ELI TOMAC WINS OAKLAND | SX 2023
Tomac locks down his 48th career SX, extending overall 450 class point lead
Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Eli Tomac reached the “Rushmore” of supercross greatness on Saturday, winning the rescheduled Oakland (Calif.) round of Monster Energy AMS Supercross for this 48th career premier class victory, which ties him for 3rd place on the all-time wins list with Monster Energy’s Ricky Carmichael. Tomac’s victory allowed him to extend his overall 450 class point lead ahead of Cooper Webb (KTM) to seven points, 139-132, through six rounds of racing.
Tomac is just two victories away from tying former Monster Energy-backed racer James Stewart (50). The all-time supercross wins champion, Monster Energy’s great Jeremy “Showtime” McGrath, leads with a still unbelievable 72 victories.
On Saturday’s 450 class main event at RingCentral Coliseum, Monster Energy’s Chase Sexton (Honda), the day’s fast qualifier over Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson by a half second (1:05.7 to 1:06.2), pulled the holeshot, was in control, and was leading the race through the midway point when a crash just past the finish line allowed Tomac to get by. Sexton would remount in 2nd, battling Webb late in the race before settling on a podium 3rd place finish. Anderson (5th) and Justin Cooper (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) in 10th rounded out the top ten in 450 class scoring for Monster Energy at Oakland.
And in 250 Western Supercross (WSX) action, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo continued to rebound from a scary crash at Anaheim (Calif.) 2, running up front with eventual race winner Jett Lawrence (Honda) and 2nd place RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna). McAdoo would engage in a furious battle late in the main event with Pierce Brown (Gas Gas), exchanging aggressive block passes before McAdoo won that battle to preserve his 3rd place podium finish and keeping himself just one point back of Hampshire in the overall 250 WSX standings, 81-80.
Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Levi Kitchen also ran an excellent race at Oakland, putting his YZ450F in the top five (4th) and remaining within striking distance of the overall 250 WSX point leaders in 5th (63 points).
Oakland 450 class results 250 WSX class results
1st - Tomac (Monster/Star/Yamaha) 3rd – McAdoo (Monster/PC/Kawasaki)
3rd - Sexton (Monster/Honda) 4th - Kitchen (Monster/Star/Yamaha)
5th - Anderson (Monster/Kawasaki) 11th - Walsh (Monster/Revo/Kawasaki)
Overall Standings
450 class 250 WSX class
1st - Tomac, 139 points 3rd - McAdoo, 80 points
3rd - Sexton, 132 points 5th - Kitchen, 63 points
4th - Anderson, 111 points 7th – Stilez Robertson, 30 points
450
Sexton won the short drag race start to the first turn, flat tracked his CRF450R through the corner, and kicked up the chalk line before anyone else for the 450 holeshot. … Tomac would get out around in 2nd or 3rd, before getting past Webb with a clean inside pass into the whoops for 2nd at the end of the opening lap. … On Lap 6 Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo had moved up to 7th place when he got cleaned out in a corner by Justin Barcia (Gas Gas). Cianciarulo would remount, but would not be a factor in the top ten scoring (15th). … On Lap 8, with Sexton still up front, Anderson, who was running in 4th, tipped his bike over and lost position to Aaron Plessinger (KTM) and Ken Roczen (Suzuki). … On Lap 13 Sexton would suffer a wild get-off, which could have been a lot worse. Sexton was able to remount, but lost the lead to Tomac. … Still out front of Webb, the former champion caught Sexton in the rhythm section and passed him for 2nd on Lap 17. … With two laps remaining Webb put on a charge in an attempt to catch race leader Tomac, but the defending 450 champ was just too much for the former champ, with Tomac winning by just under a second (having overcome a bobble in the whoops on the white flag lap). Sexton held on for an easy 3rd, while Anderson hustled back for 5th.
250 WSX
McAdoo pulled a great start to the inside at Oakland, right on Hampshire’s rear tire for the holeshot and controlling 2nd place ahead of 250 WSX point leader Lawrence. … Lawrence would get by McAdoo for 2nd on Lap 3, then McAdoo (and Lawrence) would get by race leader Hampshire when the Husqvarna rider went down in a corner on Lap 5. … McAdoo would give the 2nd position right back to Hampshire, but kept podium pace with the two leaders. … Later in the contest Brown would catch and pass McAdoo with a spirit ride towards the front, but McAdoo would quickly repay the favor, catching Brown in a mistake – and holding him high on a berm (to where Brown tipped over). … Kitchen would then survive a battle with Brown for 4th, which Brown won for a moment, before throwing it away. … When the checkers flew McAdoo was on the podium in 4th, with Kitchen in 5th.
