SX Maniacs!
By Ben Rumbold on 6th Mar 23
News Supercross AMA Supercross
Eli Tomac leads the way in the AMA SX series (Photo: Feld Inc.)
At the time of writing, the AMA Supercross series could not be more tightly poised as it reaches the halfway point of Daytona. Five points cover the top three in the series with Eli Tomac taking four wins so far this season to equal Ricky Carmichael’s career tally of 48. Three more wins will see him leapfrog James Stewart for the second-highest mark of all time behind the 72 of Jeremy McGrath.
Records aside, Eli is focussing on the title in what is likely to be his final season in the sport. He had planned to retire until he tested the new Yamaha and instantly loved it enough to sign up to race with the #1 plate in’23.
He has also just committed to another season of outdoor motocross, so he will complete the new Supermotocross (SMX) formatted series which will crown an all-round champion with a three-race playoff format at the end of the season. This means he will race against upcoming megastar Jett Lawrence as well as all the other stars of the 450 division in the Nationals.
Second in points, just two back, is another two-time SX champ – Cooper Webb. Reunited with Aldon Baker and having fixed his problems with the bike, the old Cooper is back and proving to be the king of the late race charge. His two wins have lifted him into the top 10 of all time, ahead of Jeff Ward and Ken Roczen.
Behind him by just three is the frustrated figure of Chase Sexton. Why frustrated? Because he is the Jago Geerts of Supercross, constantly making little mistakes that have cost him at least two wins this year, having only taken the first Triple Crown format event at Anaheim II. If he stays on, his natural speed makes him a real threat.
Jason Anderson has shown flashes of brilliance but is still getting involved in too many squabbles to be in the title hunt, while ‘Kickstart Kenny’ is taking the aged Suzuki to amazing heights and currently lying fifth in the standings with just a single podium at Anaheim II.
Scottish star Dean Wilson is running 12th in points in his first season on a Honda and is confirmed to be racing the WSX event at Villa Park on July 1.
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