Eli Tomac of Cortez finished second overall Saturday in a crash-marred AMA Supercross in Glendale, Arizona, and moved up a notch into second place in the series.
Series-leading Ken Roczen swept the three-race main event at State Farm Stadium, and now leads Tomac 92-84 overall.
The final leg of the triple crown began with a crash in the back of the field that caused a red flag delay. After the restart, Roczen took the lead, and Tomac fell, dropping into 13th place.
Tomac got back up, and riding behind teammate Adam Cianciarulo, was in seventh place at the end of the second lap. Together, the Kawasaki teammates began to weave through the crowd, and by the 10th lap were in fourth and fifth. Cianciarulo overtook Cooper Webb in the 10th lap, but crashed hard in the whoops the next lap. And as Webb slowed to dodge Cianciarulo’s flipping bike, Tomac sailed by for third place, behind Roczen and Jason Anderson. Webb and Martin Davolos would round out the top five, and Cianciarulo would finish way back in 17th place.
In the second race, Cianciarulo was late to his brakes at the turn and ran into Justin Bogle and Zach Osborne, bringing out the red flag until Bogle, who had been knocked unconscious, left the course.
At the restart, Roczen took the lead, with Webb, Cianciarulo and Tomac in hot pursuit. Cianciarulo overtook Webb in the fourth lap, but slid out. Tomac bolted past both Webb and Cianciarulo to move into second place in the fifth lap, about 6 seconds behind Roczen. Tomac challenged Roczen throughout the middle of the race, but Roczen, seemingly riding on a rail since the restart, won going away, with Tomac almost 7 seconds back. Anderson was third. Cianciarulo finished sixth.
Tomac was second to the first turn behind Osborne in the first race, but moved into the lead after Osborne crashed. Tomac gave up the lead to Roczen in the second lap, and the two drew away from the crowd, with Cianciarulo in third. Tomac challenged Roczen midway through the race and made a late charge in the 12th of 13 laps, but Roczen held on for the win, almost 2 seconds ahead. Cianciarulo was third, more than 5 seconds off the lead.
Earlier Saturday, and Cianciarulo and Tomac posted the fastest laps during qualifying rounds, at 1 minute, 1.333 seconds and 1:01.445, respectively. The Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates have finished one-two in all four qualifying rounds this season.
Next week, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series travels to Oakland’s RingCentral Coliseum for the fifth of 17 races this season.
Standings
1. Ken Roczen Honda 92
2. Eli Tomac Kawasaki 84
3. Justin Barcia Yamaha 81
4. Jason Anderson Husqvarna 78
5. Cooper Webb KTM 72
6. Adam Cianciarulo Kawasaki 71
7. Justin Brayton Honda 63
8. Malcolm Stewart Honda 62
9. Blake Baggett KTM 55
10. Zach Osborne Husqvarna 53
