Eli Tomac of Cortez got off to a fast start Saturday in the 450 Supercross in Indianapolis, and battled series leader Ken Roczen for 15 laps before settling for second.
With his finish, Tomac moved into third place in the season standings, nine points behind Roczen.
Cooper Webb, who finished third after starting in eighth, is in second place overall, six points behind Roczen.
At the start of the race, it was all Kawasaki.
Defending champion Tomac and Monster Energy teammate Adam Cianciarulo were 1-2 after the first turn, but Tomac slid out in the third lap and fell to third place behind Roczen.
He remounted his bike and pulled to within a second of Roczen in the eighth lap, as Cianciarulo and Roczen battled for the lead. Dylan Ferrandis was a distant fourth, 10 seconds back.
In the 13th lap, Roczen got by Cianciarulo for the lead, and Tomac followed on his heels into second place.
Tomac briefly went into the lead after Roczen went off the track on a big double jump, but Roczen recovered. He held off Tomac the rest of the way and won by 1.511 seconds.
During qualifying rounds Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Tomac appeared the sharpest he has been all season.
He was the fastest qualifier for the first time this season, with a best lap of 47.194 seconds. Marvin Musquin was second-best, at 47.363, and Zach Osborne, Cianciarulo and Roczen rounded out the top five.
And although he started his heat in eighth place, Tomac displayed his skill at racing through a crowd, charging into sixth place in the second lap. He rallied into fourth in the third lap by posting his fastest lap of the heat and passing Broc Tickle. Still racing for the front, he passed Dylan Ferrandis for third in the eighth of nine laps and closed to within .24 second of Zach Osborne before settling for third. Roczen won the heat easily, 11.15 seconds in front of Osborne.
Cianciarulo won the first heat start to finish, with Musquin in tow. Cooper Webb was third.
Next up: The Monster Energy AMA Supercross series stays in Indianapolis for Rounds 5-6 on Feb. 2 and Feb. 6.