AMA Supercross 2021 Houston Round Three Race Report

What appear to be a kind of boring night of racing ended with some last second fireworks and one rider very upset with another.

The day was also marred by injury. 250 stars Austin Forkner and RJ Hampshire both got hurt in practice and did not race.

BIG QUESTIONS!

• Who will win tonight? Seems we are getting a new winner each week now which is cool.
• Who will get hurt? That time of the season when injuries start making a ‘dent’ in the field.
• Will Jett destroy everyone else again and act goofy on the podium?
• Will Eli get a poor start? (Probably, the question is if he will charge through the pack)
• Will Marvin fall down again? Is he doing this each week now???

Remember, this is just the “collective” thoughts, opinions, and predictions from a bunch of old AMA pro racers. Just because we rode pretty fast years ago does not mean we know much.

OLD dudes who thought we were fast

250 Class Main Event

First: Colt Nichols

Wow! Another first time winner! Three races in and we have three different winners. So cool! Colt is just fast and he is consistent. Getting second on the start made many of us predict he would win the race.

Taking into account that Colt passed Christian in last Tuesday’s race near the end you had to think it was going to happen again and it did. The fact that Craig got right back by Nichols after his first pass and then passed him back again creates the feeling that Colt knows he can beat him. Not a good sign for Craig.

Second: Christian Craig

Second is good! Yea, uh huh. Well, except your teammate beat you two races in a row now with last race passes. Hmmm. Christian is not happy. You could see it in his face during the podium interview. A look of worry and disappointment.

Prediction: Starts matter and Craig is known for good starts much more than Nichols is. So there is hope for the old guy Christian. Getting holeshots is now the kept to his title hopes. Not just good starts but holeshots.

Third: Jett Lawrence

The Jett is actually lucky he could even race. He took a nasty crash in the whoops during practice which resulted in his leg taking a big hit from his handlebars. Geez that must have hurt!

You could tell the guy was in pain as he was not a happy camper on the podium in both his heat race and main event interviews. But third place is a great finish considering all that.

Prediction: Being the guy is only 17 years old he will heal quickly and bounce back next Saturday. Look for another win if he is feeling good and does not crash. Being young is an advantage sometimes!

Honorable Mention:

Austin Forkner crashed in practice and was out. Some say maybe a broken collar bone? The poor guy literally can’t make it through a season without getting hurt.

RJ Hampshire crashed in practice and was taken to the hospital. Did not race. Hearing possible wrist injury.

Jo Shimoda had another great ride and finished fourth. The guy is consistent!

Poor Michael Mosiman! He was riding great and in third place with an injured and angry Jett Lawrence came up from behind and hit him hard in a turn. Mosiman went down but still managed a solid fifth-place finish. And yes, the AMA warned Jett about doing such tactics.

450 Class Main Event

Well, this was kind of a snoozer until the last half of a lap. Then it got very exciting! Here is the bottom line…Cooper Webb owns Ken Roczen. Literally he owns him. For at least the third time in three years Cooper ‘stole’ a race win from Kenny on the last lap.

He does this with basically the same ‘move’ too! Basically, he just slowly rides in front of Kenny’s line and Kenny slows down giving Cooper the win. Yes, that is it in a nutshell.

First: Cooper Webb

Webb is back! After a lousy first round and an ‘ok’ round two the guy showed he may be the man to beat in 2021. He just knows how to win races and knows how to salvage the most out of situations.

His move on Roczen on the last lap to take the win was so predicable! If you were watching and did not think it was going to happen you have not been paying attention. Heck, even just last week Cooper put the late pass on Kenny…not for the win but the same type of thing. He literally knows he can do it.

Prediction: Watch out if Cooper is getting good starts again. As we mentioned last race report that is the key for him winning the title in 2021. History points to him doing it if he does not get hurt.

Second: Ken Roczen

What can we say? The guy is super fast, got a great start but has a mental issue with Cooper Webb. We ALL knew what was going to happen. Just didn’t know exactly how.

The thing is Kenny KNEW it too! Dean Wilson getting in the ‘way’ is just a convenient means for Kenny to deflect blame from himself for the inevitable….Cooper passing him on the last lap.

We know something else about Kenny too…he likes to whine…’always me’. Man up Kenny. This was all on you…not Deano. Not taking into account you not being able to pull away from Cooper at the end of the race (you admitted you were getting tired) YOU messed up that whole sequence with Wilson and Webb.

YOU made some mistakes with your riding and your headwork at the critical moment. It would look much better if you just admitted it and stopped trying to blame someone else. Chasing Wilson down and yelling at him as he rode by after the race was not a good look for you or Honda.

Then even more, chasing after him again on social media to scold him once more is bad form. You sit there and say something like, “I want to punch a wall but I am cool, I will let it go.” Then you don’t.

Advice to Kenny: DO NOT LET COOPER EVER DO THIS TO YOU AGAIN! If Coop tries this same move just HIT him and knock him down.

Third: Adam Cianciarulo

Mr. Quiet in this race. Did anyone even notice him? Kenny and Coop pulled away and left Adam to ride laps like a practice session. Good for him though! No drama and a solid finish getting his first podium of the year!

You still have to think one day soon Adam will put it all together and become a multi-time champion. Just have to wait and see. All the talent and brainpower is there to do it. He will win races this year because he is a great starter.

Honorable Mention:

Barcia was FAST! A poor start hindered him but he was cutting through the pack and actually catching the leaders! Then he fell in the sand section! Oh well, another lost opportunity but at least he is still showing blazing speed. Ended up 4th even after the fall.

Tomac was ok getting fifth, but not the guy you expected to see after being the fastest qualifier. Especially when he could not hang with Barcia as Justin moved forward at the beginning of the race.

Heck, even when Eli passed Barcia when he fell in the sand Justin just zipped right by him like it was easy. So is Tomac just not as fast this year or will he come on strong midway like he usually does? That is the BIG question.

Eli did qualify fastest so it appears the speed is there…but maybe he does not want to take risky moves making passes during the race. But once he got into fifth he started losing time each lap to the leaders.

Interesting note: If you give Tomac a descent finish at round one instead of the 13th he would be in the points lead! Hmmm….

Off to Indy!

P.S. Yes, Marvin fell down again…

Featured image of Cooper Webb’s ‘kill shot’ pass on Ken Roczen via video screen capture