ANAHEIM, Calif. — A sold out Angel Stadium was alive with the excitement and anticipation of Round 1 of the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, part of the SMX World ChampionshipTM series. Red Bull KTM Racing’s Chase Sexton took his first opening round win in convincing fashion.
Even with a brief stall near the midpoint, Sexton never relinquished the lead after taking it less than four minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap main event.
Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen also battled forward, reaching second place early and holding the spot to the finish.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson managed to avoid first-turn chaos and found himself in the lead on the first lap. After intense battles with Sexton and Roczen he finished the race on the podium with third place.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac crashed on the opening lap while leading. The defending champion, Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence, had two big mistakes in the opening laps and was only able to climb back to 12th spot.
“I kind of knew where I was at coming in here. I knew I had good speed. I feel more like myself in 2023 when I was fast, but I feel like I’m a little more mature now and I can get out front and kind of run my own laps and not make mistakes, so it was a fun race,” Sexton explained. “[I] had Kenny behind me, and also Jason, and it was just a good ride.
“Honestly, I had so much fun on this track tonight. I can’t give it up to the team enough. They put in so much hard work this off-season to get me comfortable, knowing that I wasn’t comfortable last year; and coming in now we’re back where we need to be. We still have lots to improve; it’s only one race in and there’s 16 left, but we’re off to a good start and first time winning A1 feels pretty good.”
In 250SX class racing, Joe Shimoda took the win without being challenged throughout the 15-minute plus 1 lap Main Event. It was Shimoda’s first opening round podium finish.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer put in a strong performance; Beaumer was the fastest qualifier and won his heat race. He held close to Shimoda for much of the race but never got close enough to make a run at the lead. Triumph Racing Factory Team’s Jordon Smith recovered brilliantly from a tip-over in a left-hand turn. With just 11 seconds on the race clock he reached third place and held the spot to the end.
