5 Things From Glendale: Triumph’s First, Webb Does NOT Suck There, Tomac’s Starts and More

WHAT A RACE!

The first Triple Crown of 2025 delivered in Glendale this past weekend. It doesn’t get much better than what we saw on Saturday. Here are five quick things from over the weekend that you should be reading about.

Triumph’s First

What a quick rise for Triumph. Less than a year after debuting in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, they are winners in 250SX. On Saturday, Jordon Smith became the first rider in the brands iconic history to win in AMA competition.

“It’s unbelievable to get the first win for the Triumph brand… It feels good to be up here and get the win,” he said post-race. “The track got very tricky. [The track crew] didn’t touch those whoops since this morning so they were treacherous, but it’s just unbelievable to get this win. The bike is amazing. I think a lot of people may have questioned me leaving Star, but I believed in these guys from day one and we worked our butts off all [during the] off-season and it really shows. I’m just so happy to be back up here on the top step.” 

Webb Does Not Suck in Glendale

Confirmed: Cooper Webb does not suck in Glendale. All week we heard about how Webb was not good here. In truth, he hasn’t been. On Saturday, after a week of testing on the West Coast, he was. I’ve said all year: these first few races were about surviving for Coop and being in position once the series goes east. Mission accomplished. Webb went 4-3-8-2 at the opening West Coast rounds and is just 10 points behind Chase Sexton.

“It’s been a rough go here in this stadium… I’ve heard it all week how I suck here, so everyone can shut up now,” he said post-race. “Honestly, I had a lot of fun today. I turned the page. It was so close – one point from a win and I won a [Race], so I’m stoked with the night. We’ll keep the ball rolling as we head east. Those are my conditions that we’re headed to now, and I’m super stoked with everything.”

Sexton Back in Red

He didn’t win a race on Saturday, but it didn’t really matter. Chase Sexton is back in the winner’s circle (the first repeat winner in 450SX in 2025) and back with the red plates following Glendale.

Behind his second win of the season, Sexton will head to Tampa with a slim two point lead in the championship over Ken Roczen.

“The first two races were chaos,” he said after the race. “I had to fight really hard to get to a good position and be on the podium. In the last race I made a dumb mistake and let Eli get by me. Honestly, I’m a little bummed I didn’t win that last race; I wanted that one. But I got the overall win and that’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to win and get the red plate back, and consistency paid off tonight. My speed was good. We’re in a good spot and I’m ready to fight for this thing.”

Ken Is Feisty

Ken Roczen is not going anywhere in this championship fight. I haven’t seen Ken ride like this in a long time. Week after week, he’s just flowing around the track making the difficult look easy. While the start in race three killed his chances at the overall, Ken fought back to finish third and is right in the thick of this title chase.

“I did know that I had to get [Justin] Barcia for the podium, but I kept messing up the rhythm in the middle of the track. So I would yo-yo with Justin, and honestly almost didn’t think I was going to get him, but then with two laps to go I just left it all out there and absolutely went for it,” he said post-race. “I’m stoked to be back on the podium, and I guess it’s a breath of fresh air to be kind of bummed [with a podium], because I feel like I let a better spot slip away, along with the red plate. But overall, I gave 100% every race, and there are a lot of positives to take away from here. We’re going to fight back next weekend and hopefully snag that red plate again from Chase.”

Starts Killed Tomac

Eli Tomac went Beast Mode in Glendale. But his starts killed him. On paper, Tomac’s 6-4-1 doesn’t scream “great rides” but man, he was so, so good. But with a field this deep, rounding the first lap outside the top 10 is a tough hole to crawl out of. Despite all of it, Tomac is just 9 points back of Sexton heading into round 5. Plenty of time left…

“[My] riding’s just fine, but I’ve gotta fix these starts,” he said post-race. “The first two were a total disaster, basically last again. That’s three in a row there being in dead last, but hopefully that’s it. I think I got some things figured out in that third [start] and hopefully we’ll carry that to next weekend. I was pumped to put in one good performance there in the last race. It was a tough racetrack and pretty crazy conditions.” 

Images: @octopi.media

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Written by Slaw Dog

Just a dog trying to find my special bun.

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