Round 8 of the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross an FIM World Championship made its way to Tampa, Florida with a ton of momentum and a lot of story lines adding to the hype. Two-time Monster Energy Supercross Champion Chad Reed would make history with his 228th career start. Coming in under the radar was 250SX Western Region competitor Justin Hill, who would was making the jump to the 450SX class for the first time. Meanwhile, Eli Tomac was coming off a perfect weekend in Arlington and Jason Anderson held the red plate. The stage was set for an epic night of racing and it did not disappoint!
Cooper Webb jumped out with the holeshot with Tomac and Musquin close behind while Hill, who had won his heat race in convincing fashion, was charging in 4th spot. Tomac made quick work of Webb and tried to sprint away, but Musquin was putting on a charge of his own and moved past Eli and into the lead. Meanwhile, Hill became a house of fire and also made his way past Tomac and began making a legit campaign for the lead. He was utilizing a gigantic quadruple jump in the big rhythm section to make up time and drew to the rear fender of Musquin, who had failed to open up a gap. Hill went for the pass in the turn before the finish line and unfortunately hit Musquin’s rear tire and went down. It was still a surprising charge from the 450SX rookie, who would go on to finish the main event in 6th position respectively.
Tomac came alive in the second half of the race and seemed to pick up a few lines and closed back in on Musquin. The Frenchman put up a fight for a couple of laps, with the crowd coming alive, but Tomac was too strong and went back into the lead and would go on to take his second 450SX main event win in a row.
Anderson would quietly land on the podium and, all of a sudden, whispers of the championship began to get a little louder.