Supercross Statistics | Glendale in Numbers 1

Another round of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross series is in the rear-view mirror and that means that it's time to dive into even more statistics, so settle down and prepare to digest many facts and figures. In this regular feature that has become a real hit, uncover some points of interest that lurked in the shadows at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona.

• Chase Sexton setting the fastest lap in timed qualification is something that fans are able to count on, more often than not. Glendale marked the tenth time this season, and fifth event in a row, that he has claimed pole position. The advantage that he was sat on in that timed session on Saturday, 0.219, was his seventh-best margin of the season. Sexton has qualified inside of the top three at sixteen rounds in succession now.

• So much has been said about the highs and lows that Eli Tomac has encountered in 2023 Monster Energy Supercross, but Glendale was an apparent return to form. It was obvious from the moment that the bikes hit the circuit – he was in contention for pole position in the daytime and eventually qualified in second. Tomac had not qualified as high as that since Anaheim 1, even though he has been inside of the top five every week.

• Cooper Webb rarely shines when it is time to throw down a fast lap in timed qualification and that has been especially true at the last two rounds. '2' qualified ninth in Seattle and eighth in Glendale. Webb has not been outside of the top seven in consecutive weeks since the first two stops of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross series, where he qualified in thirteenth and eleventh. Despite his lack of pole positions, four is his total, he has qualified in the top ten in his last twenty-two starts.

• There have been three Triple Crown races in 2023 Monster Energy Supercross and three different winners. It is the first time that there has not been a repeat victor in the format, unbelievably, as Tomac won two of the Triple Crown rounds in both 2018 (Anaheim 2 and Minneapolis) and 2022 (Glendale and Arlington). Webb was a repeat winner in his first title-winning season, 2019 Monster Energy Supercross (Anaheim 2 and Houston).

• It is known that Tomac tends to prosper when the Triple Crown format enters the fray, but he has never had a score as low as the one that he curated on Saturday. Tomac won with just four points; his previous best was five points via 1-1-3 scores at Glendale last season. Interestingly, that score of four is the second lowest in supercross history (Roczen swept every main event in Glendale in 2020 and therefore had an unbeatable score of three).

• Tomac has won fifty percent of the Triple Crown rounds that have been held since the format was first introduced – he has won seven out of a possible fourteen. Glendale's score of four was indeed the second lowest in history, but he also has the record for the largest score to win a Triple Crown. Tomac won with a total of eight twice in 2018 and once in 2019. Not only that, but he is the only rider to win a Triple Crown without a main event win (via 3-2-2 scores in Arlington in 2022).

• There were eight points between Tomac (first) and Ken Roczen (fifth) when the results were tallied up via the Olympic scoring, which means that Glendale was the least competitive Triple Crown of the season. There was four points between first and fifth back in Arlington, unbelievably, and eight points covered the top five at Angel Stadium. Those numbers only emphasis just how brilliant the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season has been.

• With his seventh win of the season, Tomac tied his win total from the previous year. Nine is the most victories that he has had in a single season – that was in 2017 – and it is very likely that he will match that, if not pass it. Imagine if he ends with ten wins and does not win the title? It would be quite something but not out of the ordinary, as he was not crowned the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross champion.

• Glendale marked the one hundred and fortieth time that Tomac has been in the top five in a main event. Saturday was the one hundred and seventeenth time that he has done that in 450SX – he managed it twenty-three times as a 250SX athlete. '1' has finished inside of the top five in seventy-four percent of his premier class starts, which is exactly the same number as Sexton. Webb has a percentage of sixty-five.

• Tomac put himself in a position to succeed in each main on Saturday night. Starting inside of the top two each time gave him the best average starting position of anyone in the premier class by quite a margin. The table below underlines where some riders started, on average, at round twelve of 2023 Monster Energy Supercross.

• Sticking with the subject of starts, Sexton was phenomenal out of the gate at the start of the year. It feels as though his starting prowess has evaporated somewhat in recent weeks. Do the statistics support that sentiment? '23' had an average starting position of third through the first six rounds; his average has been fifth at the most recent six rounds. Truthfully, this scribe presumed that the average through the first six rounds would have been even lower.

• The battle that Tomac and Webb had in the first main was a game of two halves, one could argue, as the former was clearly better in the first five laps. It is like Webb learned from what his foe did because he responded with some impressive times in the final stages. The lengthy table below is a glance at how the duo fared in the first ten laps of that first main. Tomac ended with an average lap time that was just 0.046 quicker than Webb.

• Webb started the program with a lot of promise, but he ultimately missed out on the podium for the third time this season. Finishing fourth in Glendale caused his average finish to fall to third – that is the same average as both Tomac and Sexton. If '2' finishes inside of the top two in Atlanta, his average will go back to second. All is not lost! The only way for Tomac to lower his average to second place is to win the next two races.

• Webb missed the podium in Glendale, but he is still the only rider who has been in the top five at every round of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross series. There are four stars (the three contenders and Jason Anderson) who have maintained a streak of top ten finishes through twelve races. Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen missed out on that exclusive group, as they have an eleventh each. Oh so close!

• Tomac did not have the fastest lap in any of the main events on Saturday night, despite his victory. Barcia recorded the best time in main events one (57.053) and three (57.952). It was Sexton who ripped to the quickest time of the night in the second main (56.957). Tomac actually had the second-fastest time in each main event, which matches the second place that he garnered in timed qualification.

• It is hardly surprising that the best time of the night came from Sexton in the second main, as he was on top form in that encounter. '23' was unbelievable in the whoops – he had the four quickest times in that section. Incredible! The lap times that he recorded, in comparison to Tomac in second, can be viewed in the table below. Take the track conditions into consideration and it is impressive, right?

• Yet another statistic that truly places an exclamation point on the gains that Barcia has made this season. Barcia has finished inside of the top four at five consecutive events now (the streak started in Daytona) and that is something that he has only done once in his career. It was right at the end of 2014 Monster Energy Supercross – he ended the term with 2-3-2-4-4-4 scores. Will that streak of six be matched in Atlanta?

• 3738 days on from his first podium, Barcia secured his thirtieth 450SX podium finish in Glendale. Thirty podiums in one hundred and forty starts means that his podium percentage is sat at twenty-one percentage. '51' has claimed first five times, second ten times and third fifteen times. Will he get another win before the current season ends? It has been 812 days since he last claimed gold. Time flies.

• There were three RM-Z450 riders in the top thirteen in Glendale, which is rare. When was the last time that it happened? It was at the eleventh event of 2018 Monster Energy Supercross, St. Louis, thanks to Weston Peick in fifth, Malcolm Stewart in tenth and Kyle Cunningham in thirteenth. 1848 days have passed since that night. Suzuki has really made a resurgence of sorts thus far this term, huh?

• Dean Wilson (ninth), Kyle Chisholm (eleventh) and Cole Seely (eighteenth) posted their best results of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross term inside of the State Farm Stadium. In contrast, Jason Anderson (tenth) and Justin Starling (twenty-second) had their worst results of the season.