Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
If there is any doubt that the sport of Supercross isn’t currently trending upwards, all you have to do is attend one of the rounds of the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series. From the moment I entered the paddock at last weekend’s Anaheim SX I was blown away by how much was going on and how much there was to see. Whether it’s the Monster Energy stage, the bike demos or the multiple product displays, in the Anaheim 2 pits it took 15 minutes to get from the entrance to where the teams were set up. Yes, the sport of SX is alive and well in the USA, so you should plan to go and watch a round in 2019.
With Anaheim 2 being the first Triple Crown event of 2019, there was just a little extra excitement in air as the riders took to the technical track for practice. With so much rain falling in Southern California at the beginning of last week, the track had to be covered until Friday morning when the dark clouds finally gave way to sunny skies. Even with all of the wet weather, the track was in remarkable shape and it only had a few soft spots in between the jumps of the rhythm section. During the first practice sessions the riders were all taking it easy as they navigated around the Anaheim track. With the initial practices out of the way, the top riders really began to step it up for their second timed sessions. Since this was a Triple Crown event, this meant that only the Top 18 in timed qualifying would make it through to the night show. As you can imagine the afternoon qualifying sessions were most certainly a stressful endeavour for all of the riders.
Our current Canadian SX hero Jess Pettis had a decent qualifying session as he hovered around 15th for most of it. Pettis is riding very well right now, and considering he’s only had about six weeks on his new KTM, he’s progressed very well. In talking to Pettis on Saturday morning, he did admit to me that although he loves his new orange bike, he hasn’t had much of a chance to do some real testing on it. Also, with the first three tracks of the SX series being so different, it’s been hard to get a consistent feel. During practice at A2, Pettis looked good but was unable to get his lap times to within two seconds of the top five in the 250SX West class. Still, considering his lack of testing and the fact that he’s racing against some of the best 250SX riders on the planet, Pettis is doing just fine. With two more rounds to go before Pettis really begins his 2019 Rockstar Energy Triple Crown Series preparation, he told me he’s right where he wants to be. Once the racing began, Pettis battled to a hard fought 11-13-10 moto score to finish 11th overall. Again, this was another great finish for the kid from Prince George, BC as he beat some very fast riders. I firmly believe that in the next two races Pettis will be able to finish inside the Top 8 or even the Top 6 if things continue to go well.
In the 450SX class, it was really impressive to watch the top guys throw their big 450s around the Anaheim 2 track. Cooper Webb and Marvin Musquin looked great on their KTMs. Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen also looked very fast and smooth, and Dean Wilson appeared to have race winning speed, especially in the whoop section. If Dean can remain healthy, I can honestly see a main event win in his future. It was also cool to see Chad Reed ride in person at least one more time. At 36 years old, the Aussie legend still rides well, and his fifth in the third main event of the evening proves that. At times Chad looks a little stiff on the bike compared to his much younger competition, but when he has to, Reed can still twist the throttle and make riding a SX track look very easy. It will take a small miracle for Reed to win one more SX main event, but anything is possible in this sport. For now, though, I think we should sit back and admire this living legend for one more season. When Reed retires, it will officially mark the sad conclusion to the greatest era in this sport. Think of all that has happened, all of the riders that have come and gone, and all of the great races that have taken place since Chad Reed first lined up at a starting gate in America.
With three rounds now in the books, the series moves north to Oakland for Round 4. Unfortunately, a few of the top riders are already missing races as Justin Barcia had a big get-off during the final main event in Anaheim and bruised his tailbone. Then on Monday, the defending champion Jason Anderson crashed while practicing and broke his arm and a few ribs. He required surgery to repair his broken arm and will be out for most of the remaining rounds of this series. Anderson was not off to a good start in the 450SX class, and at Anaheim 2 he didn’t look very aggressive going 6-6-17 for 9th overall. Hopefully he can heal up fast and get back out there before the series is over, and with any luck this is the last rider we see get injured in the 2019 series. This sport sure is awesome, but at times it sure can be ruthless.
The sport of SX is full steam ahead right now and the future looks very bright. With a few more Triple Crown events coming up, and the amateur SX Futures program attracting over 1,000 entries at the first two rounds, it’s very hard to argue how successful the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series is at all levels. And we’re just three rounds in. I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend in Oakland.
