It was a charged night at the final event of the 2021 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship when two races determined three class championships in front of a limited-capacity, pod-seated crowd inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb grabbed the final 450SX Class win of the season to wrap up his second Premier Class Championship. Webb’s Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin finished the race in second and early race leader Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton landed in third. The unique combinedclass finale of the 250SX Class divisions, the Dave Coombs Sr. 250SX East/ West Showdown, was won by Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence; right behind him at the finish, Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols took home the Eastern Regional 250SX Class title and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper brought home the Western Regional 250SX Class championship.
It was a charged night at the final event of the 2021 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship when two races determined three class championships in front of a limited-capacity, pod-seated crowd inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb grabbed the final 450SX Class win of the season to wrap up his second Premier Class Championship. Webb’s Red Bull KTM teammate Marvin Musquin finished the race in second and early race leader Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton landed in third. The unique combinedclass finale of the 250SX Class divisions, the Dave Coombs Sr. 250SX East/ West Showdown, was won by Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence; right behind him at the finish, Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols took home the Eastern Regional 250SX Class title and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper brought home the Western Regional 250SX Class championship.
Two titles were on the line when the gate dropped for the Dave Coombs Sr. 250SX East/ West Showdown and the East Coast red plate holder Colt Nichols jumped into the early lead with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker and Jett Lawrence right behind. Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence sat fourth and West Coast points leader Justin Cooper sat fifth. Nichols only needed a 20th place finish to secure the title and his teammate Cooper needed to only finish 17th or better. Nichols looked determined to win the race while Cooper appeared to consider his track position and play the points and ride conservatively.
Before four minutes had ticked off the clock in the 15-minute plus one lap event Cooper had dropped back to ninth. Up front, Jett Lawrence and Hammaker had a quick battle with Lawrence securing the second spot position. Less than a minute later, Hunter Lawrence was pressuring to get past Hammaker but washed out in a tight right hand corner; he quickly remounted but the mistake dropped him back in fifth place.
In the final minutes, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo put himself into third place while Jett Lawrence erased Nichols’ lead a little further up the track. One lap later Jett Lawrence flew through the whoops and into the front spot, then on the final lap of the race Hunter Lawrence moved past McAdoo and into third.
The finish crowed two champions, the first sweep for the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team, and also saw two brothers both on the podium. Nichols’ 2021 performances also carry the distinction of finishing on the podium at every round, a feat not accomplished since 2015 when Marvin Musquin managed the same consistency at the top of the 250SX Class.