Round 15 of the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship took place over the weekend in Philadelphia, and as usual, there’s plenty to dissect. To help us better understand the action, we fired off questions to former pro and NBC pit reporter, Jason Thomas.
This was the first time Monster Energy AMA Supercross has raced in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. What’d you think of the venue, in terms of how it worked for supercross?
It was great! I was a little leery of how it would play out but I was pleasantly surprised. The stadium was modern, the weather cooperated, and the turnout was very strong. It was a win all the way around. I would expect to be back.
This is also the first time this dirt has been raced on. What was it like, how’d it develop, and if you were to compare it to another track, which would it be?
The dirt was tricky. It had been inside the stadium for several days (I believe Monster Jam was the weekend prior), which leads to a hard, slippery base. The jumps and berms were soft and rutty though, creating an interesting contrast. Overall, it was decent. Having some nuance to the dirt is going to always be a thing.
Some of the guys had a line that had them jumping deep into the sand section, some were going inside, while others were going around the outside. Which line do you was the best?
I liked the triple in-double into the sand line the best. It was consistent and fast. There was a fun line that Jason Anderson employed late where he would cut the very inside of the prior bowl berm and then go 2-3 into the sand. He would then maintain that momentum through the outside of the corner (breaking through the inside berm to the outside). He was making up beaucoup time on Cooper Webb in the last few laps in that section.
Take us through the crash with Jalek Swoll and Seth Hammaker. Were you surprised Swoll got that aggressive when he already had a pretty good handle on Triumph’s first podium?
It was a racing incident. I felt Jalek did a great job of explaining the incident on his Instagram. He felt he could beat Seth to the intersection point and unfortunately, he miscalculated. The move was innovative and aggressive, he just got the timing wrong. He needed to be right on Seth’s rear wheel coming out of that berm for any chance of avoiding contact. That was a tough break for both of them.
Max Anstie is a fantastic racer, but he also hasn’t really been a factor up front this season, except for his second place in Detroit. He was amazing en route to the win on Saturday night though. What was it about Philadelphia that agreed with him so well?
He has been fast many times this season, his qualifying sessions prove that. The real problem has been on his starts and first lap positioning. Going fast will only get you so far if you start 14th every week. We saw a breakthrough in his starts at Foxborough and he followed that up in Philly. The riding is and has been there, and the first lap track position has now improved to match that elite level. Oh, what could have been.
Tom Vialle came into the night with a 13-point lead over Haiden Deegan, which he extended by another two points. What’d you think of the way he raced? Did he race harder than you expected, considering his lead, or was it about what you thought it would be?
He executed extremely well. His main goal going into the weekend was to finish near or in front of Deegan. If he accomplished that, the rest is almost irrelevant. Going into the finale with a double-digit lead makes life so much easier. He will be able to simply mark Deegan in Utah and make sure there isn’t a real problem emerging. As long as he has an uneventful main event, he will be champ. Think about how Justin Cooper’s SLC main event went in 2021. That’s how I expect Vialle’s will go, too. Ride safely, stay out of drama, bring home a top ten, become champ.
Walk us through the situation Eli Tomac was in during the opening stages of the 450SX main event. Did it seem like he was holding up slightly for Cooper Webb at all?
In the early laps, I think he understood that Webb had more pace and he didn’t want to interfere with the championship if he didn’t have his best stuff. If Eli was able to move forward and go chase Jett, I believe he would have. He simply didn’t have the required speed. I don’t believe his fifth place finish was indicative of anything other than he didn’t have what he needed to go win the race.
Webb had Jett Lawrence in sight at the beginning of the 450SX main, but was never able to get close enough to get his hooks in. Where was he giving up time to Lawrence in Philadelphia?
There wasn’t one glaring spot where Webb was losing time. It was a culmination of a few different areas where Jett was carrying more speed and wringing a little more out of the track. One section I did notice was the whoops. Webb was sticking to the inside in the corner before and then jumping through in his 3-3-3 preferred fashion. That is usually a solid approach and was working earlier in the day. In the main, however, Jett switched to the outside in the prior corner and was tripling out of it. That triple provided ample entry speed into the whoops and Jett’s talent allowed him to blitz the whoops fast enough to offset Webb’s jumping. This is a week-to-week dynamic that oftentimes dictates the race. Jett’s adjustment won out in Philly.
After Chase Sexton passed Webb he got into the side of him as the two came into the right-hander following the finish line. If you’re Sexton, what are you thinking after that collision?
The contact was not on purpose. Sexton knew that Webb would likely attempt to swing left and try to cut underneath him in the next berm. To prevent that, Sexton was also going to swing left and eliminate the necessary angle. Sexton anticipated Webb moving left more and sooner than he actually did, creating contact in the process. Sexton is not a dirty rider in any way, shape, or form, and this was certainly not that. He was making a defensive move to counter the cutback move he expected from Webb. It looked a lot worse than it actually was.
Jason Anderson has been better in recent weeks, and he looked great in Philadelphia. What do you think was key in his performance on Saturday night?
I believe some of it is the dirt composition. Anderson grew up in New Mexico and spent his formative years riding in low traction environments. That cultivated a skill set that pays dividends when the track base is extremely hard. Think about races like Glendale and Anaheim—he excels in these scenarios. Maybe not as obvious, Foxboro and Philadelphia both had very hard, slippery base compositions. Those shiny portions of the racetrack where most are searching for positive “feel,” Anderson is comfy and more importantly, fast. He knows how to navigate that wheelspin and lack of grip. He grew up riding with that dynamic. All of the pro riders at this level can manage it but Anderson excels in it. Watch for Denver and Salt Lake City to be much of the same. Can he podium? Possibly. The bigger point is that he will be on his best form.
Speaking of Anderson, break down that pass he put on Webb right before the finish line. How did Webb manage to go down when he had the inside?
It was just a matter of tangling bars. Webb had the inside and would have likely just controlled the corner and cut Anderson off. Anderson, knowing this, was leaning hard to his left trying to find an angle to flat track around the outside of Webb in that corner. As their lines converged, Webb caught the side of Anderson with his bars and it dragged him to the right and down he went. Had it not been the last corner, it likely goes differently, but neither of them had any interest in letting off the throttle in that spot with a podium at stake. Webb did a good job of getting up quickly and not losing any more positions.
