Eli Tomac of Cortez battled to the front of the pack Saturday in Seattle, then benefited from a crash to win the 450 Supercross in Lumen Field and regain the series lead.
It was Tomac’s sixth win of the season. He now leads the 2023 standings, although tied with Cooper Webb in points, 248-248.
Webb finished second, and Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson and Chase Sexton rounded out the top five.
The race was marked by several back-and-forth battles among the top five riders.
Sexton, Roczen and Tomac went to the front in Lap 1, with Adam Cianciarulo and Webb in the chase through the first five laps.
After a back-and-forth battle, Tomac passed Roczen for second place in Lap 6 and pulled to within 3 seconds of Sexton. Webb and Justin Barcia passed Cianciarulo as the race approached the halfway point.
In Lap 11, Sexton crashed, giving Tomac the lead, and Webb passed Roczen for second place, about 2.3 seconds behind Tomac. Barcia overtook Sexton for fourth in Lap 13, and then overtook Roczen for third in Lap 14.
As the race entered the last quarter, Tomac beat back a challenge from Webb to take a 2.46-second lead, then extended his lead to 4.7 seconds in Lap 19. When the white flag came out in Lap 22, Tomac had 6.629-second lead.
Tomac crossed the finish line in Lap 23 nearly 5 seconds ahead of Webb. Barcia was third, and Anderson and Sexton filled out the top five.
Chase Sexton was the fastest qualifier Saturday afternoon, with a best lap of 50.704 seconds. Tomac was fifth at 51.933, behind Adam Cianciarulo, Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia.
In Heat 1, Christian Craig, Aaron Plessinger and Adam Cianciarulo went to the front of the pack, with Cole Seely in fourth and Barcia in fifth.
Barcia passed Seely for fourth place in Lap 3, and Dean Wilson passed him for fifth in Lap 6.
Plessinger gained on Craig with his fastest pace in Lap 7, but Craig held him at bay for the final lap and the win.
In Heat 2, Webb, Anderson and Sexton went to the lead, with Tomac and Roczen trailing in fourth and fifth. Grant Harlan started fast for Yamaha, but dropped into sixth in the first lap and finished eighth.
In a tight battle for second, Sexton bumped Anderson and claimed second place in Lap 5, moving Tomac into third. Anderson mounted up after falling and claimed fifth place, behind Roczen.
On April 8, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross goes to Glendale, Arizona, for Round 12 of the 17-race series.
| 1. Eli Tomac | Yamaha | 248 |
| 2. Cooper Webb | KTM | 248 |
| 3. Chase Sexton | Honda | 226 |
| 4. Ken Roczen | Suzuki | 199 |
| 5. Jason Anderson | Kawasaki | 199 |
| 6. Justin Barcia | GasGas | 195 |
| 7. Aaron Plessinger | KTM | 180 |
| 8. Christian Craig | Husqvarna | 150 |
| 9. Adam Cianciarulo | Kawasaki | 122 |
| 10. Justin Hill | KTM | 116 |
