Trey Canard and Cooper Webb house break Petco Park’s first Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
Team Honda/HRC’s Trey Canard became the first rider to put his name in the record books as a 450cc supercross winner at Petco Park, a new venue for round six of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series albeit in a familiar city, San Diego, California, tonight.
At the home of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, Canard became the second rider this season to win multiple 450cc main events. He did that by beating the only other man on that list thus far, RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, to the finish line after a tense 20-lap main event. Last week’s winner and series point leader Ryan Dungey was third on the Red Bull KTM.
In the 250cc class, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb overcame adversity to score his fourth AMA 250cc West Supercross win in six rounds. Webb suffered a scary-looking crash during afternoon practice when he endo’d into the face of a jump and suffered a shoulder injury.
Yet somehow he was able to shake it off and ride like the odds-on favorite for the 250cc West title, such as he is, to claim another series the win ahead of Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers.
450cc Main
After finishing second in his heat race, behind Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely, Roczen got off to just the start he was looking for in the 20-lap 450cc main event, pulling the holeshot and giving himself the advantage of a clear racetrack. Canard came through second ahead of BTO Sports KTM’s Andrew Short, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Davi Millsaps and Dungey. Millsaps quickly moved into third place by passing Short over the finish line jump at the end of the first lap.
GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac suffered a tough break when he knocked wheels with TwoTwo Motorsports/Discount Tire Kawasaki’s Chad Reed and crashed just before the sweeper, dropping from seventh place to 15th place. Tomac wouldn’t be the only contender to crash away his chances for the win, as Millsaps hit the deck one lap later.
Canard was the fastest rider on the track early, and he quickly caught up to Roczen as the pair went through the whoop section on lap three. Canard then stalked Roczen before taking his first shot at the lead by diving underneath the Suzuki man in the Toyota left-hander. Roczen countered immediately by squaring up Canard in the same corner and retaking the lead. Canard came right back and took the inside away again to pass Roczen again. It appeared as of Roczen might have another immediate answer, but Canard quickly began to inch away from Roczen.
Dungey, meanwhile, ran a comfortable third, about 4 seconds behind Roczen but an almost equal amount of time ahead of Reed. Short was fifth, although he was coming under pressure from Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Baggett and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson. Seely, meanwhile, overcame a bad start and was up to eighth place just before the halfway point.
Roczen had fallen 2.4 seconds off the lead just before the halfway flags, but he quickly found a way to pull back 1 second off that deficit with nine laps to go. Roczen shaved a couple more tenths off of Canard’s lead with seven laps to go, and one lap later Roczen showed Canard a wheel. That only seemed to motivate Canard to pick up the pace, and he was able to stretch the lead back out to 1.5 seconds with four laps to go after Roczen got hung up behind Nick Wey at a crucial time in the race.
Roczen once again began to chip away at Canard’s lead again, and their battle heated up for a third time with three laps remaining. However, Roczen found out that catching Canard was one thing, and passing him was quite another. It appeared as though Roczen was going to need some sort of help, in the form of a mistake by Canard, to have a shot at the win, but Canard didn’t appear to be willing to give Roczen that kind of help.
“I just tried to smooth and consistent,” Canard said. “The track was really slick, so it was easy to make mistakes. I made a couple toward the end especially.”
But those mistakes weren’t of the scope needed for Roczen to capitalize, and Canard crossed the finish line to collect his second win of the year but also his second win in just his last three starts—a stat that could have more meaning as the series heads to Dallas, Texas, next weekend, even though Canard himself downplayed it.
“It’s a long ways to go,” Canard said. “This is round six of 17, so we have a lot of racing [left], but I’ll tell you it’s great to win. I am so thankful. I’ve got to give all the glory to the Lord—not for letting me win the race but for letting me live. I’m just pumped.”
Roczen, who recently parted company with his trainer, Aldon Baker, made it back onto the podium for the first time since his win at the Anaheim II Supercross two rounds ago, said that overall it was a good race for him, although he was mad at himself for the result.
“We battled good,” Roczen said. “I just am so mad at myself because I didn’t ride that good. I clipped to many things, I made too many mistakes, and I noticed it but I just kept doing it. That is what cost me big-time. I got screwed up with lappers a couple of times, and that cost me big, and I came right back on him [Canard]. I wish I would have had another lap. I didn’t really see the pit board, didn’t know how many laps there were to go until I went through the finish and they showed the white flag. Overall, it’s good to be back on the podium. I’m just going to work on being patient and just clean up my jumps.”
Dungey’s third-place finish helped him retain the point lead as the series heads east to Dallas, Texas, next weekend. Dungey leads Roczen, 127-122, while Canard is third with 109. Tomac is fourth, with 100 points. Dungey has finished no worse than fourth so far this season.
“Overall, it was good,” Dungey said. “At the 10-lap mark the track started going, and we were trying our best to catch Ken [Roczen], and those lappers were tough. No excuses. We gave it our best. I kind of fought it today a little bit, so I’m happy. I rode much better in the main event than I did in my heat. We’ll keep after it. I’m giving it my all, and that’s all I can ask from myself.”
250cc Main
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne grabbed the holeshot to start the 15-lap 250cc main event with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Tyler Bowers and off-track friend/on-track rival Cooper Webb running third aboard the Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha. GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart was fourth, but he quickly dropped back in the field after coming up short on a jump and crashing in the AMSOIL right-hander. Stewart was slow to get up.
Bowers wasted no time jumping past Osborne to take the lead away just before the finish line jump at the end of lap one, and Webb came along with him, leaving Osborne to deal with Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Red Bull KTM’s Shane McElrath, who appeared to more confident than ever after winning the second 250cc heat race. Webb appeared content to let Bowers hold the lead, but the impatient McElrath was all over Osborne. McElrath took over third place and tried to put pressure on Webb at the start of lap three.
Bowers had a 2.6-second lead over Webb at the halfway point in the main, but it had been as much as 3 seconds just a couple laps earlier, and it appeared as if Webb was feeling well enough to push the pace in an attempt to catch Bowers. That’s just what he did, closing the gap and stuffing his bike underneath Bowers to take the lead in the Toyota left-hander with six laps to go. Bowers’ troubles weren’t over, a McElrath found away around him through the rhythm section to take over second place on the same lap.
That put McElrath about half a second behind Webb, but Webb quickly found a rhythm and he was able to pull away to earn back-to-back AMA 250cc West main event wins for the second time this season and further extend his series point lead over Jessy Nelson.
“Today was definitely a rough day,” Webb said. “I can’t thank the Lord up above enough, you know. I think today he taught me a valuable lesson, and I will forever thank Him. I want to just thank Dr. G [Dr. Gus Gialamas] for really being in my corner all day. I honestly didn’t think I was going to race. Man, I just fought my heart out. That’s what I knew I had to do. We can rest tomorrow.”
McElrath was thrilled to land on the podium for the first time in his supercross career and eclipsing his season-best fifth-place finish by three spots
“The heat race [win], man, that felt good, and in the main event I was just like, ‘C’mon, I’ve just got to get a start,’” McElrath said. “I just tried to ride like I did in my heat race, and I was just like, ‘All right, God,’ just let go. I just kept pushing, I got a little tight at the end. I didn’t now how far we were in—I didn’t look at the lap board, but I was just like, ‘C’mon, just keep pushing. It ended up good.”
After the race, Bowers was asked what he needed to do to grab a race win.
“Maybe with a little more in the tank I’d be good,” Bowers said. “About midway through I got tired and started making mistakes, and Cooper just didn’t. He rode good. He rode smart. Shane rode very good too—[I’m] happy for him to finally get up here on the podium. I’ve just got to go back and work hard and come into the last few with some fire under my butt.”
Veteran Josh Hansen finished a solid fourth on his Kawasaki, with Yamalube./Star Racing Yamaha’s Alex Martin fifth ahead factory Husqvarna teammates Osborne and Zach Bell. Title hopeful Nelson had a lackluster night, his eighth-place finish costing him precious ground in the series point standings. Tommy Hahn finished ninth ahead of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge.
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series
Petco Park
San Diego, California
Results: February 7, 2015 (Round 6 of 17)
450cc Main
1. Trey Canard-Hon
2. Ken Roczen-Suz
3. Ryan Dungey-KTM
4. Chad Reed-Kaw
5. Eli Tomac-Hon
6. Cole Seely-Hon
7. Blake Baggett-Suz
8. Andrew Short-KTM
9. Broc Tickle-Suz
10. Jason Anderson-Hus
11. Brett Metcalfe-Suz
12. Josh Grant-Kaw
13. Mike Alessi-Suz
14. Phil Nicoletti-Yam
15. Jake Weimer-Kaw
16. Kyle Chisholm-Kaw
17. Nick Wey-Kaw
18. Jimmy Albertson-Yam
19. Killian Rusk-Yam
20. Davi Millsaps-Kaw
21. Kyle Partridge-Hon
22. Ronnie Stewart-Suz
Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Point Standings (After 6 of 17 rounds)
1. Ryan Dungey-127/1 win
2. Ken Roczen-118/2 wins
3. Trey Canard-109/2 wins
4. Eli Tomac-100/1 win
5. Jason Anderson-85
6. Cole Seely-82
7. Chad Reed-75
8. Justin Barcia-71
9. Blake Baggett-68
10. Andrew Short-66
11. Davi Millsaps-55
12. Broc Tickle-51
13. Jake Weimer-48
14. Brett Metcalfe-40
15. Weston Peick-32
16. Mike Alessi-29
17. Kyle Chisholm-28
18. Dean Wilson-23
19. Josh Grant-17
20. Josh Hill-16
250cc Main
1. Cooper Webb-Yam
2. Shane McElrath-Kaw
3. Tyler Bowers-Kaw
4. Josh Hansen-Kaw
5. Alex Martin-Yam
6. Zach Osborne-Hus
7. Zach Bell-Hus
8. Jessy Nelson-KTM
9. Tommy Hahn-Hon
10. Chris Alldredge-Kaw
11. Cole Martinez-Yam
12. Jackson Richardson-Hon
13. Zack Freeberg-Yam
14. Aaron Plessinger-Yam
15. Matt Bisceglia-Hon
16. Austin Politelli-Yam
17. Trevor Reis-Yam
18. Brandon Scharer-Suz
19. Michael Horban-Kaw
20. Ryan Breece-Yam
21. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
22. Justin Hill-KTM
AMA 250cc West Supercross Series Point Standings (After 6 of 8 rounds)
1. Cooper Webb-136/4 wins
2. Jessy Nelson-106/1 win
3. Tyler Bowers-104
4. Zach Osborne-102
5. Shane McElrath-86
6. Aaron Plessinger-81
7. Justin Hill-79
Josh Hansen-79
9. Alex Martin-75
10. Malcolm Stewart-69/1 win
11. Tommy Hahn-56
12. Zach Bell-55
13. Matt Bisceglia-40
Zack Freeberg-40
15. Cole Martinez-39
Jackson Richardson-39
17. Chris Alldredge-26
18. Michael Lieb-25
Scott Champion-25
20. Austin Politelli-23
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