Unfortunately, the Nashville Supercross (round 15 of 17) yesterday saw several top riders go down hard. The first big crash of the day came when Cooper Webb was battling with Eli Tomac for the race lead in the first 450SX heat race. On the opening lap, Webb and Tomac went back and forth in the first few turns. In the turn following the whoops section, Webb went to the outside of Tomac, went high in the berm, and down, although there was no contact from Tomac that put his championship rival down. But then with nowhere to go, Adam Cianciarulo accidentally ran directly into the back of Webb’s body and head. Webb struggled to stand up on his own before the Alpinestars medical crew eventually helped him to his feet. The #2 was carted off the track moments later. Watch the incident below.
Drama off the start of 450 heat 1 😱#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/46gETY8TJ2
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) April 29, 2023
Webb was taken to a local hospital for more testing as his day—and championship hopes—ended there at the 15th round.
“We didn’t make contact but then he washed his front end out,” Tomac said to reporter Will Christien following his heat race win. “And then I happened to be looking back to see if he did fully hit the ground and I believe Adam clipped him. So obviously unfortunate. That changes a lot of things for us. But just gotta keep my heat down, keep doing what we’re doing, go out there get good stars, and keep pushing.”
With Webb not lining up for the main event and Chase Sexton taking the race win, the #23 took over second place in the 450SX championship standings. Tomac (338 points) has an 18-point lead on Sexton (320 points) and a 34-point gap on Webb (304 points).
Cianciarulo, who accidentally ran into the back of Webb, took to twitter after the race had ended to provide a statement after inadvertently running into his long-time competitor.
“Tough day for me. Not because of my result, but because of that incident with Cooper in the heat race. The absolute worst spot you can be in as a racer. It happened so fast, and I wish I could have avoided it. I’m thinking of him and I hope he is back soon.”
Tough day for me. Not because of my result, but because of that incident with Cooper in the heat race. The absolute worst spot you can be in as a racer. It happened so fast, and I wish I could have avoided it. I’m thinking of him and I hope he is back soon.
— Adam Cianciarulo (@AdamCianciarulo) April 30, 2023
The post-race release from KTM said the following:
“Title challenger Webb stormed out of the gates and led the opening 450SX Heat race of the day, before going down soon afterward on lap one. The 27-year-old was then transferred from the stadium to the hospital for further evaluation, unfortunately, ruled out for the remainder of the round, and he is now positioned third in points. An additional update once he has seen his doctor will follow.”
Our man on the ground Aaron Hansel reported in his Saturday Night Live race recap last night:
"Afterward we checked in with Roger DeCoster, who informed us Webb had sustained a big concussion, and that he was going to be undergoing scans on his neck to ensure there wasn’t any damage. This spells the end of Webb’s season, and his quest for a third 450SX championship."
Read the full race report from Hansel.
This morning (Sunday), Steve Matthes posted the following tweet:
Webb was kept overnight in Nashville for observation but he flew home this AM
— Steve Matthes (@pulpmx) April 30, 2023
Then, around 12:35 p.m. Eastern today, Webb took to Instagram to provide an update himself. Webb’s caption read:
“As many of you saw, I suffered a concussion last night in Nashville. I am thankful that everything else has checked out okay. This will unfortunately put an end to my SX season. It hurts to have it end like this, but I can hold my head high knowing I gave it my all.
Nobody is at fault. I made a small mistake and shit happens in racing. Let’s be better than that.
Appreciate the support 🙏🏼”
It is unfortunate for Webb’s season to come to an end as we were in the midst of such a great championship battle and we know the gritty, chip-on-his-shoulder #2 would give his all to fight for the #1 plate to the final checked flag in Utah at the final round. We are glad Webb’s other tests at the hospital came out okay. Heal up, champ.
As mentioned, Tomac has an 18-point lead on Sexton with just two rounds (52 points) remaining. Unfortunately, Justin Barcia had a hard crash of his own in the main event, which resulted in a broken collarbone according to Hansel's SNL post-race report. Barcia's crash and DNF (21st officially) allowed Ken Roczen to jump Barcia in the points standings to take over fourth.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 372 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO | 339 |
| 3 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 304 |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 304 |
| 5 |  Justin Barcia | Monroe, NY | 267 |
| 6 |  Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 242 |
| 7 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 236 |
| 8 |  Justin Hill | Yoncalla, OR | 212 |
| 9 |  Adam Cianciarulo | Port Orange, FL | 210 |
| 10 |  Dean Wilson | Scotland, United Kingdom  | 200 |
