Ken Roczen’s surprise re-entry into the AMA Pro Motocross Championship delivered on the hoped-for excitement, as the two-time 450MX Champion jumped right back into his old level, running up front. Not bad considering Ken only made the decision to race the High Point National a week ago, and only had two days riding the bike outdoors to get ready. It was also a new bike and team for Kenny compared to any previous motocross season.
Still, he led a bunch of laps on Saturday and somehow ended up second overall with 7-2 scores. He talked about it in the post-race press conference—and mentioned he might race another round or two of Pro Motocross before the season’s end.
Kenny, nice to have you back. You had a great first moto, but I noticed you’ve got a nice knot on the top of your forehead. That was from that crash at the end of the moto. But to make it on the podium with 7-2 that’s got to feel good.
Ken Roczen: Yeah the wife wasn’t too happy, she stamped her wedding ring right on my forehead after I crashed! [Laughs] Obviously kidding. I went down there, we had a good battle. The track was a brutal one to come back to for the first one, you know? We got into a bunch of lappers, and I tried to pop out of the rut and kind of tucked the front end and went down. Then I was stuck in the rut and couldn’t find neutral, and when I did find neutral, every time I would kick it it would pop back out. So definitely on the struggle bus there, but I really just came here to kinda of give the fans what they wanted to see, you know? I’m happy that I did that today. Obviously, Jett’s been on one lately and he was able to get the job done again today. But I was able to lead some laps and put up a little bit of a fight. The track was something else. There’s so much to talk about. I only did two days of motocross this week, I did some motos on Monday and we tested half a day on Wednesday and that was it. So for that, showing up, and then this track was a muddy mess out there, I think we had an amazing day with Progressive Ectsar Suzuki. We threw it together. Yeah, we were E-Z Upping it right next to them. It was an awesome day, especially ripping the holeshot in the second one. I had some good laps in the beginning, but then I think I had some shitty lines. Once Jett passed me I kind of copied his lines a little bit and that helped me.
![Roczen and Jett Lawrence]()
Roczen and Jett Lawrence Align Media ![Roczen and Jett Lawrence]()
Roczen and Jett Lawrence Align Media ![]()
Press Conference ![]()
Align Media ![The Roczen family.]()
The Roczen family. Align Media
You were on a hybrid tire today. Back side of the tire cut like a scoop and the other side is a traditional knobby. Why was that your choice instead of a scoop tire or a traditional knobby?
I personally have never really liked the scoop tire. I like to rail ruts and lean the bike over, I don’t like the scoop, it feels too tall in the rear and the carcass feels stiff. I don’t feel the bike turns as well. So, I tend to lean toward the cut tire, and we made some changes for the second one. But obviously the scoop tire for the start, when it’s deep and muddy, if you don’t have it, it can really get you. I really don’t understand today, when it was such a muddy mess, the past rounds, the last three rounds they groomed the whole start straight. Then the one time they really needed it today, they didn’t. I don’t understand what the reasoning was behind that, because I think it would have been a lot safer if they took the dozer, pushed some of the mud off and tilled it a bit. Because the ruts, they were gnarly coming out of there, and a lot of sawdust, just a big deep muddy mess. It was interesting.
High Point - 450
June 17, 2023| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 1 - 1 | Honda CRF450R |
| 2 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 7 - 2 | Suzuki RM-Z450 |
| 3 |  Adam Cianciarulo | Port Orange, FL  | 4 - 4 | Kawasaki KX450SR |
| 4 |  Dylan Ferrandis | Avignon, France  | 6 - 3 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 5 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 3 - 6 | KTM 450 SX-F |
You’re not competing for the championship this year, does that change anything in your approach when you’re out there?
Um, not really. When I decide to do something, when the gate drops, I want to do good. I don’t want to look like an idiot out there. And like Adam said, on a track like this, if you lose focus even a little bit, I mean, I felt like I made a lot of mistakes that I usually don’t, but this track was very difficult to ride mistake free. There was no cruising around or just having fun, you know? I wanna do good when I’m out there. Like I said, this was a short notice situation, but the good thing is I can pick and choose. I wanted to do this, first and foremost as a fun thing, I had a few weeks off and I had the itch. But when the gate drops, I want to do good and I want to have fun. That’s kind of been my mindset all season, as well. I wanted to go out there, have fun, and be into what I’m doing. I’ve kept that coming into this one as well.
We have a weekend off now. What are you going to do with your time? Any other races? RedBud?
Well, I have different racing going on that weekend [Roczen will compete in the first round of the FIM World Supercross Championship (WSX), which takes place the same weekend as RedBud]. But for the upcoming weekend off, I just bought a beach house, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m probably going to go surf and put my toes in the sand. But I’m looking forward to finding my next level with working out. That’s kind of become a little bit of my hobby. I’m loving that part of my life, working out, riding. I’m excited about what’s to come here in the future, I’d like to do some more outdoor races as well. Do some supercross and some motocross, kinda play it by ear.
