Eli Tomac took the early lead in the 450 Supercross at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and finished second to Chase Sexton to widen his lead in the season standings with two races to go.
With the win, Sexton moved into second place in the season standings. Tomac now stands atop the standings with an 18-point lead, 338 to 320.
Tomac, the defending Supercross champion from Cortez, Colorado, could clinch his third 450cc title Saturday at his home track, Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.
Cooper Webb dropped to third place in the standings after a crash in his qualifying heat kept him out of the main event.
Tomac was strong all day.
After the gates dropped in the main event, Tomac won the hole shot and the took an early 3.739-second lead over Justin Hill. Chase Sexton was third and was followed by Justin Barcia, Colt Nichols and Kevin Moranz.
Sexton passed Hill for second place in Lap 3. In Lap 6, Barcia passed Hill for third place, and Ken Roczen, who started in seventh, moved up in fifth place. Tomac remained in front with a 3.569-second lead.
Barcia crashed out of the race in Lap 9, giving third place to Hill.
As the leaders began slower lapping riders, Sexton crept up behind Tomac, narrowing the gap to 2.112 seconds in Lap 8, 1.324 seconds in Lap 9 and 0.389 second in Lap 11.
Sexton took the lead halfway through the race in Lap 12 and stretched out a big lead to win by 14.513 seconds in Lap 23.
Roczen, who passed Hill in Lap 9, crossed the finish line in third place, nearly 30 seconds off the pace. Nichols was fourth, 34 seconds back, and Hill was fifth, 40 seconds behind Sexton.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, Tomac won his qualifying race, leading Adam Cianciarulo for all eight laps after Cooper Webb crashed in the battle for the lead in Lap 1. Justin Hill was third, and Nichols and Kyle Chisholm rounded out the top five.
Barcia won Heat 2 after passing Roczen for the lead in Lap 4. Sexton passed Roczen for second place in Lap 6, and Dean Wilson and Josh Hill followed the leaders to the finish line to fill out the top five.
Saturday morning, Sexton led all qualifiers with a best lap of 52.580 seconds. He was followed by Cianciarulo at 52.889 seconds, Barcia at 52.890, Tomac at 52.918, and Roczen at 53.052 seconds.
On May 6, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship series heads to Denver for the 16th of 17 rounds at Tomac’s home track, Empower Field at Mile High. The season wraps up the following week at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
| 1. Eli Tomac | Yamaha | 338 |
| 2. Chase Sexton | Honda | 320 |
| 3. Cooper Webb | KTM | 304 |
| 4. Ken Roczen | Suzuki | 280 |
| 5. Justin Barcia | GasGas | 267 |
| 6. Jason Anderson | Kawasaki | 242 |
| 7. Aaron Plessinger | KTM | 213 |
| 8. Justin Hill | KTM | 172 |
| 9. Adam Cianciarulo | Kawasaki | 170 |
| 10. Dean Wilson | Honda | 165 |
