The season opener is known for being a crazy race, and this year definitely didn't disappoint. From red flags to fist fights, it all went down tonight. To start from the beginning, scroll all the way down and work your way up through the morning, practice, and heat race reports. To get right down to main event business, just read the reports directly below.
450 Main
Justin Barcia kicked it off by edging James Stewart for the lead, and a few turns later Jason Anderson took second away from Stewart. The three of them were super close, all right next to each other for a few turns, with Stewart getting back by Anderson. Ryan Dungey lurked in fourth, with Chad Reed right on him. Then Stewart cut down hard in the corner right before the finish line while Dungey was coming in hard on the inside. Dungey had nowhere to go and the two smashed into each other and Stewart hit the deck hard. Dungey stayed up but Stewart was hurt and the red flag came out. Stewart was taken out on the Asterisk Medical Mule and the gate was reloaded for another twenty laps.
On the restart it was Cole Seely and Eli Tomac, but somehow Barcia shoehorned his way into second ahead of Tomac. Ken Roczen went down early and found himself second to last, with only Marvin Musquin behind him. Not much was going on inside the top six until Trey Canard came up on the inside of Dungey and bumped him. Dungey crashed, losing about three spots while Canard went after Tomac and jumped by him in a rhythm. Canard was absolutely flying and it wasn’t long before he got by Barcia for second. Then Jason Anderson caught fire, passed Barcia and then reeled in Canard! Anderson passed Canard and went on to start setting some crazy fast laps. Several spots back it was chaos as Dungey passed Reed, then they both passed Barcia. To add to the craziness, Ken Roczen had rebounded and also went by Barcia.
Up front Anderson was reeling in Seely, who’d been riding the whole race in solitude. Anderson continued to take sizable chunks out of Seely’s lead, and with seven to go Anderson made a clean block pass and took the lead. Anderson’s pace was just out of control, and in no time he’d built a huge lead over Seely. Dungey also turned it up a notch and on the final lap he caught and passed Seely to take over second. Anderson would end up winning by a large margin, followed by Dungey, Seely, Tomac, Roczen, Reed, Canard, Millsaps, Wilson, and Brayton holding down the top ten. Big credit to Roczen, who came back for fifth after starting off nearly dead last.
Anaheim 1 (A1) - 450SX
January 9, 2016| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jason Anderson | 1:02.104 | 20 Laps | Edgewood, NM  | Husqvarna FC 450 | |
| 2 |  Ryan Dungey | 1:02.333 | +04.243 | Belle Plaine, MN | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 3 |  Cole Seely | 1:02.169 | +05.942 | Newbury Park, CA | Honda CRF450R | |
| 4 |  Eli Tomac | 1:01.954 | +09.435 | Cortez, CO | Kawasaki KX450F | |
| 5 |  Ken Roczen | 1:02.608 | +12.371 | Mattstedt, Germany  | Suzuki RM-Z450 | |
| 6 |  Chad Reed | 1:02.945 | +18.987 | Kurri Kurri, Australia  | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 7 |  Trey Canard | 1:02.513 | +21.819 | Shawnee, OK | Honda CRF450R | |
| 8 |  Davi Millsaps | 1:02.912 | +23.661 | Cairo, GA | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 9 |  Dean Wilson | 1:03.556 | +24.648 | Scotland, United Kingdom  | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 10 |  Justin Brayton | 1:03.653 | +25.516 | Fort Dodge, IA | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 11 |  Broc Tickle | 1:03.898 | +29.289 | Holly, MI | Suzuki RM-Z450 | |
| 12 |  Jake Weimer | 1:04.173 | +34.191 | Rupert, ID | Kawasaki KX450F | |
| 13 |  Justin Bogle | 1:04.242 | +37.298 | Cushing, OK | Honda CRF450R | |
| 14 |  Marvin Musquin | 1:03.869 | +41.220 | La Reole, France  | KTM 450 SX-F | |
| 15 |  Justin Barcia | 1:02.488 | +52.884 | Monroe, NY | Yamaha YZ450F | |
| 16 |  Mike Alessi | 1:04.493 | +1:06.939 | Apple Valley, CA | Honda CRF450R | |
| 17 |  Wil Hahn | 1:04.937 | 19 Laps | Wichita, KS | Kawasaki KX450F | |
| 18 |  Christophe Pourcel | 1:05.194 | +03.851 | Marseilles, France | Husqvarna FC 450 | |
| 19 |  Kyle Chisholm | 1:05.257 | +17.745 | Clearwater, FL | Honda CRF450R | |
| 20 |  Tommy Hahn | 1:04.991 | +41.731 | Wichita, KS | Yamaha YZ450F |
250 Main
Jessy Nelson was off to the lead right away but nearly lost it when he cased a triple. That allowed Jordon Smith to close up, but Nelson went back to work stretching it out. Meanwhile, after about a lap and a half, Cooper Webb was in third and charging hard, passing Smith and taking second with thirteen to go. Nelson rode hard and maintained roughly a four-second lead for a while, but with five laps left, Webb was all over him. Webb made the pass just before a triple and Nelson bobbled, which prevented him from making the triple. Just like that, Webb had a gap and he completely checked out. At this point pretty much everyone was spread out and there just wasn’t much going on. Webb took the checkers with Nelson, Zach Osborne, Jimmy Decotis, Jordon Smith, Alex Martin, Colt Nichols, Joey Savatgy, Oldenburg, and Kyle Peters rounding out the top ten. Elsewhere, Christian Craig and Savatgy got together, with Craig ending up having to pull into the mechanics area. Mitch Oldenburg also had a crash exiting the whoops while running sixth, losing spots to Martin and Nichols. Kyle Cunningham and Chris Alldredge were both limited by crashes too.
Anaheim 1 (A1) - 250SX West
January 9, 2016| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Cooper Webb | 1:01.392 | 15 Laps | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 2 |  Jessy Nelson | 1:01.397 | +06.799 | Paso Robles, CA | KTM 250 SX-F | |
| 3 |  Zach Osborne | 1:03.210 | +19.837 | Abingdon, VA | Husqvarna FC 250 | |
| 4 |  Jimmy Decotis | 1:02.256 | +25.475 | Peabody, MA | Honda CRF250R | |
| 5 |  Jordon Smith | 1:03.759 | +29.252 | Belmont, NC | Honda CRF250R | |
| 6 |  Alex Martin | 1:04.268 | +41.000 | Millville, MN | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 7 |  Colt Nichols | 1:04.741 | +43.481 | Muskogee, OK | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 8 |  Joey Savatgy | 1:04.368 | +47.335 | Thomasville, GA | Kawasaki KX250F | |
| 9 |  Mitchell Oldenburg | 1:04.181 | +54.214 | Alvord, TX | KTM 250 SX-F | |
| 10 |  Kyle Peters | 1:06.123 | +1:01.942 | Greensboro, NC | Honda CRF250R | |
| 11 |  Hayden Mellross | 1:06.330 | 14 Laps | Lara, Australia | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 12 |  Cole Martinez | 1:06.357 | +00.618 | Rimrock, AZ | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 13 |  Mitchell Harrison | 1:05.288 | +01.618 | Lansing, MI | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 14 |  Fredrik Noren | 1:05.828 | +02.428 | Lidköping, Sweden  | Honda CRF250R | |
| 15 |  Zach Bell | 1:05.822 | +03.759 | Cairo, GA | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 16 |  Trevor Reis | 1:06.971 | +15.121 | San Diego, CA | Yamaha YZ250F | |
| 17 |  Christian Craig | 1:04.409 | +21.605 | Temecula, CA | Honda CRF250R | |
| 18 |  Cole Thompson | 1:05.187 | +22.320 | Brigden, ON  | KTM 250 SX-F | |
| 19 |  Kyle Cunningham | 1:06.167 | +27.405 | Aledo, TX | Suzuki RM-Z250 | |
| 20 |  Maxime Desprey | 1:06.900 | +34.050 | France | Kawasaki KX250F |
450 LCQ
Wil Hahn got out front immediately with Vince Friese, Lawson Bopping, and Tommy Hahn all in transfer spots behind him. Bopping got around Friese, who stalled in a corner a lap later and lost a bunch of spots. That handed the final transfer spot to Kyle Chisholm. Final 450 transfers of the night were Hahn, Bopping, T. Hahn, and Chisholm.
450 Semi Two
Dungey holeshot this one and led wire to wire, but the real story came when Weston Peick and Vince Friese got in a fight. Yes, you read that right. Peick passed Friese cleanly in a rhythm lane, but a few turns later Friese came in hard and cleaned Peick out. Remember, Friese went wide on Peick in the heat race and Peick went down. When it happened a second time, Peick lost it and rained blows down on Friese, who opted to crouch down and take them rather than fight back. Nobody came to break it up and the punches kept flying. It ended when Friese finally stood up and Peick pushed him over a Tuff Block. The 450 LCQ is lining up now and Peick doesn’t appear to be on the line, so he’s probably DQ’d for the night. Oh, and the race results? Dungey, Dean Wilson, Davi Millsaps, Christophe Pourcel, and Broc Tickle all transferred.
450 Semi One
Justin Bogle got this one underway with a holeshot and Marvin Musquin giving chase. Roczen was in this one too but got a poor start, forcing him to come through the pack. With just a couple laps down he was into qualifying position and continued to pick riders off, and even tried a final-turn move on Musquin on the last lap. He just wasn't close enough though and took third. Bogle, Musquin, Roczen, Jake Weimer, and Mike Alessi all transferred.
250 LCQ
Heartbreak for Killian Auberson, who found himself in the lead after two turns, only to go down in the very next turn. Mitchell Harrison took the lead, with Cole Martinez, Zach Bell, and Fredrik Noren giving chase. They'd finish in that order too, as they got somewhat spread out, and Chase Marquier in fifth wasn't close enough to challenge Noren.
450 Heat Two
There was a first-turn pileup in this one involving Adam Enticknap, Nick Schmidt, and Ken Roczen. Roczen went bouncing hard several times and ended up with a bike on top of him. Later Ryan Dungey would go down when he jumped into the back of Justin Bogle. Bogle stayed up and neither were hurt, but it sent Dungey to the semi. Up front, it was Cole Seely, but he got passed by Trey Canard. After that things settled down; Canard won by a mile, with Seely, James Stewart, and Justin Barcia taking the transfer spots.
450 Heat One
Vince Friese was out to the lead right away in this one, but Eli Tomac and Dean Wilson were all over him right away. He still managed to hold the lead for nearly three laps until Tomac jumped by him in a rhythm. A second later Wilson tried to pass Friese too but got hung up on Tuff Block and went down. Weston Peick and Chad Reed both went to go around Friese, but Friese went wide into Peick and Peick hit some Tuff Blox and went down. Tomac, Jason Anderson, Reed, and Justin Brayton all transferred.
250 Heat Two
Christian Craig with the holeshot in this one, but Cooper Webb, who started in third or fourth, started charging immediately and passed Joey Savatgy pretty quickly. It took him a few laps, but he caught up to Craig and started applying the pressure, finally making the pass in a rhythm lane and checking out. Craig, Savatgy, Jimmy Decotis, Jordon Smith, Cole Thompson, Chris Howell, Kyle Peters and Trevor Reis all transferred behind him.
250 Heat One
Chris Alldredge got out to the early lead in this one after some bouncing between Zach Osborne and Jessy Nelson off the gate, but Osborne dove to the inside of Alldredge just before the finish line to take the lead. Nelson tried to put a move on Alldredge for second a few laps later, but he bobbled in a turn and gave Alldredge some breathing room. Osborne went on to take the win by two seconds, with Alldredge, Nelson, Alex Martin, Mitch Oldenburg, Kyle Cunningham, Colt Nichols, Hayden Mellross, and Maxime Desprey all transferring.
Qualifying Session Two
We’re all done with qualifying here at the opener of Monster Energy Supercross, and other than Justin Bogle’s leg swag and Christophe Pourcel fastest in the second practice, not much happened. In the 250 qualifier Joey Savatgy was fastest for a few laps, but Cooper Webb, who had a little tip over and later went off the track, finally went to the top of the board and didn’t look back. He looked very fast out there and it’s hard to think he won’t be up front in tonight’s 250SX main.
In the 450 ranks, James Stewart was again fastest right away, but several laps in Christophe Pourcel bested Stewart’s time. It looked like Stewart tried to throw down a heater on his final lap, one of his signature moves, but he either made a mistake or got hung up behind someone somewhere and it didn’t work out. In the end Canard is your fastest overall qualifier, as Pourcel’s fastest time in the second session was still slower than Canard’s hero lap from the first.
Qualifying Session One
We’re halfway through qualifying here in Anaheim and so far the track has held up better than expected. It has rutted up a bit in a few sections, but the track hasn’t come close to completely breaking down like we thought it might this morning. There’s even a bit of dust in a few spots!
In 250 action, nobody was surprised when Cooper Webb started clicking off fast laps right away. He’s not the only guy who looks good out there, but by the looks of things he’s picking up right where he left off last year, and his fastest time, a 1:02.817, supports that assumption.
When the 450s hit the dirt James Stewart immediately went where we saw him go so many times in 2014—to the top of the board. He didn’t stay there long though, as Trey Canard knocked him off fairly quickly. Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen challenged a few times, but Canard ended up beating his own time, ending the session fastest with a 1:00.999.
Dirt Report
Track walk is over and we can confirm the track looks as good up close as it does from the stands. Yes, it’s soft in places—feet were sinking several inches without warning in a few spots during track walk—but it’s in absolutely amazing shape considering how much standing water there was just a couple days ago. It’ll probably break down fairly quickly and get pretty rutty, but it’s nothing that should cause a problem for the riders.
As far as the track itself, it’s relatively basic, which is normally the case at the first round. There are two whoop sections, but they’re probably some of the easiest whoops the guys will face all year. In Tevin Tapia’s words, “The only problem is [even] you could probably go too fast through these. [James] Stewart probably won’t even touch any of these with his front wheel.” There aren’t any extremely long rhythms, and two of the lanes are nearly identical. But don’t let the low degree of difficulty fool you, we should be in for some great racing tonight—fewer separators can lead to closer racing.
Bikes are about to roll out for the first practice, so check back soon for a report from practice and qualifying.
Morning Report
With no races in the books yet there are a multitude of unanswered questions. We’re likely to get some answers this evening, but with most riders just trying to get through the craziness of the first round in one piece, we could leave Anaheim with more questions than we had before the action even started! What we do know is, unless it rains, the riders will get to ride a mostly dry track. The track crew has done an outstanding job getting the racing surface in shape, and although it’ll probably be pretty soft in places, it’s not even close to the swamp it was just a couple days ago. Track walk begins in just a few moments, so check back soon for an update on the condition of the dirt after we get to set foot on it.
