2 | Ken Roczen

Well, well, well, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Roczen rode great to get into second and take the red plate. No, he doesn’t have a win yet, but does it matter? Despite having 20-something career 450SX wins, we probably don’t talk enough about Kenny. He’s got new suspension guy, he’s got new works transmission gears, and he’s cooking!   In talking to Larry Brooks after the race, it didn’t seem the plan to put an E-start on Kenny’s Suzuki is going to happen anytime soon.  

3 | Jason Anderson

Great ride for Anderson and that’s two podiums in three races, so sneaky good right? You could tell Jett was trying to really make the pass stick because dealing with Jason when he doesn’t like you is like trying to corral a honey badger. Great whoop speed for JA21, also.

4 | Chase Sexton

Sexton, like so many others lately, was sick during the week and didn’t have his best prep and if you know Chase, he needs to ride during the week to feel ready. In the main, he was never able to get ahead of the group in front of him. He had to chase the race down and couldn’t close the deal. Not a great race, not a bad race (shrugs). He’s also worn orange Tech-10’s three straight races in a row. #journalism

5 | Hunter Lawrence

I was saying I thought the Honda bikes were better, not based on Jett’s San Diego, but based on Hunter’s SD ride because he’s not an alien like his brother. And Lars Lindstrom, Honda HRC team manager, agreed with me after the race. This was another good ride for Lawrence.

6 | Justin Cooper

Oh okay, goddamn. JC32 did not ride well in the heat at all and had to go to the LCQ, which is never good. But he won that, and then from the 18^th gate pick, he swept the first turn (some people say he had a great wet weather start map which his teammates didn’t use), holeshot, and led laps. Talk about a turnaround, right? Yeah, jumping the whoops killed him but hey, this was progress for Cooper.

7 | Eli Tomac

ET spun off the start and that was it for his race. He was way back but I’m surprised, with the way he’s been riding, including a dominating heat race win, that it took him so long to get going forward out there. Bummer deal for ET as he’s gone 5-1-7 through two races with riding that’s WAY better than that.

8 | Cooper Webb

Webb messed up on the first lap somewhere and lost a ton of spots. From there he never really got it going like he can. Off night for Coop and he’s never been good at Glendale either, so he’ll have to survive this weekend and get better once it goes east.

9 | Malcolm Stewart

After the race Stewart agreed with me that he’s the best “Husqvarna-mounted Malcolm Stewart” through the whoops we’ve seen. He was a bit bummed with getting passed by ET and Webb late in the race, but this is still a better start than he had last year.

10 | Justin Barcia

Barcia was just okay, another so-so start and…(shrugs).

11 | Joey Savatgy

Joey admitted after the race his rough crash in the whoops affected him out there, as well as a hard crash in whoops before A1. So, he’s got the whoops in his brain at the moment but it sounds like they found something on his bike that he liked going forward.

12 | Benny Bloss

Benny was good. He was pretty far back to start and had to ride the LCQ also. Bloss, as we know, is always great in the whoops and this weekend with the back-to-back whoop sets, I was thinking Benji was going to just crush it. And he was just okay in them. Not bad, but not like, “HOLY CRAP LOOK AT BENNY,” good you know?

13 | Mitchell Oldenburg

Mitch was stalking his teammate for most of the race but was way nicer when he was getting lapped than Bloss was. So basically, Benny was lucky.

14 | Colt Nichols

I was a little worried about Colt coming off a slow start, and then in the heat he didn’t look very good either. He IG’d that he had a bike issue there so in the LCQ he got through to the main and had a season best finish. Afterward I talked to his manager, Larry Brooks, and he thinks Nichols needs to get better starts and stop easing into the race. I’ve been on teams with Brooks, and he needs to get busy and take Nichols to the track to work on starts. Brooks knows how to improve those.

15 | Justin Hill

The Justin Hill experience has been in full effect out there with a great Anaheim 1, followed by two races where you’re like, “Was Justin Hill out there?”

16 | Dylan Ferrandis

Before getting tangled up with Aaron Plessinger, Ferrandis had moved from tenth to seventh and looked frisky! And then it all went to poop. He also crashed again later, I believe. Like Plessinger, Ferandis’ start to the year has been tough and he’s better than the results but…

17 | Shane McElrath

All I know about McElrath’s day is he went down with a bunch of other guys on the fake start in practice and yeah, those are still dumb.

18 | Jerry Robin

Jerry rode very well to get into his first main of the year. He’s a great rider and has been inside the top 22 in qualifying in two of the three races so far and then 23^rd in the other but, yeah, he’s Jerry so sometimes things go sideways. When he gets a start, he can run the pace.

19 | Cade Clason

I’ve been on Cade for being sort of invisible to start the first two races of the year so maybe I’ll take credit for this ride. He was easily into the main event.

20 | Kevin Moranz

Moranz has, for two weeks in a row, fought hard to hold onto the last spot in the LCQ to get to the main. That’s some hard livin’, folks.

21 | Freddie Noren

Freddie went down early in the main and it was all uphill from there for the 33.

22 | Aaron Plessinger

A DNF for AP and on his birthday also! Got together with Ferrandis and broke his throttle, which makes two straight DNF’s for AP in just three races, which really sucks.

250SX RESULTS

1 | Haiden Deegan

Haiden needed to win this weekend or to at least beat Beaumer. He rode great — whoops haven’t always been his strongest suit, but he was good this weekend I thought. Also, he didn’t look like he was in the mindset to just put a ton of time on Bueamer—it seemed like he managed the race pretty well. And now, things get interesting!

2 | Julien Beaumer

I wondered if Beaumer’s two-position heat race penalty, which knocked him from eighth gate pick to tenth, would cost him but it really didn’t as he started well. Deegs was just better than him on this night so he did what he could to limit the loss of points to three. He still rode well and showed maturity and no, that pass on him in the heat by Deegs is not a big deal.

3 | Cole Davies

I said here after A1 this kid has some podiums in him this year and yep, here’s the first of a few. The Kiwi kid was great and yeah, he benefited from the rider below him here (Jordon Smith crashed late in the race) but still, great job by Davies to start the year.

4 | Jordon Smith

Really gotta admire Smith. It’s the last lap, he’s got a third straight podium in his pocket, but he sees an opening on Beaumer in the whoops and sends it. And he ends up over the bars, which could’ve hurt, but he landed partially on a Tuff Block. So, bye-bye podium, but still, a good race. Jordon will always be Jordon, you can’t change him.

5 | Coty Schock

Schock won the heat! I believe that’s his second career heat win, and good for him and the team. He rode very well in the main event, kind of by himself for most of it. 6-6-5 to start the year for Schock is great.

6 | Jo Shimoda

I had someone close to the situation tell me that they didn’t think Jo would tough out the fingers last week and were very surprised he did. This week they were a bit better, and he salvaged some more points. The whole thing does suck for sure.

7 | Michael Mosiman

Mosiman looked good right from the first time his wheels hit the track. And then in the main it was an early crash and charge from way back to this spot. Good ride for sure!

8 | Drew Adams

With all the injuries to PC riders, Adams seemed to be a natural fit to jump in. He’s more than ready but he had to ride at the Kawasaki test track on Friday to show it. Okay, I guess? Anyway, Mitch gave the thumbs up, and Adams did pretty well. Looked to get a bit winded later in the race but it’s only up and up for Drew from here. Also, he said the best part of the day was meeting some F1 driver.

9 | Anthony Bourdon

Didn’t notice Bourdon much out there but he’s always pretty solid. I think soon he’ll be in a battle for top BarX guy with Enzo Lopes.

10 | Hunter Yoder

Yoder was yet another guy who was sick, so I suppose this finish is even more impressive.

11 | Lux Turner

Turner was really good at A1 and then had a bike issue in SD. This week he rode great again to come from the back to get another 11^th. Good showing for Lux, who seems improved over last year.

12 | Parker Ross

I guess when you look at this 12^th, you’re like “ehhh” because Ross was up front early and riding great. Once he fell it seemed to really take the wind out of his sails, as he went backward.