March 18, 2021
By Kali Kotoski
Photos by Jeff Kardas
Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb took the win again in Round 11 of the 2021 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, his second consecutive win and fifth victory of the season at Texas’ AT&T Stadium on Tuesday night.
Webb, the 2019 Supercross champion, grabbed the holeshot in the 450SX Main Event with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac and Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen following directly behind.
The three front runners in the championship chase gave the exciting, heart-pumping performance race fans have been hoping for all season.
In a race just past the midway point of the season, Tomac stayed close and pulled right up behind Webb five minutes into the race. But Webb, coming off his Round 10 victory, held strong and remained determined under pressure.
For the rest the race, Webb commanded a steady, one-second lead over Tomac as the two battlers lapped other riders and Roczen slowly fell out of the victory chase.
At one point late in the race, Tomac got close to overtaking Webb but spun out in the corner before the whoops, causing an insurmountable two-second deficit. Webb stretched his lead to over five seconds by the race’s end.
With Webb taking the top podium spot, Tomac earned second and Roczen ended the night in third.
In the Western Regional 250SX Class, Honda’s Hunter Lawrence claimed his first-ever Supercross victory in a back-and-forth shootout.
After Muc-Off Honda’s Mitchell Harrison took the early lead in the Main Event, Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jalek Swoll kept him honest sticking to his rear wheel.
But just over five minutes into the race Lawrence made a bold move, passing the two riders in one bowl turn and launching from third place into the lead.
A focused Lawrence continued to stretch his lead to five seconds by the end of the race, with Swoll taking second and Kyle Peters taking third.
After one more round in Arlington this Saturday, the series heads to an Atlanta triple-header and then to the two-race season finale in Salt Lake City, Utah.