Malcolm Stewart nabs first 450SX win in Tampa

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida hosted its fifth Monster Energy AMA Supercross event and delivered unpredictable racing, dramatic moments, and a career-first victory by Floridian Malcolm Stewart.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton led most of the Tampa Supercross, but just as Stewart made a drive for the lead, Sexton crashed hard in the whoops. Sexton recovered quickly, still in second, but was off the pace and dropped back to fifth in the final laps. Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen reached second place early and was in fourth when he suffered a nasty collision with lapped riders in the track’s difficult sand section.

Defending champion Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence did not race; mid-week updates revealed an injury at the previous round will likely keep him out for the remainder of the season.

250SX Class

The Tampa Supercross kicked off the Eastern Divisional 250SX Class Championship, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Max Anstie took the win, and, with it, the early points lead.

Some of the race fans at the Tampa Supercross came from other forms of racing. USA Track & Field Olympian Erriyon Knighton was in attendance and remarked on the broadcast that his high school is just minutes down the road from the stadium. NASCAR was represented by Xfinity Series racer John Hunter Nemechek, who met with Ken Roczen during the day and then watched the racing inside the stadium.

Round 6 lines up the racers again next Saturday (Feb. 15) at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan for a daytime race.