2021 Atlanta Three Supercross | Race Report & Photo Gallery

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2021 ATLANTA THREE SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Series ended its time in the South with the 2021 Atlanta Three Supercross, the fifteenth round of the championship. The three races at Atlanta Motor Speedway were all challenging and exciting, and Saturday night’s 250 West Coast Region and 450 Class Main Events were complete with red flag restarts, mistakes by front-runners, title-worthy charges to the front, and close finishes all the way through the field.

250 Heat One

The first 250 heat race was uneventful as Justin Cooper grabbed the holeshot aboard his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha YZ250F and led every lap of the way. Behind him, Club MX rider Garrett Marchbanks followed at a distance but was never close enough to mount a challenge. Stilez Robertson, Chris Blose, and Jarrett Frye rounded out the top five.

250 Heat Two

The second 250 heat race was much like the first, as fast qualifier Hunter Lawrence took control of the lead on the opening lap aboard his Honda HRC machine and went on uncontested to the checkered flag. Pierce Brown rode great and second, and manage to stay close to the leader in the first few laps aboard his Gas Gas MC 250. Seth Hammaker, Sean Cantrell, and Jalek Swoll rounded out the top five. After his big qualifying session crash, Cameron McAdoo lined up for the heat, had a few scary moments outside of the top nine, but settled into seventh at the finish.

250 LCQ

Atlanta One winner Nate Thrasher found himself in the LCQ after some bad luck in his heat race, and the kid from Tennessee made quick work of the field as he holeshot and led every lap with ease. Brazilian Enzo Lopes topped the battle for second over Dilan Schwartz and Ramyller Alves.

250 Main Event

When the gate dropped at the start of the 250 main event, Cooper wasted little time taking control of the point position. McAdoo and Chris Blose crashed together early in the first lap and the red flag came out as Blose was unable to remount and the Alpinestars Medical Crew attended to him. 

Cooper holeshot the restart ahead of Swoll and his teammate Thrasher, while Lawrence and McAdoo ran fifth and sixth. Lawrence scrubbed a little too hard over the wall jump and crashed into a Tuff Block, and dropped back outside of the top 10. McAdoo went down in the whoops shortly thereafter when his teammate Seth Hammaker lost control in the whoops in front of him, and he collected several other riders with him. 

Up front, Thrasher made a surprising pass on Cooper to take the lead, and the 17-year-old set sail and began to pull away almost immediately. With 10 minutes left in the main, McAdoo ran ninth and was working back through the field, but Marchbanks slammed into him in a right-hand corner and took them both out. McAdoo remounted in 17th and saw his championship hopes fade out of reach. 

After crashing early in the race, Lawrence proceeded to chip away at his competitors, and with three laps to go the Australian found himself in fifth behind Swoll. Just before the white flag, Swoll bobbled in the whoops and allowed Lawrence past. With that, the top positions were set as Thrasher earned the second win of his career with a seven-second cushion over Cooper. Hammaker was another seven seconds back, followed by Lawrence and Arenacross Champion Kyle Peters, who made a last-lap pass on Swoll for fifth.  

It was great out there man,” said Thrasher. “The track was very technical out there and the whoops were really tough. We had a terrible gate pick but we made it work. Once we got into second, Justin made a little mistake that allowed me by and I pretty much ran away with it. It was amazing.”

“Man, this track was really tough and I was just wanting to get out of here safe,” said Cooper. “I am glad to see the hard work pay off for Nate my teammate!”

450 Heat One

All three Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha riders were in the first 450 heat race. Dylan Ferrandis snared the holeshot and led his teammate Aaron Plessinger and Honda HRCs Chase Sexton on to the track. Sexton trailed the Star Yamaha riders for a few laps before making a pass attempt and taking over second, displacing Plessinger. Before Sexton could challenge the Frenchman for the lead, Ferrandis bobbled in a rut and crashed out of lead contention, leaving Sexton to an uncontested win. The third star Yamaha rider in the heat, Malcolm Stewart, made a fantastic charge through the pack, including mind-blowing runs through the whoops that carried him past Eli Tomac and Plessinger in one fell swoop. Stewart got all the way up to second at the finish. Plessinger, Eli Tomac, and Ferrandis rounded out the top five. 

450 Heat Two

Cooper Webb snagged a perfect holeshot at the start of the second 450 heat and many expected him to pull away with a clear track in front of him. But there would be no denying Jason Anderson, the day’s fast qualifier, as he sliced through the pack and ran down the championship-points leader. Ultimately, it was Anderson‘s superior whoop speed that catapulted him into the lead for good. Webb held on for second comfortably ahead of his championship rival Ken Roczen. Justin Barcia and Dean Wilson rounded out the top five.

450 LCQ

The 450 LCQ may have been the best race of the night at that point of the evening as it offered plenty of thrills. SGD Racing/Maxxis/Babbitt’s Kawasaki rider Justin Rodbell snared the holeshot and led until the final two laps of the race. Alex Ray suffered his typical crappy start and completed the first lap in 12th, but he sliced through the field with precision. Along the way, he made another aggressive pass on his rival/friend Cade Clason, then passed both Twisted Tea/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing riders Adam Enticknap and Brandon Hartranft en route to a popular win. 

450 Main Event

Plessinger grabbed the holeshot at the drop of the gate in the main event and was shadowed by Roczen, Webb, Anderson, Ferrandis,  and the rest. Ferrandis ran into the rear of Anderson’s Husky on the first lap in a left-handed corner and took them both down. Up front, Roczen forced his way past Plessinger and into the point position and set said as soon as he took control. While Roczen pulled away with the lead, the race for the podium began to tighten up as Plessinger and Webb were joined by Justin Barcia and Tomac. Webb found his way past Plessinger at the eight-minute mark of the race, but the Yamaha rider stayed on the rear of Webbs KTM. Just before the halfway point, Tomac displaced Barcia and set his sights on Plessinger. 

As the laps wound down, Roczen seemed to grow stronger as he added to his lead with lap after perfect lap. When his lead grew to 12 seconds, though, he got squirrely in the long section of whoops and went down. The German remounted quickly though, and rejoined the race with a five-second lead over Webb. Soon thereafter, Tomac found his way past Plessinger to take control of the last podium position. 

Webb smelled blood and closed to Roczen’s rear tire with two laps to go, then made a masterful pass for the lead on the third lap from the end. Webb caught fire once into the lead and instantly began to put distance on his championship rival Things got wild on the last lap when Webb got sideways in a corner and nearly fell, but he held it together and earned a wildly popular win over Roczen and Tomac. Entering the final two Salt Lake City events, Webb holds a 16-point advantage over Roczen.

“I have been struggling and it sucks, said Webb. “I just dug deep. Kenny was gone but he made that mistake and I smelled blood in the water.”