2024 Supercross Round 12, St. Louis by the numbers: Cooper Webb thickens the plot

The 2024 Monster Energy Supercross series returns to the Midwest for Round 12 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri and for the first time in three weeks, Jett Lawrence doesn’t enter the race as the most recent winner. This weekend marks the third and final Triple Crown format of the season, so another wild card is put in play.

In one of the most fiercely contested 450 races in 2024, Cooper Webb held off Chase Sexton in Seattle as both riders were able to trim a little off championship leader Lawrence’s advantage. Webb and Sexton didn’t make up a lot of ground, however, because after a couple of mistakes early in the Main while trying to get to the front, Lawrence changed his plans and settled for a good points’ day.

Cooper Webb wins fierce 450 Supercross showdown in Seattle, Levi Kitchen claims home state 250 win

Follow along for live coverage on Round 11 of the Supercross season from Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington

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The championship is shaping up to be a three-man affair.

Webb now trails Lawrence by 16 points — a much more manageable margin than last week’s 21-point deficit.

Sexton is 23 points behind Lawrence, which puts him inside the magic window of being within at least one-full race of the leader.

Webb’s Seattle victory is one of five consecutive top-fives, but as critical as that was, this week is equally important. Webb has backed up one podium with another only once this year when he finished second in San Diego and won Anaheim 2.

Sexton's Round 11 ride not without its 'what ifs'

Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto analyze Chase Sexton's ride during Round 11 where he showed more raw speed and made a few incredible saves, but may be leaving Seattle wondering "what if" if he minimized mistakes.

In Washington, Sexton earned his third podium in the last four weeks with a worst finish of fourth in that span.

Since 2018, St. Louis has been on an every-other-year rotation, which may be part of the reason there have been different winners in the past three events. No one has a distinct advantage, although Eli Tomac has a win and two podiums in the last three races while Jason Anderson has a second- and third-place result in those events. Tomac also won in 2017.

Jo Shimoda is riding well and making smarter decisions with consecutive podiums

With back-to-back third place finishes and four straight top-fives, Jo Shimoda is climbing up the points standings and living up to Honda HRC expectations.

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In two previous Triple Crown races this year, Webb took his first victory of 2024 without winning a single feature. Two weeks ago, Lawrence became on the second rider in Supercross history to sweep all three features in route to victory at Indianapolis.

And while Sexton does not yet have a Triple Crown win to his credit this year, he has the third best average finish with a fifth overall in Anaheim and a third in Indy.

According to Clinton Fowler at WeWentFast.com, Tomac remains the winningest racer in the Triple Crown format with seven victories in 16 starts. He finished second overall in Anaheim with one Feature win. He was seventh in Indy without scoring a single podium.

Jett Lawrence sweeps Indianapolis Triple Crown for overall win, Cameron McAdoo takes the 250s.

Jett Lawrence is now only the second rider to ever sweep the Triple Crown format.

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Should Tomac podium this week, it will be his 100th in Supercross competition. He is currently ranked fourth on the all-time list, two behind Ryan Dungey.

Justin Barcia is one podium away from hitting 100 in combined SuperMotocross competition.

With a margin of .592, last week’s Seattle race was the sixth-closest in a traditional format main, being narrowly edged for fifth by 2009’s Phoenix race, which clocked in with a margin of .591. The closest margin ever came in 2019 at Arlington when Webb beat Ken Roczen to the checkers. In fact, Webb has been victorious in five of the 10 closest races when a Triple Crown feature in 2019 Detroit is included.

In 250s, Levi Kitchen won the previous 250 Triple Crown at Anaheim 2 with a sweep of the podium. He won the first feature, was second in the next and third in the final race.

Last week’s victory in Seattle was his third overall and first in a traditional format race.

Should Smith have been pulled off during Round 11?

Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto debate if Jordon Smith should have been pulled off after crashing in the 250 main event in Seattle while continuing to make mistakes following the initial fall.

Previous St Louis Winners

450s
2022: Marvin Musquin (Followed by Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac)
2020: Ken Roczen (Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson)
2018: Eli Tomac (Jason Anderson, Marvin Musquin)
2017: Eli Tomac (Ryan Dungey, Marvin Musquin)
2016: Ryan Dungey (Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson)

250s
2022: RJ Hampshire (Jett Lawrence, Mitchell Oldenburg)
2020: Austin Forkner (Justin Cooper, Brandon Hartranft)
2018: Zach Osborne (Jeremy Martin, Jordon Smith)
2017: Jordon Smith (Joey Savatgy, Zach Osborne)
2016: Jeremy Martin (Aaron Plessinger, Shane McElrath)

By The Numbers

Seattle
Indianapolis
Birmingham
Daytona
Arlington
Glendale
Detroit
Anaheim 2
San Diego
San Francisco

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