Eli Tomac of Cortez, racing on the heels of a record-tying fifth win at Daytona International Speedway last week, got off to a slow start Saturday in the Arlington 1 Supercross and finished eighth.
Cooper Webb grabbed the lead in the first lap, and won easily, catapulting over Ken Roczen into the series lead.
Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson joined Webb on the podium, in second and third. Chase Sexton and Aaron Plessinger rounded out the top five.
Tomac seemed off-pace all day, qualifying fifth in timed trials and fourth in his heat.
His performance glared in stark contrast to his win March 7, when he tied Ricky Carmichael’s record of five wins at Daytona with a dominating start-to-finish victory.
Starting the 450 cc main event Saturday from the eighth gate, Tomac finished the first lap in 16th place. He raced to 11th place by Lap 5 and into ninth in Lap 10.
He wouldn’t get much higher.
He passed Wilson for eighth place in the 24th of 28 laps and remained behind former teammate Joey Savatgy, now racing for KTM, until the end.
Tomac’s finish left him in third place in the series standings, 26 points behind Roczen, who finished sixth. Barcia is in fourth, 14 points back.
After timed qualifying laps Saturday, Tomac finished fifth, completing his fastest lap in 44.55 seconds. Marvin Musquin was fastest, at 44.120 seconds. Anderson, Webb and Dylan Ferrandis rounded out the top five.
In his qualifying heat, Tomac got off to a slow start and was in seventh place after one lap and in fifth after three laps. He moved into fourth place in the eighth of 10 laps after Musquin, racing in second place behind Aaron Plessinger, crashed. Plessinger won easily, with Savatgy, Webb, Tomac and Malcolm Stewart rounding out the top five.
Musquin, who entered AT&T Stadium sixth in the series standings, did not return to racing Saturday and fell to eighth place in the standings.
Anderson won the first heat, after taking the lead from Wilson in the second lap. Wilson finished second and was followed by Barcia, Ferrandis and Sexton. Roczen was a surprising seventh.
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross series remains in Texas for Arlington 2 and Arlington 3, on March 16 and 20. The series moves to Atlanta for three races, on April 10, 13 and 17, then to Salt Lake City for the final two races, on April 24 and May 1.
Series standings
1. Cooper Webb KTM 223
2. Ken Roczen Honda 216
3. Eli Tomac Kawasaki 190
4. Justin Barcia GasGas 176
5. Aaron Plessinger Yamaha 152
6. Malcolm Stewart Yamaha 152
7. Jason Anderson Husq. 137
8. Marvin Musquin KTM 135
9. Zach Osborne Husqvarna 123
10. Dylan Ferrandis Yamaha 122
