The Triple Crown
This weekend will mark the first Triple Crown race of the season, a format in which each class races in three separate races, and the results are added together to determine the overall finishing order. We’ve seen some pretty exciting races in this format, and the shorter races often allow for riders with exceptional sprint speed to shine. It also makes it extremely tough to place well if a rider gets a bad start or crashes. Will we see some unexpected action this weekend in the Triple Crown? -Aaron Hansel
Two For One
We’re only two races into 2023, but wow, is Eli Tomac looking amazing out there! Tomac, who’s been known in the past as a rider who starts slow and builds momentum as the season progresses, has yet to lose a single race so far, and that includes heat races. He’s going to lose one of these things sooner or later, but when? Will it be this weekend? And if so, who will be the first rider to beat Tomac in 2023? -Hansel
Bumper Bikes
Last week we saw Justin Barcia get into Chase Sexton, with Sexton ending up on the ground. Afterward Sexton would describe it as getting “ruined by Justin,” in a postrace interview with our own Jason Weigandt. Sexton clearly wasn’t happy about it, but also didn’t appear intent on retaliation either. We’ll see if that changes if Sexton finds Barcia in his sights at A2. -Hansel
On Track
There’s been plenty of attention paid to Tomac so far, and for good reason, but if you look beyond first place, you’ll see a sneaky Cooper Webb making moves. At the opener Webb didn’t look remarkable or flashy in any way, yet still took second at the end of the night. In San Diego he did his thing again, riding into second place and finishing just over a second behind Tomac. Keep an eye on Webb at A2, if there’s blood in the water he’ll bite. -Hansel
Rebound Ride
Last week in this very column we mentioned how much better Max Vohland looked at the season opener than he did in 2022. Then he goes and doesn’t qualify for the 250SX main in San Diego! Yes, things like this do happen occasionally, but at the same time, not qualifying for a main event is a rough look for a factory rider. Fortunately for Vohland, he was very good at A1, which means there’s a good chance San Diego was just a weird outlier and not a sign of things to come. Look for Vohland to rebound at A2. -Hansel
Kitchen Spice
Levi Kitchen was feisty last week in his heat race, coming out hard and pushing the issue a few times with Jett Lawrence before Lawrence got away. Kitchen kept pushing, however, and had a great battle with Pierce Brown later in the heat. Pierce got the better of Kitchen for second, but it was great to see some heat from Kitchen. Unfortunately he got taken out on the start of the main and had to sit out, but if he can avoid carnage in Anaheim this weekend, the Triple Crown might be just the ticket for him to have a breakout ride. -Hansel
Third Time’s a Charm
For Ken Roczen, that is. Suzuki’s newest star started the season out with a fifth, then a fourth-place finish, so clearly, the natural progression is a third place in the third race of the season, right? Seriously though, it’s only a matter of time before Roczen gets on the box this season, and given it’s the Triple Crown this weekend, A2 seems like a pretty good opportunity for Kickstart Kenny to put his sprint speed to work to land his best result of the season. -Hansel
Podium Piercer
In case you forgot, Pierce Brown had an excellent season of supercross in 2022. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas rider took home three podiums (all third places) last year and finished third overall in 250SX East. Things didn't exactly go his way at the opener, where he crashed out before the main event even got started, but he showed some fight in him in his heat in San Diego and rode to a solid fifth in the main. Is Pierce about to start collecting more podiums again? -Hansel
Enzo!
Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha's Enzo Lopes might be the surprise of the young season, stepping up from some solid top-five threats last year in 250SX East to become a genuine front runner in 250SX West. Enzo has been fast in practice and nailed his starts, leading to laps led in heat races and laps up front in the mains. 6-4 finishes leave him fourth in 250SX West points, but with his starts and sprint speed, the chances of a first-ever podium ratchet up for a Triple Crown. Can the Brazilian rider make the leap this Saturday? – Jason Weigandt
Unlucky 7s for 21
7-7 reads the score for Monster Energy Kawasaki's Jason Anderson after two rounds, which makes him look consistent, but that's far from the case. Anderson has been fast, but crashed in both mains (and several more times in Anaheim 1 practice), knocking him from podium contention. Worse, with Tomac crushing the first two races, Anderson is already 20 points back in the standings! He's got to get some ground back quickly, but he needs to not try too hard to do it, or more crashes will come. How will he play it in the Triple Crown this weekend? – Weigandt
