2019 Nashville Supercross | Race Report
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2019 NASHVILLE SUPERCROSS | RACE REPORT
Words | Donn Maeda
Photos | Michael Antonovich
Monster Energy Supercross paid its first-ever visit to Nashville, Tennessee, and the action in both classes throughout the day proved to be so wild, that it was tough to keep track of it all. The big news in the daytime practice sessions was a massive crash by Eastern Regional 250 Supercross points leader Austin Forkner, which knocked him out of action for the day and left the door wide open for his championship rivals Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper to capitalize. While many speculated about which rider would score his first career win without Forkner on the line, it was a series veteran who instead grabbed the glory.
In the 450 class, series points leader Cooper Webb had a scary moment in the heat race when he was landed on entering a corner by SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/Honda rider Mike Alessi. The red flag flew later in the race when Tyler Entiknap and Ronnie Stewart crashed and were transported off the track with injuries, and Webb benefited on the restart by finishing second.
The racing in both classes unfolded in spectacular fashion, and to say that the first-time fans in Music City were treated to a hell of a show would be an understatement.
NASHVILLE SUPERCROSS | 250 CLASS
Justin Cooper was fastest off the line at the start of the 250 main, but Chase Sexton found his way past part way through the first lap. Both riders were anxious to capitalize on Forkner’s absence, and perhaps it was this adrenaline that caused Cooper to make an aggressive attempt to retake the lead. The collision took both riders out of contention and allowed Martin Davalos to sneak past and into the lead.
Once into the lead, the 32-year-old Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider ran away with the lead and crossed the finish line to earn his fifth career 250 Supercross win in his 99th career start. “I spent the past week in California seeing doctors to help remedy some troubles I am having with my neck,” said Davalos. “I’ve had lots of troubles with my arms going to sleep and this is a big win for me and my team.”
After picking themselves up off the ground, Cooper and Sexton both mounted furious charges back though the field. Sexton broke away from Cooper and worked his way into second at the finish, while Cooper stole the final podium position from Autotrader/JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Kyle Peters with only minutes left in the main event.
With two rounds left in the Eastern Regional 250 Supercross Championship Series, Forkner now holds a five-point lead over Sexton.
2019 NASHVILLE SUPERCROSS | 450 CLASS
Cooper Webb snagged the holeshot at the start of the 450 main and the stage seemed to be set for another knock-down-drag-out battle for the lead between he and his Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin, as the Frenchman gated second and shadowed the leader through the first two laps. It all fell apart for Musquin in the whoops on lap three, however, as he stuffed his front end in the whoops and crashed out of contention. This left Joey Savatgy and Ken Roczen in second and third, but Savatgy tucked the front end of his Kawasaki in a corner and went down, his bike gobbling up Roczen and sending the Honda rider tumbling over the tuff blocks on the top of the corner. Savatgy left the track holding his wrist while Roczen was forced to wait for the entire pack to race past before he could get back to his bike safely.
Wilson held down second momentarily, but Eli Tomac was on a mission and moved past with relative ease, then set out after the leader Webb.
Once onto the rear wheel of Webb’s KTM, Tomac found his way past and into the lead, which he would never be challenged for again. At the checkered flag, Tomac nearly had a 10-second gap over the rest. Blake Baggett was next to challenge Webb, and the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM rider made his way past and into second with about five minutes to go. From there, Webb wisely settled into a comfortable and safe pace to protect his championship point lead, knowing well that Musquin had gone down early in the race.
With his fourth win of the season, Tomac pulled forward in the series point standings and sits tied with Musquin, some 21 points back of Webb, who extended his points lead in spite of having a self-admitted “off” night. “I am kind of at a loss for words right now,” said Tomac, who had to qualify through the LCQ after his Kawasaki’s engine gave up the ghost while he was leading the first heat race of the night. “I guess all of the excitement kept me warm…”
“It was a tough day all day long and I struggled throughout,” said Webb. “I was a fish out of water in the whoops all day long and that is something I am definitely going to work on this week.”
