Blow by blow reports from 250-450 AMA SX Arlington Mains

2024 AMA Supercross Championship

Round Seven – AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas

450 Main

Jett Lawrence scored the holeshot ahead of his brother, but Cooper Webb made short work of Hunter to move up to second.  Fourth was Aaron Plessinger, Vince Friese fifth, Shane McElrath sixth, Eli Tomac seventh, Ken Roczen eighth and Chase Sexton ninth.

Tomac was fourth before going down while trying to set Friese up for a pass.

Ken Roczen and Malcolm Stewart went down and got tangled two-minutes in. Roczen had tried to go up the inside of Friese, but the Honda rider shut the door, and that took Roczen down. Stewart then went down while trying to avoid Roczen.  The German was back up and running much sooner than Stewart but not before he was down in tenth place.

Jett Lawrence had the speed to steadily stretch away from Webb.  Hunter was starting to come under attack from Plessinger. Five-minutes in Plessinger made his move on Hunter and immediately started to pull away. Further back Chase Sexton was starting to challenge Justin Cooper for fifth. The defending champ made short work of Cooper and immediately started to pull away from the Yamaha man.

By half-race distance Jett Lawrence led Cooper Webb by 3.5-seconds.  Aaron Plessinger was four-seconds behind Webb but now had almost two-seconds over Hunter Lawrence. Chase Sexton fifth while Eli Tomac had recovered to sixth. Justin Cooper seventh ahead of Ken Roczen and Vince Friese while Dean Wilson rounded out the top ten at the halfway point.

Five-minutes left on the clock and Jett Lawrence had four-seconds on Webb.  The fastest man on track though was Eli Tomac.  The Yamaha man got Sexton then closed on Hunter Lawrence with apparent ease just as the pair started to encounter a series of lapped traffic.  Tomac made a smooth move though and Hunter had to let him go, Tomac looking smooth and fast, and classy…

Tomac then reeled in Plessinger like he was chasing down a lapper. Traffic made it hard for Tomac to make a safe move but he bided his time and made his move with just over two-minutes left on the clock.  Beast mode engaged! At this juncture Jett Lawrence led by five-seconds over Webb.

Then Jett Lawrence jumped wide onto the blocks!  Going down… But by the time he was back up and running he was two-seconds behind the new race leader, Cooper Webb.  They were also approaching lapped traffic…

Jett was just under a second behind Webb as they started the last lap.  Then he was all over him….  The two side-by-side but then Jett went down again trying to avoid Vince Friese as he tried to pass the Honda rider a lap down… Eli Tomac and Aaron Plessinger went by the stricken Aussie while he was on the deck.

Cooper Webb the victor.  Eli Tomac second to make it a Yamaha 1-2.

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Aaron Plessinger taking the final step on the rostrum while Jett salvaged fourth. Fastest lap of the race cold comfort for Jett, who had it home and hosed before making that mistake a couple of minutes from the end.

Hunter Lawrence fifth ahead of Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper.

Ken Roczen ninth ahead of Malcolm Stewart while Jason Anderson rounded out the top ten.

Jett’s championship lead trimmed to three-points over Cooper Webb.  Aaron Plessinger only four-points further back, one-point ahead of defending champ Chase Sexton.  Eli Tomac now fifth in the championship chase, 13-points behind series leader Jett Lawrence.

450 Main Results

450 Quotes

Cooper Webb – P1

“Dallas was awesome to me once again. It was a tough day, though. Qualifying and the heat race didn’t go very well, but we were able to turn it around in the main and take advantage of a little mistake. Man, it feels amazing to win here again and to get our second win of the year. I’m just on cloud nine. It feels unreal.”

Eli Tomac – P2

“Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing #3“It was a good podium for us. I had a really good pace there in the main, but unfortunately I made one mistake early in the race and tipped over. I overshot a triple just a little bit and tucked the front end. Thankfully, I was able to charge forward. It was one of those tracks where you could make up a lot of time on guys and could get to the front of the race if you had the right lines going. Tonight was just important for me because I’ve been struggling in some of these situations, and now I feel like we’ve fixed a lot of that. I’m ready for the rest of the races and to see what we have got.”

Aaron Plessinger – P3

“It was another good night for me to be on the podium again here in Arlington. The bike’s good and I’ve been having the most fun so far this year that I’ve had in a season. It’s just been good, everything is coming to me. Like tonight, I was riding around thinking I was pretty much off the podium, before at the end of the race some things switched around and I got to be up here. It was a good race, I feel good and am still feeling fresh too.”

Jett Lawrence – P4

“There were ups and downs tonight in Arlington—lots to focus on. It was going good, then it went bad, then it could’ve been good, but then it went even worse! So, fourth place. I have to clean up a few things, but it’s always good to learn some things. I’m looking forward to Daytona this weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve raced there, so I’ll enjoy that Daytona sun.”

Hunter Lawrence – P5

“It was a good night, a lot of positives to take away. It’s a bummer—on the last lap, I was doing everything I could to pass AP [Aaron Plessinger] for fourth; live and learn. Two fifth places in a row, and ending up there after being in the wall, so that’s something I can be happy about. Thank you to the team; we’ll keep on plugging away.”

Chase Sexton – P6

“We finished sixth in Arlington, it isn’t where we aim to be, but we will look ahead to next weekend and aim to keep fighting from here.”

Justin Cooper – P7

“Overall, it was a good day. I felt good on the bike all day. I was really comfortable and just gelling with it, so that’s a plus. Practice went really well, and I was third in qualifying, but my starts could have been better. I was seventh in the main and had a few battles with Chase (Sexton) and Eli. Eli was riding really good. I was trying to follow him, but he just took off. He was on a charge to the front, but I was kind of just riding in sixth or seventh by myself and a little bit off that pack. With a little bit better start, I could have ran with those guys and been in that battle, but I was just right behind it. That part was frustrating, but it was a good ride overall.”

Malcolm Stewart – P9

“Arlington always treats me okay and all day I felt really good on the bike.  I was gelling with everything and it was good to lead in the Heat. I enjoy being on the East Coast, we’ve all been putting in the work, and it’s beginning to click. In the Main Event, we made some passes really quickly but came together with another rider and went down. I got back up and felt like it was one of the best rides I’ve had all year long. I know the results aren’t what everyone wants to see on paper, but we’ve been moving in the right direction and it’s just a matter of time before we’re heading for the box or a win.”

Justin Barcia – P11

“Tough day here in Arlington. I had a big get-off in the final practice, lucky to somewhat come out of it alright with no big injuries – just a bit of whiplash, a bit bruised up, and a bit sore. Unfortunately, a crash in the Heat put me in the LCQ, which I won, and then in the Main Event I got in a second turn pile-up. I put on a good charge, was moving through the pack, and was about to crack into the top 10, but had another crash so that pretty much ended my hopes of a good result. It was a really tough weekend, but we’re gonna go back to the drawing board and keep working. We never give up.”

450 Championship Points

250 Main

The second 250 East round for 2024 saw the Yamaha pairing of Deegan and Romano side by side down the first section but Austin Forkner made short work of both of them.

Seth Hammaker and Cam McAdoo quickly pushed Romano back to fifth as they started their charge forward. That made it three Kawasaki’s in the top four.

As the race wore on Tom Vialle worked his way through the pack to take fourth place from Hammaker.

Austin Forkner retained the lead and looked in control but then threw it away in a big way with just under three-minutes left on the clock. He then messed up through a rhythm section and was pitched off the track and onto the concrete, it was like he hit an eject button and the KX250F certainly ejected him! It was brutal!

Inheriting a now very clear lead was Haiden Deegan. The teenager had more than seven-seconds over McAdoo and Vialle and cruised home for the victory from there.

McAdoo managed to get from Vialle in the final stages of the race to secure that second place finish ahead of the European.

Leaving Texas with the red plate on Saturday night, though, was new championship leader Max Anstie.

Austin Forkner was banged up in a Texas hospital with a fractured L3/L4 that will be treated without surgery. Forkner also has a broken scapula that will not require surgical intervention.  He has been discharged from the hospital and is heading back to California. He noted that one of his contact lenses had come out during the Main and could have been a factor in the crash.

250 main Results

250 Quotes

Haiden Deegan – P1

“It was a good day in Arlington. Qualifying wasn’t that great, and the heat race was alright. I got passed, so I was pretty mad, but I’m not really a qualifying guy. I’m more of a race guy. So we went into the main event, and I got a perfect start. I just ran my own race, trailed behind, waited for a mistake, and was able to capitalize on it. It was awesome to get that first Supercross win. I’m only seven points out of the lead now. It’s going to be a fight to the finish, and I’m not going to let these guys have the red plate easily.”

Cam McAdoo – P2

“I felt like I needed to be extra patient tonight with this track.  I was a little banged up from a pre-season injury and again after Round 1, so I was trying to be more methodical about the day. It meant a lot for me to acknowledge my sister so much during this round, and she’s always pushed me to be the best I could possibly be on the track. This one was for her, and I’m really happy at how close the points are as we head to Daytona.”

Tom Vialle – P3

“We’re happy to be on the podium and excited with the result. I had an okay day, aside from my crash in practice, and that affected me in the Heat race, so it wasn’t great for the gate pick. I was able to ride well the whole Main Event, it’s amazing to get my first podium in Supercross and I want to fight now for the win – that’s really the goal from this point.”

Seth Hammaker – P4

“The track was very tough, and I was trying to keep my mistakes to a minimum as much as possible.  To come away with a fourth after having such a disappointing first round was a step in the right direction. I really want to challenge not only for the podium but for a win, and I think we can get there this season. We’ll see what happens next week in a different atmosphere in Daytona.”

Pierce Brown – P5

“Overall, not a bad weekend. Riding was good and I think we improved as a whole, so that was good. We got another fifth, but we’re second in points now and we’re in this – I’m excited! Now we’re back to work on Monday to tighten a few things up before Daytona this weekend.”

Max Anstie – P6

“After an early race incident where I collided with another rider and damaged my bike, I had to fight my way back. While the overall result was frustrating, having the red plate going into Daytona is special.”

Guillem Farres – P9

“My day started pretty good, felt good in practice, and then in qualifying I was sixth.  The Heat was positive with fourth and then I felt good coming into the Main Event. The start was decent, around top-five, and then I made a mistake and got passed by a couple of riders. I ended up ninth and felt better towards the end, so overall I am happy because we made a big step from Detroit in the past few weeks.”

250 East Championship Points

250 Qualifying Results

250 Heat One Results

250 Heat Two Results

250 LCQ Results

450 Qualifying Results

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two Results

450 LCQ Results