Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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SUPERCROSS ROUND 14 / APRIL 7, 2019 NISSAN STADIUM / NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE P62 MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS BARCIA/GRANT TROUBLE CONTINUES The Monster Energy/Yamaha Fac- tory Racing squad's woes contin- ued for the second-straight week in Nashville. After both Justin Barcia and fill-in racer Josh Grant qualified solidly for the main event (fifth and sixth in their heats, respectively) things did not go well. Grant went down exiting the whoops while running inside the top 10 early in the 450SX main event and bent his Briefly... iii My Own Race: 2 COOPER WEBB 3RD 450SX Cooper Webb had an eventful day in Nashville, but he didn't have the speed to run with Eli Tomac or Blake Baggett in the main event. "I felt like when you're out front, it was good, but I could tell they were catching me," Webb said. "And it was almost one of those things where I was struggling with the lines, and to figure out the whoops, and it was almost like, 'Hey, I want to learn and see what these guys are doing and see if I can't keep on the wheel, and then maybe mount an attack later, or something like that.' And it obviously didn't work out like that, but the track was just so slippery that you couldn't be aggressive. You had to really carry your momentum and have good throttle control, so I think it was more that I was trying to pick up on something that maybe I was or wasn't doing." Still, Nashville marked Webb's 10th podium finish in the first 14 rounds. 4 BLAKE BAGGETT 2ND 450SX Blake Baggett was fast in the Nashville 450SX main event, but in the end, there wasn't anything he could do about Eli Tomac out front. "I had a few good spots, but Eli was just the best man who won tonight," Baggett said. "He took advantage of a few spots where I was a little slower, and then I tried to pick up on that, and that's kind of what I did, but he just got away. I was trying to get that win, and I thought it was going to be there, but not tonight." 94 KEN ROCZEN 8TH 450SX "I don't even know what to say because nothing surprises me at this point," said a disappointed Ken Roczen. "I feel like I just can't catch a break. Things started out so great, and I really felt like tonight could have been my night. Everything was flowing well in qualifying, and I got another heat-race win. My bike was working great, and I was having fun. I didn't get the start that I wanted in the main event but was making passes quickly. Unfortunately, Savatgy went down while I was right behind him and I hit his bike. There was nothing I could do; I had nowhere to go. By the time I got going again I was last, so I just tried to dig deep and do whatever I could to make up as many posi- tions as possible. I'm not happy with eighth, but it's okay considering what happened." I felt like I actually found more rhythm even through the LCQ there. It was pretty wild. I mean, of course, the time where we had a big mechanical, the truck was a mile away, and those guys had to push it all the way back. It was a time crunch, but we made it there, and just poured it on in the main; just got back to our old self, so it felt good to do that." Musquin recovered for sixth but lost even more ground to his young teammate in the championship chase. Tomac and Musquin are now tied for second in the championship, 21 points behind Webb, with three races left to run, which means that Webb only needs to finish fourth place or better in the final three races to clinch his first-ever 450SX Championship. The series now heads to Tomac's home state of Colorado for the first time in decades, and Tomac's here for it. "Heck yeah, it's motivation!" Tomac said. "I'm looking forward to Denver. Hopefully, we've got