Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac grabbed the first win of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross residency in Atlanta after a last-lap pass on Chase Sexton to take his 37th premier class win.

A rain-soaked afternoon in Atlanta left riders with just one timed session for the day, as mother nature let loose near the end of the opening qualifying session, forcing a cancelation of the final rounds of qualifying.

As the rain cleared and the sun came out, racing got underway with Aaron Plessinger (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) launching out to the lead in the 450SX main event. It looked to be all Plessinger as he gapped the field early by over five seconds.

On lap six it all changed for the Yamaha rider when he lost the front end in a corner, dropping him to the ground and back to seventh place. This gifted the lead to Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) who looked poised to grab the first 450SX win of his career, leading the next four laps.

Eli Tomac who had recovered from a rough start began to close though, lapping over a second faster than Sexton as the race dwindled down to three laps to go, the defending champion chasing Sexton as the two worked through lap traffic.

With a lap and one corner to go, Sexton caught the back of a lapper, subsequently handing the lead to Tomac who jumped out to a three-second lead and never looked back, taking his 37th career main event win.

Third place went to points leader Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), who didn’t quite have the pace to run with the lead group, but will walk away from the round with a 22-point advantage over rival Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC).

After taking his third heat race win of the season earlier in the night, fourth place went to a hard-charging Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna). Rookie Dylan Ferrandis took fifth place after a battle with his teammate Plessinger in the closing laps.

Plessinger’s run ended in sixth place after his heart-breaking crash, the Yamaha rider was followed by Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin who put in a solid ride for seventh. Eighth went to Joey Savatgy (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM) who continues to show solid form through the latter half of the season.

Championship contender Roczen had a day to forget, a mishap on the start saw him cross the line in 19th after turn one. He managed to get inside the top 10 by halfway but was never able to mount a charge to pass the riders ahead of him, ending the day in ninth.

10th went to TLD Red Bull GasGas rider Justin Barcia after a horrific crash while leading the heat race resulted in stitches before the main event. Malcolm Stewart ran inside the top 10 for much of the race but ultimately crossed the line in 11th.

Max Anstie had an impressive night, running up from in both the heat race and the early stages of the main event, but unfortunately ending his night in the Alpinestars Medical Unit after a crash early on in the main.

The stage is now set for two more rounds of racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with racing continuing Tuesday night for round 14 of the series.

Image: Octopi Media.

After being forced to go to the last chance qualifier, rookie Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) took a wire-to-wire victory in the main event for his career-first win in Monster Energy Supercross in Atlanta.

Rain swept through the Atlanta area, soaking the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway and canceling all but one of the timed qualifying sessions for the day, riders prepared for a muddy night in the red Georgia clay.

When the gate dropped on the main event, it was LCQ winner Thrasher emerging at the front and never looking back, eventually taking the win by over 11 seconds.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) worked his way through the pack to finish second, securing the runner-up spot after Garrett Marchbanks (Club MX Yamaha) crashed out of the podium chances. Cooper’s night was marred by a massive crash in the heat race, which resulted in some minor injuries for him to deal with in the main.

Cooper’s title rival Cameron McAdoo had a solid day that ended with a third-place finish. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider took the top spot in qualifying for the first time this season and leaves round 13 just four points back from Cooper in the championship standings.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) continued his solid rookie season with a fourth-place on the night, while 2021 Kicker Arenacross champion Kyle Peters put his Phoenix Honda in the top five.

Mitchell Harrison (Muc-Off Honda) ran inside the top five for much of the race and was eventually shuffled back to sixth late in the race.

Championship hopeful Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) found himself on the ground in turn one of the main event creating a mountain of work for himself early on. He salvaged seventh place on the night after winning his heat race.

A crash-filled afternoon for Jalek Swoll ended with an eighth on the night with Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) making his return to action for ninth on the day. The final spot inside the top 10 went to Coty Schock (FXR Chaparral Honda).

Detailed results