Eli Tomac was unable to compete in the Supercross Triple Crown races on Saturday, after sustaining an injury to his hip region during qualifying. Ken Roczen won the Triple Crown. (Photo from a previous race courtesy of Red Bull KTM)

Tomac crashes in qualifying, injures hip

Ken Roczen won Saturday’s 450SX Triple Crown in Cleveland, narrowing the margin with points leader Hunter Lawrence to one point.

A rough, rainy track caused issues for many riders, including Cortez native Eli Tomac, who crashed in the whoops section during the qualifying race, forcing him to forgo the day’s races.

After being checked out, Tomac attempted to race but left the track after one lap for further evaluation of his “hip region.” The status of his injury was unknown.

In the first race of the Triple Crown, Lawrence claimed the holeshot and “ran away” with the race. Roczen placed second, and Justin Cooper placed third.

The second race saw a holeshot from Cooper, who raced well despite the slick track conditions. Lawrence had to “play catch up” after a rocky start but was unable to finish in the top three. Roczen made several “money moves” in the latter half of the race to clinch second. Cooper won after a “superb” race, and Chase Sexton placed third.

In the final race, Roczen took the holeshot and “would not look back.” He maintained his lead for the entirety of the race. Lawrence crashed in the whoop section while trying to work through the pack after a bad start and crashed again in a turn after “turning underneath” Garrett Marchbanks. Cooper also crashed, keeping him out of the top three in the race.

Roczen won, followed by Cooper Webb in second and Justin Hill in third. Lawrence placed 14th.

Overall, Roczen won the Triple Crown. Yamaha teammates Webb and Cooper placed second and third. Lawrence placed sixth, allowing Roczen to narrow the points lead to one.

Round 15 of the season will be held Saturday, April 25, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

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