The Triple Crown
The racing this weekend won’t follow a typical format. Instead, we’re looking at the first Triple Crown supercross of 2024. If you’re unfamiliar with that format, riders race three shorter main events instead of one long one, and the results are combined to determine an overall winner. We’ve seen some pretty wild results at these things in the past and given how crazy this season has been so far, we could be in for a thriller in Anaheim. -Aaron Hansel
Jett Lawrence vs. Jason Anderson
By now you’ve certainly seen the footage of Jett Lawrence and Jason Anderson getting into it with each other after the conclusion of the race last week. Lawrence has since publicly apologized to Anderson for his involvement in the incident, and you’d expect cooler heads to prevail after a week’s time, but then again, adrenaline has a way of ramping things up in the heat of the moment. Will the pair get into each other in Anaheim, or will it simply be a non-issue? -Hansel
Red Plate Retention
When the series rolls into Anaheim this weekend the red plate will be on its third motorcycle so far this season. Aaron Plessinger, who leads his teammate, Chase Sexton, by a single point, is the current owner of the red plate, but can he hold onto it? He’s having a great season and will surely be buoyed by getting his first 450SX win in San Diego, but he’s also going up against stiff competition. We’ll see if the red plate stays on the same 450 for the first time in 2024. -Hansel
Husky Turnaround
The 450SX Class is so incredibly stacked that it’s inevitable that some big names aren’t going to be on the trajectory they’d like just yet. Right now, two of those names are Malcolm Stewart and Christian Craig. Stewart sits 17th in points and has gone 11, 22, and 19 in the first three rounds. Craig, who holds 18th, has gone 20, 14, and 20 so far. These guys are too good to keep having these weekends, and with the mud seemingly behind us, Anaheim 2 could serve as a launching point to get things turned around. -Hansel
Ramping Up
One rider who already seems to be on the right track is Cooper Webb. After starting the season with sixth and 11th-place finishes, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider was looking fast and loose in San Diego en route to second place, and might have even been able to challenge Plessinger for the win had he not gotten slowed up by Chase Sexton as he was attempting to lap him. When Webb gets hot, he’s dangerous, and if his performance in San Diego is any indication, he’s heating up! -Hansel
Four-in-Four
You want parity? How about a different winner, every single weekend, in both classes, at the first three rounds? What’s even more astounding is the huge possibility of having a pair of new winners yet again at round four. Guys like Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, and plenty more have yet to win in 2024, and Jo Shimoda, Levi Kitchen, and Garrett Marchbanks could easily light the candles in the 250SX Class. Who’s going to get it done in Anaheim? -Hansel
Salvage Mode
Things aren’t exactly looking good for Jo Shimoda right now. The Honda HRC rider salvaged fourth at the first and third rounds, but his DNF in San Francisco dealt a huge blow to his bid for a championship. He’s seventh in the standings and is a whopping 31 points back of championship leader, Jordon Smith. In a series as short as the 250SX regional championships, he’s all but out of title consideration. But that doesn’t mean he can’t salvage his season by getting some wins. We’ll see if Shimoda can get things back on track this Saturday. -Hansel
The Future
Supercross Futures is back at A2 for their opening round of the 2024 season. This is the fan’s chance to see the amateurs who will be lining up in the pro ranks as early as next season (or in Haiden Deegan’s case, last year he raced A2 in Futures and then raced his first pro race when the series headed east). Who will be the standout this year? -Sarah Whitmore
The Track
The track this week is very busy and technical which should not only challenge riders but also wear them down a bit more throughout the three main events of the Triple Crown. We also expect dry conditions all day for Saturday which will be a welcomed sight after a few weeks in the rain. Look for the two long sets of whoops to play a part as well as tripling into the rhythms to be a bit of a make or break. – Kellen Brauer
Triple Crown Fever
As Hansel mentioned, this weekend's race will be the first Triple Crown event of 2024. Looking at the previous 14 Triple Crown events since the format was introduced in 2018, here are a few quick things to note:
In 450SX:
-Eight different riders win a 450SX race (of 42 races total to date) and only six different riders win an overall.
-Tomac has dominated this format: seven overall wins in the 14 events (half!) and taken 13 race wins out of the 42 completed. He is the only rider to win a Triple Crown overall in all first five seasons of the format.
-Ken Roczen has the only 450SX sweep (2020 Glendale SX)
-Chase Sexton is the only first rider to win both a Triple Crown race AND overall, in both the 250SX and 450SX divisions. That could change this weekend though.
-Webb earned his first 450SX main event win with this format at the 2019 Anaheim 2 Supercross. He said last week being in the fight after round three was exactly where he wanted to be.
In 250SX:
-18 different riders win a 250SX race (42 so far to date) and 12 different riders win an overall (of 13 total events).
-Eight of those 14 250SX Triple Crown events have seen three different riders win all of the three races, and three times we saw three different race winners plus a fourth different winner that won the overall.
Long story short, the stats are saying we might see the parity we have in both classes continue this weekend! For more of a preview on the Anaheim 2 SX Triple Crown, check out my Redux feature. -Mitch Kendra
