Cole Davies Wins Second-Straight SX 250 in Philly

It was all Monster Energy atop the second (of three) Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250 East/West Showdown contests as Cole Davies (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) topped the world’s best 250 class supercross racers, with teammate Haiden Deegan right on his tail for the 1-2 finish at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

And in the premier 450 class, Monster Energy’s Cooper Webb (Star Racing/Yamaha), the holder of the No. 1 red plate, would place 2^nd behind KTM’s Chase Sexton at Philly. Webb still holds the overall series lead ahead of 2^nd place Sexton by 12 points, 278-266.

With the 250 class main event victory at Philly, Davies pulled to within 17 points (171-154) of 250 WSX overall leader Deegan with two more ESX rounds (Easter Rutherford, N.J. and Pittsburgh) remaining, plus the final 250 East/West Showdown event at the series’ final round in Salt Lake City.

Following a red flag restart early on in the 250 ESX/WSX Showdown at Philadelphia, Davies’ run to the front was nearly flawless as he out-dueled teammate Deegan, then tracked down, caught and passed Monster Energy’s Seth Hammaker(Pro Circuit/Kawasaki), who’d wind up 4^th on the evening. Davies, 17 and in his freshman year racing supercross, then set his sights on longtime 250 class racer RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna), who he caught and passed with ease before setting sail for the checkers. Deegan then railed past Hammaker and Hampshire into 2^nd place, and likely would have caught Davies had he not run out of time.

“Tried to put in some good laps early, then just rode it home from there,” said Davies of the red flag restart. “I knew I had to get another good start. Knew I had to if I wanted to win, and just put my head down.”

Rounding out the 250 ESX/WSX Showdown scoring for Monster Energy was Garrett Marchbanks (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) in 7^th position.

In the 450 main event Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Justin Cooper was forced to suffer due to the error of another racer(s), getting tied up and, eventually, back in the race with just two bikes behind him. Cooper would rally back to 6^th with an excellent ride on the night. Also caught up in the carnage to some extent was Webb (along with Sexton), who eventually made his way up to 3^rd place behind Sexton (2^nd) and race leader Ken Roczen (Suzuki), who was some five seconds clear of Sexton and Webb.

Showing they’re the fastest two supercross racers on the planet right now, Sexton and Webb would both track down and pass Roczen, Webb getting Roczen coming out of a corner where it appeared that Roczen missed a shift. Sexton would race to his fourth main event victory of the season, tying with Webb for the most 450 class wins. Webb would race to a strong 2^nd place, securing his overall series points lead for yet another week.

“It’s been a wild year for sure,” said Webb. “Even in that first turn, we both (with Sexton) got caught up and it was a mad dash with both of us going through the pack. I think it was pretty cool looking back on the passes we made. He’d (Sexton) make a pass, which would put some urgency on me and I’d have to go. It was definitely a unique race.”

Rounding out the 450 class top ten scoring for Monster Energy was Justin Hill (KTM) in 10^th place.

Philadelphia 450 class results                                       250 ESX/WSX Shootout results

2^nd – Webb (Monster/Star/Yamaha)                                               1^st – Davies (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

6^th – Cooper (Monster/Star/Yamaha)                                             2^nd – Deegan (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

10^th – Hill (Monster/KTM)                                                               4^th – Hammaker (Moster/PC/Kawasaki)

Overall Standings (13 of 17 rounds)

450 class                                                                         250 ESX class

1^st – Webb, 278 points                                                                   1^st – Hammaker, 117 points (tie w/ Hampshire)

5^th – Cooper, 203 points                                                               6^th – Thrasher, 89 points

8^th – Anderson, 151 points                                                             7^th – Anstie, 78 points

250 WSX class

1^st – Deegan, 171 points

2^nd – Davies, 154

6^th – Marchbanks, 110 points

Notes & Quotes

• With Hammaker grabbing the quick holeshot in the 250 ESX/WSX Showdown, Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Daxton Bennick would suffer a scary crash – which brought out the red flag. On the restart, Hammaker again got up front briefly, but was caught by Hampshire.
• Bennick was able to get up under his own power before being carted off the track, which brought out a big round of applause from the Philly SX faithful.
• “I was in a good spot before the red flag. So I was a bit pissed off, to be honest.” – Davies on the red flag restart.
• “These two (Davies and Deegan) had me covered, big time. I couldn’t get out of my own way up front.” – Hampshire on the 250 East/West Showdown main event.
• “I literally grew up watching these guys I’m racing right now.” – Davies on guys like Hampshire and KTM’s Tom Vialle.
• The win for Davies over Deegan was his second-straight, making him the first 250 racer to score back-to-back wins this season. Added NBC’s James Stewart: “I mean that dude (Davies) was on another level tonight.”
• “It’s been a while since I had to come through the pack like that. Fine line between trying to ride smart and go fast.” – Webb on the Philly 450 main event.
• Remaining dates for Monster Energy AMA Supercross: (April 19) East Rutherford, N.J., (April 26) Pittsburgh, (May 3) Denver and (May 10) Salt Lake City.

Up next: Sticking to the eastern U.S. (and hopefully no more rain), Monster Energy AMA Supercross has the quick commute from Philly to East Rutherford, N.J.’s MetLife Stadium – home of to both the NFL New York Jets and New York Giants – for Round 14 of the series, April 19^th.