ARLINGTON, Texas: Cooper Webb won the second and third races of the Arlington Triple Crown as Chase Sexton crashed with a lapped rider on the final lap to throw away the overall win, but along the way, Webb had to overcome a poor start in the first race that landed him in a deep hole. Webb finished sixth in Race 1 and knew that he needed to stack two strong runs to maintain his domination of AT&T Stadium.
“I have no idea what happened,” Webb told Peacock’s Will Christien. “I had a lot of Lady Luck there. It was an awesome battle. Me and Chase were coming through the pack. We were going for it. Got around (Ken Roczen) and we were battling for it then he made that mistake. He stalled and then I stalled myself.”
Sexton’s stalled bike allowed Webb to close the distance and make the pass for the lead. Sexton’s crash on the last lap in traffic provided the victory.
This was Webb’s sixth win in the last seven Arlington races.
Sexton was one point ahead of Webb and running second in the Olympic-style overall scoring in the final lap. He had a decision to make and in the post-race news conference, he told reporters he always wants to race for the win.
Sexton tried to thread the needle between Webb and Mitchell Harrison when he crashed. That dropped Sexton out of the winning position as he eventually finished fifth.
By finishing third in Race 3, Roczen took second away from Sexton in overall scoring combined with results of first and fifth in the first two features.
“It was gnarly,” Roczen told Jason Thomas. “What a battle. Plain and simple, I’m not fast enough. I need to find a couple of tenths - a few tenths.”
Sexton was scored third after finishing third, second, and fifth. No one wants to win a Triple Crown round without winning a feature and that played into Sexton’s decision.
“There’s not much to say,” Sexton said. “It’s pretty embarrassing: stalling, going down, losing the overall. It ain’t gonna cut it. We have a lot of work to do.”
Fourth-place Justin Cooper finished second, third, and sixth in the three features.
Justin Hill was fifth with a 4-4-8.
Click here for complete 450 Race 3 results
In the 250 division, four points separated the top three at the start of Race 3 with Haiden Deegan overcoming poor starts in the first two features to assume the lead.
After overcoming those bad gate drops in the first two features, Deegan got his best start of the night in the Race 3 and rode into a comfortable position behind his teammate Cole Davies to win the overall with a 1-1-2.
“I’m going to keep working,” an intense Deegan said from the top of the podium. “Keep getting better, is all I can work on.”
With four points on the night in the Olympic style scoring, Deegan was head and shoulders above the competition, but that did not dull the enthusiasm of the other podium finishers.
Tied with 12 points each, Coty Schock earned the tiebreaker over Michael Mosiman.
Schock got off to a good start during the night after leading Race 1, fading to second in that event, and then finishing fourth and sixth in the next two races.
“We’re broadcast as a big team but we do a lot a little,” Schock said. “It’s a little shop based out of South Carolina and we put in the work.”
This was the first career podium for the Dover, Delaware, native.
Mosiman finished third and second in the first two races, but struggled in Race 3 to cross under the checkers seventh.
“There is a sense of relief,” Mosiman said. “So much work put in and so many people who believed in me even at times when I didn’t myself, to get back to this place; to get back on the podium.”
In five rounds of 250 West competition, Mosiman has finished better each time.
Jo Shimoda showed consistency with results of fifth, fifth, and third to score a fourth overall.
Garrett Marchbanks rounded out the top five with a 7-3-5.
Click here for overall 250 West results
Pre Race Notes
Riders thought they left Detroit behind. They were wrong. After two days of arctic cold, by Texas standards, the temperatures rose into the 50s outside and that put a few extra steps in the riders’ strides.
It’s a four-rider battle at the moment for the 450 crown with Sexton and Webb as the favorites. Don’t tell Roczen and Jason Anderson they are out of contention, however, because there is still a lot of racing ahead.
The 250 West division is back in action this week, contesting their second Triple Crown.
The sand section was deep and collected several riders in practice and qualification.
Aaron Plessinger got the best jump but went off course in the whoops and handed the lead to Ken Roczen.
Jason Anderson and Shane McElrath circulated in second and third.
Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb raced one another in fourth and fifth. The two riders entered Arlington tied in championship points.
Roczen held the overall lead as they ran and would have the tiebreaker if Sexton moved up to second.
On Lap 6, Sexton overtook Anderson for second. Webb is back in fourth.
Webb moved into third one lap later.
Sexton closed on Roczen on Lap 8. They were side-by-side.
Sexton took the lead on Lap 9; Webb got stalled behind Roczen.
The active question was if Sexton could avoid mistakes.
Webb made the pass for second on Lap 13.
Sexton stalled and Webb took the lead on the next lap.
Moments later, Sexton crashed while trying to thread the needle with a lapped rider.
Jason Anderson slipped into second with Roczen finishing third.
Justin Barcia passed Sexton in the final turn and scored a fourth-place finish, pushing Sexton back to fifth.
Click here for 450 Race 3 results
Click here for complete overall results
Coty Schock got the best start in Race 3 but Haiden Deegan earned his best start of the night and ran fourth at the end of Lap 1.
Cole Davies in second and third-place Julien Beaumer had early podium positions.
On Lap 3, Davies skimmed the whoops and flew around Schock.
Beaumer moved up to second by Lap 6. Deegan caught Schock. There is bad blood between these riders.
Deegan got the position on Lap 7. He had the overall lead as they ran.
With 2:40 on the clock, Deegan passed Beaumer for second. Deegan wants to sweep the Triple Crown, but Davies has a different opinion.
Jo Shimoda moved into third by Lap 11. Beaumer was pushed back to fourth with Garrett Marchbanks fifth.
Davies held on for the win but Deegan scored the overall victory with a second-place finish.
Shimoda took the final spot on the podium.
Fourth-place Julien Beaumer and Garrett Marchbanks rounded out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 West Race 3 results
Click here for complete overall results
Justin Cooper got another great start.
Chase Sexton is on his back tire and Cooper Webb was also up front at the end of Lap 1.
Sexton took the lead from Cooper on Lap 4, but Cooper responded.
Webb closed in on Sexton, the two make contact, and Cooper got around with Webb scored second.
Webb took the lead on Lap 6. Sexton fell to fourth.
Justin Hill filled the third position.
Ken Roczen rounded out the top five.
Sexton got back into podium position on Lap 10.
Sexton passed Cooper for second on Lap 13 which tied him in points with Cooper for the lead.
Roczen was one point behind in third overall.
Webb won Race 2 by two seconds over Sexton.
Cooper took the final spot on the podium.
Fourth-place Hill and Roczen rounded out the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Race 2 results
Click here for overall results after Race 2
Michael Mosiman got the strongest start as Cole Davies crashed in Turn 1.
Garrett Marchbanks didn’t let Mosiman get away with Coty Schock rounded out the top three early.
Haiden Deegan got another poor start and was seventh on Lap 2. He climbed to fourth on Lap 6.
Deegan took the final podium position on Lap 8.
Julien Beaumer crashed with 3:15 remaining.
Deegan passed Marchbanks on Lap 10 and had the overall lead as they ran.
Deegan ran Mosiman wide and they bang bars. Mosiman commented after the race that he got a few extra bruises in that exchange.
At the end of the rhythm lane, Deegan completed the pass.
Marchbanks held on for third.
Fourth-place Schock and Jo Shimoda round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 West Race 2 results
Click here for overall results after Race 2
Race 1 sets the tone for the remainder of the Triple Crown.
Justin Cooper got strong start to lead early.
Ken Roczen chased him during the opening laps.
Justin Hill and Chase Sexton had a spirited battle with Hill passing the red plate holder briefly. Sexton eventually prevailed.
Jason Anderson rounded out the top five on Lap 6.
Cooper Webb got a slow start and was outside the top five with six minutes on the clock.
Anderson went down in the sand with 3:30 to go.
Roczen made a tight inside pass on Cooper with 1:30 remaining.
Roczen held on for the win by half a second over Cooper.
Sexton rounded out the podium.
Fourth-place Hill and Justin Barcia round out the top five.
Webb started the Triple Crown with a deficit and sixth-place finish.
Three points separated the top three at the start of the first feature in Arlington.
Jo Shimoda got the jump on the field with Coty Schock on his back wheel.
Haiden Deegan completed Lap 1 in sixth but he crashed on the next circuit and fell back to eighth.
Smith knocked Schock off course on Lap 4.
Lux Turner and Michael Mosiman rounded out the top five.
Smith took the lead from Shimoda and then the former winner buried his bike in the sand. He dropped out of the top five.
Smith got wiggly and Schock took over the top spot on Lap 6.
While all that was happening, Deegan climbed to third.
On Lap 10, a blanket could cover the top three.
Smith and Deegan passed Schock on Lap 11.
Deegan made an aggressive pass on Smith, but stalled in the next lap.
Smith crashed in the whoops and handed the lead to Deegan.
Deegan won by 2.3 seconds over Schock with Mosiman rounding out the top three.
Fourth-place Cole Davies and Jo Shimoda rounded out the top five.
Smith was placed on a backboard and carted off track. He gave the fans two thumbs up. Smith headed to the hospital for x-rays focused on his ribs.
Kyle Chisholm will make at least one more Main during his final year of SuperMotocross after winning the 450 LCQ.
Grant Harlan and Justin Starling finished second and third to advance into the show.
Scott Meshey will race in the big show for the first time since 2022.
Joshua Varize wins the LCQ to become part of the nighttime show.
TJ Albright, Parker Ross, and Gavin Towers also advance.
Towers had to make a determined charge through the whoops to nip Derek Kelley at the close.
Justin Hill posted the fastest lap in Qualification 2 with a time of 47.627 seconds.
Justin Cooper (48.154) was another fresh face at the front of the pack in second with Ken Roczen (48.273) posted third.
Fourth-place Jason Anderson (48.305) and Chase Sexton (48.404) rounded out the top five.
Cooper Webb (48.590) will not have a great gate pick in Feature 1 with the seventh-best time.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 2 times
Click here for combined 450 Qualification times
Julien Beaumer jumped wide early in the session and crashed onto a Tuff Blox.
Cole Davies (48.326 seconds) laid down a fast lap early and held his advantage until the end.
Teammate Haiden Deegan (49.029) had to settle for second, and despite his troubles, Beaumer (49.088) slotted into third.
Fourth-place Jordon Smith (49.554) and Jo Shimoda (49.819) rounded out the top five.
On the bubble, Avery Long ((51.245) and Jett Reynolds (51.275) went directly to the feature.
Derek Kelley (51.307) and Kyle Wise (51.408) went to the LCQ .
Click here for complete 250 West Qualification 2 times
Click here for combined 250 West Qualification times
The battle for the red plate will be tight with Chase Sexton (49.192 seconds) and Cooper Webb (49.470) topping the leaderboard. Less than three-tenths of a second separate them.
They were the only two riders to break the 50-second mark. Joey Savatgy (50.105) jumped up to third on his final lap.
Justin Cooper (50.123) and Jason Anderson (50.193) rounded out the top five.
Ken Roczen (50.305) was just outside that mark in sixth.
Click here for complete 450 Q1 times
Click here for combined 450 Q1 times
There was no rust to knock off as Haiden Deegan (50.064 seconds) topped the first qualification session for Round 7 in Arlington.
The young gun, Cole Davies will make some noise in the features after he went 50.706 in this session with Jordon Smith (50.897) slotted into third.
With two weeks to allow two broken fingers to heal, Jo Shimoda (51.303) took the fourth position with Julien Beaumer (51.445) rounding out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 West Group A Q1 times
Click here for combined 250 West Q1 times
Racing is a zero sum game and with the Lawrence Brothers and Eli Tomac out of the lineup, fresh faces are showing up at the top of the order.
Malcolm Stewart (49.110 seconds) was fastest in 450 Free Practice.
Chase Sexton (49.306) settled into second on the chart as Justin Cooper (49.662) took the third position.
Cooper Webb (49.749) had a big get-off on Friday’s Press Day, but he’s fine and set the fourth-fastest time.
Aaron Plessinger (49.770) rounded out the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Free Practice times
Haiden Deegan (49.195) found his way to the top of the chart quickly as the 250 West riders rejoin the action.
After an impressive debut, Cole Davies (49.195) landed second on the chart with Jordon Smith (50.481) rounding out the top three.
Red plate holder Julien Beaumer (50.621) and Michael Mosiman (51.215) were also in the mix.
