A netted bowl berm fires riders back the opposite direction and through two step-on-step-offs in a row, followed immediately by a standard supercross triple. The key to those on-offs is accelerating hard off each tabletop and maintaining forward momentum. Riders will want to jump forward, staying flat instead of getting any sort of “pop.” There are few scenarios where jumping higher is the preferred method.

Another 180 brings riders into the only whoops section of the track. Glendale’s whoops are usually tough because of the harder dirt. They won’t deteriorate as much, and traction becomes harder to come by as the night grows long. For those hoping for a rhythm or hop-skip-jump main event scenario have to focus on blitzing early, working out any bugs they may have so they are as prepared as possible. For those who prefer blitzing, this race is usually just what the doctor ordered. Those who excel can lean into the predictability that harder, consistent whoops provide.

Riders cut diagonally across the start, whizzing past their mechanics and under the bridge. A slow, flat, right-hand 180 leads to the finish line jump. Riders will protect the inside in this 180 and slowly drift left on the take-off.

Upon landing, riders will rail a righthand 180 and hit two small doubles that could also be navigated via 3-1. Up and over the bridge is next, followed by an awkward bump/bend and into another standard supercross triple. Riders will likely float to the right over the bridge, allowing them to “straighten” the next bend. Landing on the left side of the bridge jump sharpens the angle and disallows momentum through the triple. Landing on the right allows them to accelerate earlier and possibly coast through the take-off. This is ideal because it allows riders to stay much lower. Accelerating on the actual take-off will result in suspension compression and then the unwanted rebound higher as they leave the ground. These are very subtle nuances but for the top guys, this is where time is made and lost.

To finish this straightaway, riders will likely go 3-3 into the next bowl berm 180. Exiting, there is a very unique rhythm section. These sections are often massaged on Friday and Saturday but at face value, riders will have to pick a side and then find opportunities to triple through. If built to spec, watch for riders to try both sides several times, getting timing splits and video reference. Once an optimal line is figured out, watch for nearly everyone to resort to that line. It’s a bit of a bummer when this comes to fruition, though, as a wide racetrack becomes single track due to the known time savings. I could see this section not panning out and track builders resorting to one consistent line.

Riders exit a bowl berm (or flat inside line) and fire back down the start straight for the beginning of lap two.

Glendale is notorious for bowl berms and long rhythm lanes. This 2023 layout didn’t disappoint in that regard. Some of the tighter stuff near the finish line could be a bit of follow-the-leader but the sideline rhythms and whoops could provide passing zones. 

Who’s Hot

Eli Tomac was back to form in Seattle, even if he got a helping hand from Chase Sexton’s misfortune. With a 22-point gap over Sexton, his fight is becoming more and more with the #2 of Cooper Webb.

Even though he came up short to Tomac in Seattle, Webb’s average finish over the last seven rounds is an astounding 1.85.

Jettson Lawrence just keeps on winning. He is approaching rare air on a 250 and he’s only 19 years old.

Both RJ Hampshire and Cameron McAdoo are putting in solid seasons, albeit in the shadow of Jett. These three have been on the podium in four out of five West Coast rounds.

[Editor’s note: McAdoo suffered a mid-week practice crash and is sidelined for this weekend’s race]