rest of riders with multiple riders and teams coming up to him after the race to congratulate him. I really didn’t know if we’d ever see Roczen win a main event again in Supercross but here we are and I couldn’t be happier to see him win. Hopefully this is only the beginning for Roczen on his return to Suzuki.

And on top of the shock Roczen win, there was also a big shake up in the championship last night. We’ll start with Tomac, who looked rough all night. He got a great start in his heat and even had the lead before falling back 4th. Tomac was noticeably slow in the whoops all night long. In the main event, Tomac got probably his worst start of the season and was around 12th after lap 1. Tomac worked his way up to 7th before dropping to 8th to finish the race. A very worrisome night for Tomac and he drops to a point behind Webb in the championship. After a performance like last night have to wonder, is Tomac injured?

Cooper Webb didn’t have the best night last night but he did what Cooper Webb does best and that’s grinding out a result. Webb was top 3 the whole main event and had some good battles with Barcia for 2nd before dropping back and finishing comfortably 3rd. Webb is now your new championship points leader after not having to do anything special at all, besides be consistent.

Lastly, we have to talk about Chase Sexton. Arguably the fastest rider in Supercross at the moment, when he can keep the bike upright, which is rarely. After winning his 450 heat race, Sexton had a good start in the main event and worked his way up to 2nd before having a pretty big crash about midway through. Sexton dropped from 2nd to 12th and was not only lucky to even complete the race he then somehow worked his way up to finishing 10th. Despite all the crashes this season, Sexton finds himself still in the championship hunt. He is only 13 points behind Webb in 3rd place in the standings and it’s practically a miracle at this point. Sexton lays down the bike on a weekly basis it seems, but somehow dodges any injuries and he’s fastest enough to get right back up and get spots back. It’s very reminiscent of Eli Tomac early in his career.

450 Heat 1 Top 5

1. Justin Barcia

2. Ken Roczen

3. Adam Cianciarulo

4. Cooper Webb

5. Justin Hill

450 Heat 2 Top 5

1. Chase Sexton

2. Aaron Plessinger

3. Jason Anderson

4. Eli Tomac

5. Christian Craig

450 Main Event Top 10

1. Ken Roczen

2. Justin Barcia +0.739

3. Cooper Webb +8.852

4. Aaron Plessinger +19.436

5. Jason Anderson +27.754

6. Adam Cianciarulo +38.914

7. Christian Craig +39.027

8. Eli Tomac +44.426

9. Justin Hill +1 Lap

10. Chase Sexton +1 Lap

250 East

250 Heat 1 Top 5

1. Jordon Smith

2. Chris Blose

3. Haiden Deegan

4. Cullin Park

5. Jace Owen

250 Heat 2 Top 5

1. Hunter Lawrence

2. Nate Thrasher

3. Max Anstie

4. Tom Vialle

5. Jeremy Martin

250 East Main Event Top 10

1. Hunter Lawrence

2. Nate Thrasher +7.970

3. Jordon Smith +15.288

4. Jeremy Martin +22.218

5. Max Anstie +32.338

6. Chris Blose +41.489

7. Haiden Deegan +43.900

8. Tom Vialle +46.286

9. Cullin Park +1 Lap

10. Coty Schock +1 Lap

Hunter Lawrence just continues to dominate the 250 East. In the 5th race for the 250 East division, Hunter Lawrence picks up his 4th win. Lawrence dominated his heat race and he dominated the main event. Lawrence got the holeshot and checked out on the rest of the field. Nate Thrasher finished comfortably in 2nd but never challenged Lawrence for the lead. It was a pretty boring main event when compared to the 450s.

Supercross head to Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan next Saturday night at 7 PM for Round 10 of the season.

Roczen Wins in Indy: Supercross Rd 9 Recap