There wasn’t much movement on the leaderboard during the final qualifying round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., as Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton held the fast time throughout the session.
Sexton set a 57.564-second lap time on his No. 23 machine.
With four minutes to go, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson moved up to second with a 58.283-second lap time. H.E.P. Motorsports’ Ken Roczen filed his best qualifying result of the season, finishing third with a 58.371-second lap time. Star Racing Yamaha teammates Dylan Ferrandis and Eli Tomac rounded out the top five.
It took Tomac until late in the session to break the 1-minute range.
Cooper Webb, Adam Cianciarulo, Christian Craig, Colt Nichols and Joey Savatgy completed the top 10.
As the Anaheim 2 round of Supercross is a triple crown event — meaning that instead of traditional heat races and the main event, there will be three feature races — qualifying is more critical. Instead of heat races determining gate pick for the main event, a rider’s qualifying results will define their starting lineup.
Notably, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart will miss round three due to injury.
450SX Qualifying 1 Results
Sexton established himself as a frontrunner early in the day during the first qualifying round at Angel Stadium. He threw down a 58.017-second lap time towards the end of the 10-minute session, which held over Roczen’s last-minute heater.
During his Race Day Live interview, Sexton noted that the track was shaping up to be quite technical with a number of developing ruts.
“The track takes a lot of effort and focus,” Sexton said.
Roczen finished strong in second with a 58.507-second lap time, while Tomac came in third with 58.529-second lap time.
250SX Qualifying Results
Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence, who has never won a triple crown event, qualified first with a 57.998-second lap time. He remained in control of the field during both sessions, with Enzo Lopes and R.J. Hampshire finishing second and third behind him.
Hampshire won the St. Louis Triple Crown event last year.
Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Cameron McAdoo went down hard during the first qualifying session and was tended to by the on-track medical crew. He returned for a second round of qualifying, but limped around the track for five laps only. His time from early in qualifying has held over to allow him entry into the night show.
450SX & 250SX LCQ Results
Kevin Moranz won the 450SX Last Chance Qualifier.
Fredrik Noren, Justin Starling and Shane McElrath were the remaining transfers into the night show.
Josh Varize took the win in the 250SX LCQ, with Mitchell Harrison, Brandon Scharer and Brandon Ray rounding out the top four.