2021 Atlanta 3 Supercross Recap
Ken Roczen had it but a small get-off with five minutes remaining erased a normally insurmountable 12 second lead, allowing Cooper Webb to catch up and make the pass with less than 30 seconds left to grab the checkers for Round 15 of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross series on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta, GA.
The Atlanta 3 victory was needed by both 450 class riders as Roczen trailed Webb in the standings coming into the third and final Atlanta round but with momentum. Roczen’s win on Tuesday shaved nine points off his deficit for first place and brought him to within 13 points of Webb in the Championship standings. Webb, the 2019 Champion, now leaves Atlanta 3 holding a 16-point cushion with two rounds left instead of 10. Defending Champion Eli Tomac rounded out the podium in third but his chances of repeating now nearly closed trailing Webb by 40 points.
In the 250 West class, Nate Thrasher got his second win of the season and though he sits outside of Champion contention, adds to his resume for Rookie of the Year chances. Thrasher also won the LCQ, something he did when taking his first career win at Atlanta 1 so maybe something there for the young lad in racing the LCQ. Justin Cooper finished second after grabbing the holeshot but extends his lead for the Championship to 20 points heading into the final two rounds. Seth Hammaker rounded out the podium in third.
Elsewhere, Cameron McAdoo, who made crashing a near art form in the Atlanta rounds, hit the dirt a few more times, including a pretty spectacular practice crash resulting in more unexplained ability to resume riding.
McAdoo qualified for the Main and the 250 race was red flagged just as Atlanta 2 was and McAdoo was involved, though not the reason. Just after the holeshot line, McAdoo hit a tuff block sending him into traffic and the ground, but not before the tire of airborne Chris Blose hit the top of McAdoo’s back ripping his jersey. Blose hit the deck and looked down for the count resulting in the red flag. After the restart, with just under 14 minutes left and McAdoo in fifth, he and squirreled around in the sand rollers resulting in him crossing over into Hunter Lawrence’s line after a jump, sending Lawrence into the tuff blocks after trying to prevent a collision.
McAdoo later went down in the whoops, and with little more than 10 minutes left Garrett Marchbanks took McAdoo out in a corner sending them both into the dirt. McAdoo finished 13th dropping to third place and 22 points out from first. Lawrence escaped further incidents finishing fourth and slipping into second place 20 points behind Cooper.
Supercross heads to Salt Lake City for the final two rounds of the 2021 season starting Saturday at Rice-Eccless Stadium. Gates for Round 16 drop at 2 p.m. (PST). Until then, live Atlanta 3 all again.
2021 Atlanta 3 Supercross
