View From The Floor: The Closest Supercross

The battle to the finish in Arlington was one of our favorite races ever. Here's what we saw from our vantage point.

GuyB
2/18/2019 4:55pm
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Though we've been there plenty of times, the AT&T Stadium is still impressive, both from the outside (where it looks like a spaceship landed there) or inside, with its giant big-screens. You just about couldn't shoot a photo of a rider sitting on the line where they weren't looking skyward at the screens.

It was cool to see Mitchell Oldenburg grab a heat race win. He considers the area sort of a second home.

The second 250 heat featured some good action with Jordon Smith and Austin Forkner. Jordon took over the lead shortly after the start and led several laps, but Austin reeled him in. This was like watching a couple of the Alpha dogs in the class trying to assert dominance.

Watching these guys send it into a gnarly rhythm section is both scary and inspiring.

Ken Roczen grabbed the first 450 heat, with some fun on the finish line jump. With the ruts that were forming on the face, it was almost surprising to see much style at all off this one.

Much like Dean Wilson had to do early in the season with his CBD sponsorship, Chad Reed did some simple cover-ups on the CBDMD logos on his helmet's visor to pass muster in Arlington. The AMA had put out a competition bulletin earlier in the week to clarify their position on the promotion of CBD companies. Also, Feld held a meeting on Saturday morning to clarify their position. Simply put, NBC's Standards and Practices won't allow the logos to be shown, and federal law regarding promotion of CBD products is murky at best. It's a tough position for everyone. Riders want to be able to take advantage of potential sponsorships, and the AMA and Feld want to be on the right side of the law. Oh...and it was cool to see Chad jump out in front of this heat race. The crowd certainly dug it.

It's always cool to see the riders acknowledge each other after a good race. Cole Seely won this heat.

Yikes. Check out the tire tracks up the side of Justin Barcia's leg and knee after his heat race tangle with Tyler Bowers. Personally, we've always thought beating the guy you have a problem with is the best revenge, but clearly, some guys prefer to go old school and use their front wheel instead.

Austin Forkner about to dispense some punishment on the 250 East crowd.

Ah yeah...the pre-race distraction parade.

Both Mitchell Oldenburg and Justin Cooper were clearly a bit aggressive off of the gate. Austin Forkner grabbed the holeshotl

Chase Sexton looked much faster and more in control in Arlington. He was third this week in the 250 class.

Jordon Smith seemed destined for a sure second-place finish, but a crash at the end of the whoops late in the main dropped him to fourth.

If we're not mistaken, Austin Forkner started the number one point well before the takeoff on the finish line jump...sort of like the jump he was doing during the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team photo shoot. He's two-for-two in '19.

Here's your podium for the 250 class, with Austin Forkner, Justin Cooper, and Chase Sexton.

After missing a week in Minneapolis (and really, also San Diego...though he tried practice), Justin Hill was back and showing some serious speed. He'd finished second in his heat race, and had qualified well here.

We're not sure what's cooking with Eli Tomac. He was flying in his heat race, but went backwards in the main event. He's fast, but he's not currently Eli fast.

Have you ever wondered what controls those flames on the top of the starting gate before it drops? Let's just say that you could have some fun with that keypad...

Launch time in Arlington.

Joey Savatgy matched his best 450 results so far, with a fifth. Check below for a post-race chat with him, where he covers a bunch of topics about his rookie season in the class.

Man, it was good to see Zach Osborne back in action, and in the 450 class to boot. Unfortunately, an awkward crash and a struggle to remount led him to pack it in early for the night.

Eli Tomac had the early lead, but Ken Roczen dispatched him early on. Eli had one small tip-over but also slid back through the field to 12th at the finish.

Cooper Webb started in seventh spot, but went to work on a march toward the front. By the time he got to Blake Baggett at the mid-point of the main, he was battling for third.

Justin Hill had at least one crash, and ended up in 13th for the night. Justin Barcia made his way to seventh.

Cooper put on a charge that got him past his Red Bull KTM teammate, Marvin Musquin, for second. This was also a bit of a dress rehearsal for later in the main...

Ken Roczen led for 20 of the 25 laps in the main event. Unfortunately, the whoops were his Achille's Heel on this one. They started the weekend small, and were more like rutted-out rollers by late in the 450 main.

With a few laps to go it was apparent that Cooper wasn't settling for just a podium spot.

Heading into the last turn on the final lap, here's what it looked like. Ken knew he was coming (note the tucked elbow), and did his best to charge forward. Cooper went all the way to the outside, but kept it clean. This moved Kenny out into the fluff on the edge of the track near the Tuf-Blox, so he had to do a bit of tiptoeing.

Exiting the corner, Kenny still had a wheel on Cooper, but Coop had the better drive.

From the expressions on the podium, it was clear who was ahead at the finish. Kenny got edged out by a mere .026 of a second...the closest finish since they added modern timing systems to the racing.

The win here moves Webb back to the points lead, and they'll reconvene in Detroit next week.


Related:
Aaron Plessinger
AJ Catanzaro
Blake Baggett
Chad Reed
Cole Seely
Cooper Webb
Dean Wilson
Eli Tomac
Joey Savatgy
Jordon Smith
Justin Barcia
Justin Hill
Ken Roczen
Mitchell Oldenburg
Zach Osborne
Austin Forkner
Chase Sexton
Arlington
Justin Cooper
View From The Floor
2019 Monster Energy Supercross
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