It was a long, chaotic night of racing for the riders who lined up at the starting gate at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., last Saturday.
With the Triple Crown format, 450cc class riders faced three main events and approximately 36 minutes of racing — about 10 minutes more than the heat race and single main event format they typically contest in Monster Energy AMA Supercross competition.
At the end, Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton claimed the overall victory with 1-5-1 finishes. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson enjoyed a solid run in second, while H.E.P. Motorsports’ Ken Roczen finished third overall. It was the first time Anderson has been in the top-three this year, and the first podium for Roczen in more than a year.
A Tribute To The Original Hoonigan
Sexton, Anderson and Eli Tomac — all Alpinestars-sponsored athletes — paid tribute to recently deceased action sports star Ken Block with their jersey designs last weekend. Each rider’s gear mimicked a different Hoonigan-style fire suit that Block had sported in the past. The television broadcast also dedicated a short spotlight to the rally racer, as Block’s family was present at Angel Stadium.
Sexton admitted winning while attired in iconic gear carried a little more weight.
“He was a motorsports legend. Honestly, this might be my favorite gear set I’ve ever worn,” Sexton said. “It was an honor to wear it and it made it even better to win in it. Definitely special for all of us.”
Anderson echoed the sentiment, adding how evident Block’s influence on the motorsports community was after his passing.
“To do this for Ken Block and his impact, it’s pretty cool,” Anderson said.
Sexton Stops The Bleeding
While it’s easy to chalk Sexton and his No. 23 Honda HRC steed up to be a race-winning combination, the truth of the matter is that Sexton had only one 450SX victory entering Anaheim weekend.
That first triumph came last January in San Diego, and despite making personal progress aboard his Honda in 2022, it took him a year to claim win No. 2.
“I definitely don’t want to repeat last year’s Supercross season. I want to build off what I had in outdoors,” said Sexton, who finished sixth in Supercross last year and second in the AMA Pro Motocross championship. “I really put a lot of effort and focus on tonight, and it worked out.”
The 23-year-old labeled his start to the season “mediocre,” in light of his third- and fifth-place finishes in the first two rounds. But a switch seemed to flip as Sexton soared around the track in Anaheim, with his mind focused on eliminating the points gap Tomac had built.
Chase Sexton: ‘I Haven’t Made It Yet’
“I told myself, you can’t let Eli (Tomac) get a race lead on you early in the series, because he doesn’t make mistakes a lot,” Sexton said. “This last weekend was a disaster for me. Coming into this weekend, I had to stop the bleeding, because Eli hadn’t lost a heat race or main event yet.”
However, the Star Racing Yamaha rider did, in fact, make a mistake in the third race of the Triple Crown and crashed into a barrier on the side of the track. He finished sixth overall. Tomac will hold the point lead heading into the next Supercross round at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Sexton and Cooper Webb are tied for second, four points behind Tomac.
McAdoo Is One Tough Dude
Cameron McAdoo, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawaski’s 250SX rider, gave an exceptional demonstration on the level of grit it takes to be a Supercross contender.
After going down hard in the whoops section during the first round of qualifying in Anaheim, McAdoo persevered through all three races to finish sixth overall. On Sunday, he released a series of photos on his Instagram that plainly illustrated the painful aftermath of his crash.
Another angle of Cameron McAdoo’s NASTY crash in 250 Q1 🫣#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/uZD2nE7aty
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) January 28, 2023
“Woke up feeling grateful that I’m relatively healthy after my big mistake during qualifying yesterday,” McAdoo wrote. “We made the decision that it would be safe for me to race so I did everything I possibly could to get through the night.”
Luckily, McAdoo has two weekends off to heal as the 250SX East division will have its turn on the track during the upcoming rounds. He plans to return for the next 250SX West race in Oakland, Calif., on Feb. 18.