Rookie Watch
It’s always fun seeing just how a 450SX rookie will do when the gate drops on his premier class career, and we’ve got a big debut coming up this weekend. Chase Sexton, who contested the 450 Class over the summer and even won the final National of the season, will line up with the big boys for the first time this Saturday night in Houston. If he proves to be as good in supercross as he was in motocross, it’ll add some additional spice to what’s already shaping up to be a smokin’ hot season. –Aaron Hansel
GasGas Bam Bam
A series of ups and downs wouldn’t be a bad way to describe Justin Barcia’s career, but as far as season openers go, he’s been very good in recent years. In fact, he’s won the last two in a row! This year he’s on a new bike and team, and while it remains to be seen how that might affect his performance in 2021, you know it’s not going to change his wild style. And if he gets a good start, something he says his Troy lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing bike is good at doing, he might just win his third consecutive opener. –Hansel
Houston for the Win
You know who’s not good at 450SX season openers? The reigning Monster Energy AMA Supercross champ, that’s who. Not only has Eli Tomac not won a 450SX season opener, but he’s also only podiumed once, a third in 2019. Of course, this year the opener is in Houston. Will the change of scenery be the change Tomac needs to finally leave the first round with the red plate? –Hansel
Late Bloomer
The last rider to win a 450SX race was Zach Osborne at the finale in Salt Lake City. Since then, he’s been on quite a roll, earning the 2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross 450 National Championship. He was also the oldest rider in the history of the sport to do so, although age doesn’t to be an issue for Osborne—the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider’s latest years have been his best. The 450SX championship is the only domestic championship Osborne hasn’t won. We’ll see how he begins his championship bid on Saturday. –Hansel
The Reset
To say Joey Savatgy hasn’t had a great time of things lately would be like saying 2020 was somewhat of an off year for the planet Earth. He broke his heel before the season, causing him to miss all of supercross, and even though he finished eleventh in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, his outdoor season could have been much better. Fortunately, 2021 is a new year, and Savatgy is on a new bike and team (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS) to boot. No matter how he does at H1, it’s almost guaranteed he’s going to be better than last year. –Hansel
Marvin Mania
The disrespect given to Marvin Musquin in the power rankings has not sat well with me at all. Maybe Marvin isn’t the exact same guy many predicted to win the 2018 title but that doesn’t mean his talents disappeared overnight. He still won his fifth moto back in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross last summer, hasn’t finished worse than third in 450SX points since 2016, and has eight career wins to his name. While everyone is sleeping on the crafty Frenchman, look for him to turn some heads immediately this weekend. -Kellen Brauer
Hype Battle
Jett Lawrence is about as hyped and talked about currently as anyone in our sport as he comes into his sophomore year of 250 supercross. On the flipside of the coin, Austin Forkner has been somewhat of an afterthought following his absence from Lucas Oil Pro Motocross due to his violent crash at the supercross finale last year. Forkner has all the experience of winning races in 250SX without a title to his name while Jett has yet to win a race but certainly has the expectation to. It will be interesting to see who makes the first big step at the opener. -Brauer
Dialed-In
As the Monday and Tuesday press conferences proved yet again, everyone seems to feel this was a great offseason and they have their bike exactly where they want it. Inevitably, at least a few riders will have missed the mark with setup by the end of racing on Saturday and will need to go back to the drawing board. So, the question then is which riders really do have setup figured out? Given the unusual schedule, having the bike dialed-in for the opener may be the biggest advantage of all. -Brauer
The Atmosphere
Though Pro Motocross had its’ share of fans in attendance, there’s nothing quite like a packed house at a supercross. We won’t see that this weekend in Houston, as COVID-19 guidelines continue to restrict stadium capacities, but we will at least have fans back in the stands. That means crowd noise, announcers yelling, pyrotechnics, all the stuff that makes supercross feel unique as a motorsport will at least be partially back this weekend. Whether or not the riders notice or are affected is beside the point, it will just be great to see some normalcy at the races. -Brauer
Can’t Win the Title Here
Yes, it’s the oldest cliché in racing. But for many of the top competitors in either class, the opening round isn’t all about winning. Instead, it’s about losing the least. A third place isn’t the ideal result but it’s a lot better than a 13th at the opener and riders know how huge momentum can be. That might mean a surprise winner in either class, but the point is to keep an eye out for excitement level on their nightly result from our expected championship contenders. -Brauer
