Tomac and Webb Go 2nd/3rd At Nashville SX

Monster Energy AMA Supercross rolled into Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Saturday and three Monster Energy racers rolled out with podium hardware in the form of electric guitar trophies.

In the premier 450 class action, Round 14 of the world’s foremost dirt bike series, runner-up Eli Tomac (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) was joined on the podium by his teammate, Cooper Webb, in 3rd place.

Tomac, who qualified for the main event out of the No. 5 position, was on point out of the start gate in the night’s final race, beating Honda’s Jett Lawrence to the holeshot stripe and taking the lead, as well as the command of the race, through the contest’s midway point. On Lap 11 (of 24) Tomac was forced to an outside line with a couple bikes down on the track, Lawrence chose inside and was able to pass for the lead.

Said Tomac at the post-race press conference: “I knew he (Lawrence) was really close, and in that situation it’s like 50/50 – where do you go? Yeah. I just happened to be on the outside and it didn’t quite work out. Either way, Jett was riding really fast and I tried to do what I could to latch on to him, but lost a little bit of touch there. But those first few laps were a lot of fun. I got the holeshot and was definitely sending it there at the beginning.”

Tomac’s overall run to 2nd place, coupled with a Chase Sexton (Honda) crash and DNF at Nashville, moved Tomac up from 4th place in the 450 class overall standings heading into Nashville and onto the overall podium in 3rd place position.

For Webb, who returned to Nashville having been injured in a crash at Nissan Stadium last year, his 3rd place run (after being tied with Lawrence heading into Saturday’s race) put him five points back in the overall 450 class standings with three races remaining on the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross schedule.

“Last year, unfortunately, this (Nashville) is what ended my season. It’s always in the back of your mind, but I didn’t let it bother me today. Definitely tried to push through the main event. Saw those guys go down, but we’re so locked in that I didn’t think about it too much.”

Flying into the No. 4 position on 450s at Nashville was Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson. Anderson, who qualified in the No. 7 position for the main, overcame a 12th place start to secure his second-straight top five finish. Rounding out the top ten in the 450 class for Monster Energy was Justin Cooper (Star Racing/Yamaha) in 6th place.

In the first East/West Showdown 250 class action of the season, Monster Energy was led by Jo Shimoda (Honda), who pulled one of his best starts of the year so far and came through in 2nd place after the opening lap. Shimoda rode strong and would hold that 2nd place position through the checkers, finishing 3.6 seconds back of winner RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna).

“The biggest thing is that I finally feel I’ve figured out the starts,” said Shimoda. “I wish I could have done this from the first round, but I feel like everything is feeling dialed in, where I am closer to riding my 100-percent.”

Rounding out the 250 class top ten finishes at Nashville for Monster Energy were Star Racing/Yamaha’s Jordon Smith and Haiden Deegan in 4th and 6th positions, respectively, and Chance Hymas (Honda) in 8th.

Noteworthy on the 250s, ESX points leader Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) would collide with his teammate, WSX points leader Levi Kitchen, sending both to the ground. Kitchen was then run over by Max Anstie (Honda), but was able to remount and finish the race (14th). However, McAdoo was unable to keep racing and had to take the DNF.

Notes & Quotes

• “I think it’s just the dirt here (Nashville). When they build it it’s really tacky and soft, then it really gets hard and the transitions are really tough for some reason. Unfortunately, this one always claims a lot of guys.” – Cooper Webb on the year-to-year track conditions at Nashville.
• The weather in Nashville, leading into Saturday’s racing, may have helped with the tricky track conditions mentioned by Webb as rain forced organizers to cancel the Free Practice session, as well as any riding on Friday’s Press Day.
• With crashes and DNFs from Chase Sexton (Honda) and Ken Roczen (Suzuki), Monster Energy’s Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson were both able to move up one position in the 450 class overall standings. Tomac’s now on the overall podium (3rd) and Anderson’s in the top five (5th).
• That’s 119 career starts for Webb, 81st top five finishes and 62nd podium, according to Ben Bridges, the “Stat guy,” at the Nashville SX press conference.
• Monster Energy’s Justin Hill (Team Tedder/KTM) continues to charge hard on the 450s, winning the Nashville LCQ and making the main event with his brother, Josh (Yamaha).
• “That added injury to injury, because McAdoo was already hurt in practice,” said NBC announcer Jason Weigandt on Cameron McAdoo’s unfortunate 250 main event crash and subsequent DNF. “No one is tougher than McAdoo. When he pulled off that must have been very, very painful.”
• “You talk about heartbreaks… that was a heartbreak for McAdoo,” added NBC announcer Ricky Carmichael of McAdoo, who fell from the ESX overall points lead to 3rd place (KTM’s Tom Vialle passing him for 1st). And for Kitchen, who somehow got up off the ground to finish, he still lost the WSX points lead to Nashville 250 winner Hampshire, 166-164.
• Lost amongst the front runners in the 250 class was Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Haiden Deegan, who didn’t get the start he wanted (18th out of 22), but managed to race back to a respectable 6th place.
• Said Kitchen to Racer X Films regarding his time off prior to Nashville. “With the time of I just hung out, rode a little bit of outdoors (MX). Got back on supercross this week. Yeah, it was good, cruised around and caught some fish.

Up next: Monster Energy AMA Supercross moves east, to Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, for Round 15 of the series, this Saturday, April 27th. For more information, including tickets, hit up www.supercrosslive.com