Good, Bad and Ugly | 2024 Arlington

2024 Monster Energy Supercross series almost entered a new chapter in Texas' AT&T Stadium. It seemed like Jett Lawrence was about to take control and the closest title race in history would start to head closer to a conclusion, but a handful of mistakes in a short period caused the battle to tighten up. Lawrence is three points ahead of Cooper Webb, a measly total, and the top five is still separated by 12 points. There are some who are on the verge of needing good fortunate, but Daytona awaits.

GOOD

Eli Tomac was in desperate need of a rebound inside of Arlington's AT&T Stadium – he did just that. The performances that he logged in both the heat race and main event were reminiscent of him at his best. It was different to his win in Anaheim 2's third main event too, because he did not take advantage of clean air. It was the first time that he was able to progress in a race and that was the tell-tale sign that he is at best. In fact, this scribe would claim that he did not perform as well as this at all in 2023.

What happens next? Establishing momentum is one thing, but capitalizing on it is another ball game. The fact that Daytona International Speedway is next on the schedule is a massive string to his bow. There is no reason to doubt him, now that he has found his feet on the YZ450F that underwent significant changes on the weekend off, and a podium finish appears to be almost certain. It's impossible to call a win, because he has not achieved that yet and Jett Lawrence is a formidable competitor.

BAD

With Eli Tomac 'fixed' to an extent, who is the weakest of the title contenders? Ken Roczen had a sub-par showing but adopted transparency in his post-race statement and admitted that he pushed too hard prior to Arlington and paid the price. 19 points is a deficit of note and so Daytona will be poignant for him. It is a crucial point for Jason Anderson too, because he too floundered after a crash in turn two. 10th caused him to fall to 17 points adrift in the championship standings.

"I felt okay today," Anderson said in a post-race statement from the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. "I just have to practice those starts and stop making small mistakes like in the heat and main. We are better than I was tonight and I’m going to get to work this week and get ready for Daytona. Thank you to my Monster Energy Kawasaki team for all of their hard work." Anderson was just 11 points down after round six in Arizona.

UGLY

Daytona was where Justin Barcia's season really started last year, but it seems unlikely that history is set to repeat itself. Barcia is in a hole that is reminiscent of his difficult years at Joe Gibbs Racing – he believed that the problems had been fixed before Glendale and yet it seems to have only gotten worse. Considering that he has reinvented the wheel once or twice already, one must be questioning how many more options there are to experiment with. Remember that a two-year deal is in place with the team.

"I am feeling a bit sore after a couple of crashes this weekend – there was a big crash in Q3," Barcia said on social media. "Luckily, I somewhat salvaged my body. We will be good this week! It was a tough weekend. We are looking for a lot bigger things. The results have not been there and it has been extremely frustrating. We are trying to find that comfort. I am searching for my comfort and I will be ready to hammer down once that clicks."