SUPERCROSS
MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 11 / MAY 31, 2020
RICE-ECCLES STADIUM / SALT L AKE CIT Y, UTAH
P46
O
n paper, the 11th round
of the 2020 Monster
Energy AMA Supercross
Championship seems pretty
normal. The usual title contend-
ers were at the top of the lead-
erboard when all was said and
done, and the last rider to win a
Supercross race—at Daytona—
won again. But beyond that, this
race was anything but normal.
This was a historic day for the
sport, with racing resuming after
an 85-day stoppage because,
of course, the coronavirus
pandemic. Beside the results, it
was anything but the usual, as
the race played out in front of
an empty stadium, with every-
one, including track person-
nel, race-team members and
the riders themselves, wearing
protective masks while having to
maintain physical distancing on
the infield and in the paddock.
Each team was allocated just
10 members, only 400 people
in all were permitted inside the
stadium, and mechanics weren't
allowed to assist their rider on
the start line, and they had to
stand on designated areas scat-
tered about on the infield as the
race played out in front of them.
It was all just plain weird to say
the least. Get used to it, there
will be six more races just like
it. However, there was a dose
of normalcy that took place be-
tween the green and checkered
flags.
Much of that had to do with
Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Ka-
wasaki) winning. After all, it was
his sixth win of the year, and it
was the eighth time that Coo-
per Webb (Red Bull KTM) and
the ninth time that Ken Roczen
(Honda HRC) finished on the
podium this year. Even though
Supercross returns and not much has
changed (except for just about everything!)
BACK IN
BUSINESS
BY THE CN STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY FELD ENTERTAINMENT
