2023 Anaheim 2 Supercross Recap
The undefeated, now defeated.
Riders hit the deck all night during the first Triple Crown event for the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross series leg of the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship as Anaheim 2 (serving as Round 3) ended any dreams of an undefeated season for two riders but reignited hope for two others on Saturday at Angel Stadium.
In the 450 class, Chase Sexton (1-5-1) won two of the three Triple Crown races to get his first overall of the season and close to within four points of Eli Tomac who opened the year with back-to-back wins. Sexton rode mostly flawless on the evening easily taking the Race 1 win and fending off Jason Anderson for the Race 3 win and overall. Heading into the final race it was winner take all between Sexton, Tomac, Ken Roczen and Jason Anderson.
Tomac (3-2-13) finished third and second to open the Triple Crown but his efforts to get by Cooper Webb (7-4-2) for third in Race 3 almost undid his whole night and possibly more. Coming out of a turn Tomac hit the throttle perhaps too much sending him towards a tuff block. A head-over-heels acrobatic crash left him a bit dazed seemingly at first before he remounted and resumed the race. Tomac finished 13th for sixth overall and manages to retain the Red Plate.
Anderson (5-1-3) finished second overall, propelled by a first-place Race 2 finish, for his best outing of the season and Roczen (2-3-4) also stepped on the podium for the first time this year in third thanks to a 2-3-4 night. Anderson moves into fifth-place in the standings after opening the season in 7th in both rounds. Webb took fourth overall and is now tied with Sexton in the standings.
2023 450 Class Supercross Season Standings
- Eli Tomac (69)
- Chase Sexton (65)
- Cooper Webb (65)
- Ken Roczen (58)
- Jason Anderson (55)
In the 250 class, Levi Kitchen (4-2-2) held steady and got his first career Supercross win taking fourth in the first race and second in the final two races, good enough for the overall and to end Jett Lawrence's two round win streak.
"I tried to just block out everything that was going on behind me and a lot of guys were falling and it just worked out," said Kitchen who hails from Washougal, WA. "Consistency pays off."
Lawrence (3-6-1) crashed in Race 1 but managed to finish third and went down again in Race 2 which left him way behind the pack and he somehow scurried for sixth, so his Race 3 win gave him enough to pick up second overall.
His crashes left the door open for RJ Hampshire (1-22-13) for his first overall and make up some ground on Lawrence in the standings. Hampshire finished second in both rounds to start the season then a resounding win in Race 1 on Saturday put him in excellent position to put an end to Lawrence's domination. Unfortunately, Hampshire went down in the sand section after his hand slipped off the handlebar grip. That ended his race and he only managed 13th in Race 3 for 11th overall.
Stilez Robertson (6-1-3) took third overall helped by a Race 2 win for his first podium of the season. Mitchell Oldenburg (5-4-6) and Max Vohland (7-8-4) rounded out the Top 5, respectively.
2023 250 West Class Supercross Season Standings
- Jett Lawrence (75)
- Cameron Mcadoo (59)
- RJ Hampshire (58)
- Mitchell Oldenburg (54)
- Stilez Robertson (52)
The Triple Crown races a three Main Event structure calculating results based on Olympic style scoring and awards the round's winner to the racer with the least points totaled from their finish in all three races.
Some riders lick their wounds, others hold their heads high as Supercross moves on to Houston for Round 5 (but the fourth race because Round 2 in Oakland was postponed to Feb. 18 because of weather). The 250 West class gets a break so the 250 East starts their season on Saturday at NRG Stadium.
2023 Anaheim 2 Supercross
