250 West
There are many different things to look at when going into this weekend’s Supercross Triple Crown at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The biggest question for me being can the current points leader Jett Lawrence make it through and out of a Triple Crown unscathed? With how much he has dominated in his career in both the 250 East and West, his luck in Triple Crown events has always been sketchy at best. Whether it has been from things he has caused or other riders’ problems that he has gotten caught up in. The reaction he had after their last race when they told him the next race was a Triple Crown says it all.
If he does slip, will we get to see someone else step up to the plate and take advantage of his misfortune. There are several drivers that have been battling for 2nd place back that could definitely take advantage of anything if it does happen. RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo are the two riders that are within swinging distance of Jett in the Championship Standings. They have been in contention and battling for podiums week in and week out throughout the entire season. There is also the incident that happened in between Jett Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo in their last Heat Race together when Cameron made a move and ended up wrecking both himself and Jett in the process. I don’t think that it will be an issue this weekend, but I am curious to see what happens because you never know.
Regardless, it should be a very exciting race weekend for the 250 West in Arizona. I am looking forward to the racing and hoping that we get a clean weekend without anyone going down and getting injured. There have been several bad wrecks and injuries this season and I just want to see another race without anything happening.
450’s
There are so many stories to watch out for going into the Supercross Triple Crown for the 450’s in Arizona. The biggest one for me is if Chase Sexton can finally make it through a weekend in the 2023 Season and not have some sort of issue happen during the Main Event. There have been times when he has been inadvertently blocked by lappers that cost him a race, taken out by the mistakes of others, and times where he has straight wrecked himself while leading. These incidents have cost him almost 30 points and that is why he isn’t in the points lead currently. He is sitting in 3rd place and 22 points behind both Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb who are tied for the lead. He definitely has had the speed so far this season though and that is a big saving grace and positive for him and his Honda team.
Then there is the battle for the points lead that we have been witnessing this season between Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb. They have been going back and forth for the points lead and head into Arizona tied and both with a red number plate. Eli Tomac goes into this race with 6 wins on the season. He has also had several slips and mistakes happen which is why he is in a tie with Cooper Webb for the points lead. Cooper Webb heads into this race with 2 wins on the season but more consistency then Tomac throughout the season. That consistency is why I think he will be in the battle for the Championship through the rest of the 2023 season. Now we get to Chase Sexton, who even with his 1 win on the season, is in 3rd place and needs to have a clean weekend if he wants to stay in contention for the Championship.
With all of that being said, I am not taking away anything from their fellow competitors. We have seen Ken Roczen get a win this season after everyone had a rough weekend and he took advantage of the situation. Aaron Plessinger has had fantastic races this season including the heartbreaker that he had in Detroit at Ford Field. The problem with these riders and others like Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson is how far back they currently are in the standings. It doesn’t mean that none of them can go on a run to end the season because we saw Jason Anderson do exactly that at the end of the 2022 Supercross season.
Regardless, it is a big weekend for all of them in Arizona. The racing this year has been fantastic. I don’t think that is going to change this weekend. The track looks like it will be amazing, and the track map is at the bottom of the article. There are the many stories that I mentioned going into the races and several stories out there that haven’t happened yet. I think that we are going to see Jett Lawrence finally claim a Triple Crown and have a clean event. I also think that we will see Eli Tomac get through this weekend clean because he needs it after the way several of these races have gone for him this season. Only time will tell though, and we’ll all have to watch the races to see what happens.
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