Tampa Supercross Brings the Fireworks

Defending champion Team Honda HRC Progressive's Jett Lawrence did not race; mid-week updates revealed an injury at the previous round will likely keep him out for the remainder of the season. Adding to the rough news for both the Honda team and the Lawrence family, Team Honda HRC Progressive's Hunter Lawrence crashed hard in his heat race and sat out the remainder of the night’s racing. In the 250SX Class, the Tampa Supercross kicked off the Eastern Divisional 250SX Class Championship, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Max Anstie took the win and with it the early points lead.

“Big bro, you know. You’ve done this a long time, racing Daytona and Jacksonville, and you know there’s something about that hometown crowd, buddy," said Stewart, being interviewed by his brother and former Supercross champion James Stewart from the broadcast booth. "I don’t know if they were twisting the throttle for me, because, for a split second, I was like, ‘Alright I need to get this done.’ I was feeling really good, and you know what, Stewart is back in the whoops, Y’all!” 

“I ended up spinning out of the gate and that was all she wrote," said Webb, who moved into second place in points. "I made a good charge through the pack. I’m a little bummed on myself. I was right there with Malcolm coming through the pack and he got around guys and I wasn’t able to [as quickly]. And as you saw with me and Kenny [Roczen], the lappers were really bad… With that being said, Malcolm was crushing the whoops, he deserved that win, and I got a little bit of a gift with Chase going down. But just gotta be better… We’ll take a hard-charge second tonight.” 

“To be honest, tonight I was more likely to be a fifth place guy, but I hung in there" said Anderson, who scored third on the night and moved into third place in points. "It was a bummer for what happened to Ken, it was out of his control, and I was able to pass Chase at the end, so that was nice. This class is tough, and you never know what can happen. Congrats to Malcolm, it’s pretty cool to watch him win his first one after so many tries. It’s cool.” 

In 250SX Class racing, Anstie grabbed the holeshot but Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Pierce Brown quickly took over the lead. Brown crashed hard while leading, handing the lead to Anstie and requiring a red flag stop to the race. The staggered re-start tightened up the racing with eight minutes left. Anstie quickly broke away from the pack for the win with his teammate Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Daxton Bennick holding on to earn a career-best second-place finish. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Cameron McAdoo, after a race-long battle with teammate Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Seth Hammaker finished third; the performance was especially remarkable because McAdoo was racing with a torn ACL. Defending champion Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Tom Vialle finished in fifth place. Defending 250SX West Champion Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's RJ Hampshire, contesting the 250SX East season, landed on a track obstacle and his bike became stuck. Hampshire recovered to finish 18th.

“Pierce [Brown] went down. I hate to see that," said Anstie. "He was riding so well and just spun and ended up going over the bars… After that, it kind of took the wind out of my sails. They red-flagged it, me and [teammate] Dax were up front and it was like a day at the Goat Farm [Training Facility]. And honestly, I was like, ‘Let’s not do anything silly right now.’ The whoops were really tricky and it’s round one so you’re always a little more nervous.”

“I told [Max], I looked at him and said, ‘Hey, it’s just like the practice track now, so we’ve got this covered,'” Bennick said on what he said to teammate Max Anstie at the mid-race re-start.

“I’m so grateful for the strength that God gave me to be able do this tonight and to be here racing. It was a difficult day," said McAdoo. 'It’s been difficult since the occurrence [of the knee injury one week prior] and we’re making the best of it. I’m so stoked with how tonight ended and how we were able to manage.”