Supercross 2023: Results and points after Indianapolis Ken Roczen wins Indianapolis Supercross; Cooper Webb takes points lead
Ken Roczen led every lap of Stage 9 of the Monster Energy Supercross in Indianapolis.but the results were not certain until the checkers were swung by heavy traffic in the last laps, allowing Justin Barcia to close the gap.
Roczen had a solid lead for the first 15 minutes of the race until he started to overtake some of the drivers for the second time. All but eight riders were at least one lap behind. While this was happening, Barcia were flying, closing the three-second gap to get closer to Roczen’s rear tire.
Both riders were hungry. Roczen was aiming for his first win in over a year after taking the checkered flag for the first time at Anaheim 1 last year. Barcia were hoping for their first win in over two years after also winning the season opener the previous season.
After all, Roczen did what he does best. He defended his lead and pulled away from Barcia just enough to keep his opponent from approaching him in the bowl turns. Roczen finished 0.739 seconds ahead of Barcia on lap 27, giving both drivers second-place finishes of the season.
RESULTS: Click here to view the full 450 total results; Click here to see 250 total results
Cooper Webb was perhaps the biggest winner of the evening. Trapped in traffic after a poor start, Eli Tomac slipped to 14th in the Indianapolis Supercross round for third, helping Webb enter Detroit with a red placard. This will be the first time in 2023 that a rider other than Tomac has attached it to his bike and it gives a one-point advantage. With a seventh podium finish, Webb tied Chase Sexton for the season’s best.
All eyes were on the battle for the lead, with Aaron Plessinger finishing quietly fourth and posting outside the top five in two races. He maintains an impeccable top 10 record.
Jason Anderson also held the record for most top 10 appearances and finished in fifth place. Anderson has finished seventh or better in all nine rounds, but with only one win, he is 36 points behind the leader.
Click here to get 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Qualifying Tournament “Last Chance” | Lap table
Adam Cianciarulo narrowly missed the top five in his first race after missing the final two rounds with a wrist injury. It was his best finish of the season and his comeback was even more impressive as he also finished third in his heat.
Tomac would have received a share of the red plate had it not been for his challenge with the lap racers. On the last lap, Dean Wilson fell in front of the Supercross championship leader entering Indianapolis and stopped his momentum, allowing Christian Craig to run past and steal that critical point.
The results were even worse for Sexton. He crashed while challenging Roczen for the lead and fell to 12th. He recovered and moved up to 10th place in draughts, but was a lap behind.
Click here for 450 total results | Ryder glasses | Manufacturer’s glasses
It was a perfect day for Hunter Lawrence, who won his fourth main event of the season, finishing fastest in qualifying, winning a holeshot and leading in laps. It was a near-perfect season with the worst possible finish of second in five rounds. He will lose the season with five remaining rounds and a 22-point lead.
Nate Thrasher had three attempts to catch Lawrence. A week after he was defeated by the championship leader in Dayton, Thrasher may have felt he needed to prove something, but he could never get close enough to make his point. Even when the Heat 2 field was bunched up due to the red flag, Thrasher kept losing ground.
Click here to get 250 heat 1 | Heat 2 | Qualifying Tournament “Last Chance” | Lap table
In third place, Jordon Smith earned his third podium in five rounds. Had it not been for a disappointing weekend in Tampa, he would have been much higher on points and ready to challenge Lawrence. Instead, he is fourth in the standings with 33 points.
Jeremy Martin earned his best finish of the season with a fourth-place finish. He’s been remarkably consistent with fourth to sixth results in five rounds, but that doesn’t keep up with the championship job and he’s tied for fifth in the standings with Hayden Deegan after the Indianapolis Supercross race.
Click here to see 250 total results | 250 Eastern Riders Points | 250 combined rider points
Max Anstie rounded out the top five. His consistency is shown in the average start (3.5) compared to the average finish (3.4), which shows a difference of only 0.1. Both of these scores are significantly better than his qualifying 7.8.
A week after Deegan took his first podium of his career, he fell late in the race while running in the top five and dropped to seventh. As a reminder, this year is supposed to be Danger Boy’s training year, and he didn’t expect to be the 250th rookie at the start of the year.
Results of 2023
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins Dayton 7
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins the second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb and Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H. Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen wins
Race 2: Tomac and Jay Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, Jay Lawrence win
2023 supermotocross ranking
Week 8: Chase Sexton dethrones Eli Tomac
Week 7: Jason Anderson barely behind Tomac
Week 6: Perfect night in Oakland keeps Tomac number one
Week 5: Cooper Webb and Sexton close the gap
Week 4: Tomac regains the lead
Week 3: Ken Roczen takes first place
Week 2: Roczen moves up; sexton falls
Week 1: Tomac reaches 450; Jett Lawrence 250s
Find out more about supermotocross
Ken Roczen retained his composure, losing 3 seconds to heavy traffic near the end of round 9 in Indianapolis holding off Justin Barcia’s determined attack to win his first Monster Energy Supercross since he first took the checkers in the 2022 opening round in Anaheim. Riders lined up to congratulate Roczen as he bowed to his bike.
“It’s OG, punk rock style from the past,” Roczen told NBC Sports’ Will Christien as he wielded the kickstarter of his Suzuki, which is the only bike in the field that doesn’t use an electric starter. “It was such an amazing race. I can’t even speak right now. I had to poke around to the end. The track was brutal and Justin was on.
“I got a little screwed up by the lappers, but I just kept saying, ‘One more lap, one more lap,’ and we did it.”
In a dramatic turn of events, the points lead changed hands, with Eli Tomac struggling most of the night and Chase Sexton crashing trying to get past Roczen for the lead. Cooper Webb was the only one of the three contenders to finish on the podium, but even with his strong move, the position remained in doubt until the very end. It took a last lap from Christian Craig on the Tomac to make a difference.
RESULTS: How they finished the 450 Main in Indianapolis
After a terrible start, Tomac bogged down in the pack for most of the race, exiting Turn 1 in 14th. He moved up to seventh place until he was stuck behind a fallen Dean Wilson with off time. This miss cost him a championship point, thanks to which he now occupies second place in the standings. This is the first time in 2023 that the red plaque has changed hands.
“I have to look at the big picture; Chase made a mistake right in front of my eyes,” Webb said from the podium. “I drove very hard. I was nervous. I haven’t been like this in a long time, but this track was super brutal and it was risk versus reward. I knew I was standing in front of the guys I was supposed to be.”
Barcia caught Roczen in a tight stream that included the incredible Sexton who had the most podium finishes this race. Halfway through the race at Indianapolis, Sexton crashed while challenging Roczen for the lead. On a deep rutted track, Sexton’s footpegs got stuck and prevented him from recovering from the jump. He fell from second to 12th, allowing Tomac to move up to seventh.
As soon as Barcia cleared the traffic, he attacked Roczen but failed to gain the advantage.
“Wow, that was a race,” Barcia told Daniel Blair. “Kenny skated amazingly. Charged through the pack. The track was brutal and it kept me on my toes. My tank is empty now.”
Aaron Plessinger finished fourth, while Jason Anderson rounded out the top five.
Adam Cianciarulo returned to racing after missing two races. He finished third in his heat after winning winner Justin Barcia; Cooper Webb fell at the end.
The track was already badly damaged on the 250 Main. Hunter Lawrence moved up to eighth place and beat second place…
Source: motorsports.nbcsports.com
