Webb, Deegan Win Supercross at Gillette Stadium

Yamaha teammates Cooper Webb and Haiden Deegan took top honors in Monster Energy Supercross’ return to Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, as the home of the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots played host to the 13th round of the 2024 season. With just four rounds left before the Pro Motocross leg of the SuperMotocross World Championship kicks off, both the 450 and 250 East indoor titles remain very much up for grabs—with the 450 fight now tied.

Coming into the night, Honda’s Jett Lawrence would have an eight-point advantage over Yamaha’s Cooper Webb for the 450SX points lead, while Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo held just a two-point lead over KTM’s Tom Vialle for the top spot in 250SX East. As is typical for New England in the spring, riders would be faced with a cold and wet environment all weekend long, with Friday’s media sessions cancelled and a very muddy track walk in the morning.

With three of the top four riders in points in the first 250 heat, the pressure was on for Cameron McAdoo, Pierce Brown, and Deegan; Deegan won the crowd over by wearing a Patriots jersey during rider introductions, but a late stall going for first in the heat would relegate him to fifth, behind McAdoo in second and Brown in fourth. Instead, Honda’s Chance Hymas would take the first heat win of his young career. Second in points Tom Vialle would be the fastest rider on track for part of the second heat, but the win would go to top qualifier Max Anstie.

Tomac picked up where he left off in St. Louis by dominating the first 450 heat, but hopes of a Yamaha 1-2 were dashed late when Justin Cooper suffered a hard slam. He’d be shaken up, but would eventually walk and later ride away under his own power. A stacked second heat saw Webb take the holeshot ahead of 2022 winner Jason Anderson, but Lawrence would make quick work of Anderson to challenge for the lead. Webb was able to put on some distance for a while, but Lawrence took the point with just seconds to go on the race clock and pulled away on the final lap.

Supercross Futures made its return for its fourth and final round of the year, and second event in a row, before the LCQs, with Kawasaki prospect Drew Adams taking his third straight victory over Gavin Towers. A late fall for Anaheim winner Cole Davies would give Luke Fauser third place, ending Davies’ bid to become the only rider to stand on the podium in every race. Bryce Shelly would win the 250 LCQ, while Benny Bloss rode away in the 450 LCQ as Cooper recovered to advance to the main.

In the 250 final, Deegan would get out front early ahead of Vialle and McAdoo, who were locked in an early fight for second with the points lead on the line. McAdoo would make the pass with more than 11 minutes remaining and set his sights forward, but to no avail. Still, he’d double his points lead to four over Vialle’s third place run, while Deegan clawed past Brown for third in the standings, 13 off the lead, with his second win of the season.

Webb would come out with the 450 holeshot ahead of the Suzuki of Ken Roczen, with Anderson, defending champion Chase Sexton, and Shane McElrath settling into the early top five. Meanwhile, it’d be early trouble for the heat winners, as Tomac would suffer an early fall to put him on the edge of the top 10, but Lawrence would suffer an awful start that initially left him 16th. From there, the question became: could Lawrence make up enough spots to retain his points lead?

The answer was a resounding… “almost.” By the second half of the main, Lawrence was up to fifth, but at five minutes remaining he was still 15 seconds off the lead, and more than six behind Anderson in fourth. He’d put the hammer down and erase most of the gap, but it wasn’t enough to make the consequential pass. Instead, most of the late drama came in the battle for second, as Sexton got past Roczen late for the spot and set his sights on Webb. Unfortunately, a mistake heading into the last lap would ensure that Webb would lead from green to checkers.

Webb’s victory, combined with Lawrence’s fifth place run, meant that the duo would leave Foxborough tied with 261 points. Sexton sits 15 points back in third. The 2024 Supercross season continues next week at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, where the 250SX West class will resume its title fight.

Photos by Ned Leone