Round four means we are desert bound! Glendale is one of the more popular rounds and for good reason. Great weather, a huge stadium floor, predictable dirt, SMX Next - Supercross, and Triple Crowns! What’s not to love? This Saturday evening will be jam packed with action that just keeps coming. The Triple Crown events are tough on the riders but for us mere mortals on the sidelines, they are fantastic. Let’s hope it delivers as expected.
The track in Glendale is always fast and long. The aforementioned stadium floor size opens up the straightaway lengths and increases the overall speeds. It’s apparent in the results, too, as Eli Tomac has excelled here, using his high speed prowess while Cooper Webb has comparatively struggled, unable to use his laser precision when the track deteriorates. Trends aren’t a rule, but I see no reason why we won’t see shades of those tendencies on Saturday.
The start is not as long as we have seen at many Glendale rounds, but it shouldn’t present any issues. It’s wide enough to give room and bends around to the left. The only trouble spot is for those with a far outside gate pick, it will be incredibly difficult to manage the short chute followed by a never-ending left. The slippery desert dirt will prevent riders from finding traction on the outside flat edge, too.
After swinging back toward the start, riders will head down the first rhythm lane alongside the stadium wall. It looks to be straight forward as riders will double from a small knuckle and then step on-step off before a standard supercross triple.
A netted bowl berm brings riders back the opposite direction and into a bigger rhythm. The two options are 3-3-2 or 2-3-3 but I like the former option. The 3-3-2 lets riders get up and over one of the 5-foot jumps and, doubling into a corner is a better setup than tripling. The speed from tripling into a corner makes it difficult to stop and technique often gets wonky. Instead of landing in perfect from the double and barreling through the next berm, riders land hard on the brakes and upset the suspension as they enter the corner (front end too low instead of balanced).
A basic step on-step off (could be a quad possibly) sets up for a whoops section. Glendale whoops are usually blitzers until late in the main when a rut can be used for wheelieing or hopping through. That also depends on the size and steepness of the build.
The next rhythm section fires riders back down the length of the stadium and it has an interesting layout. There will be many methods tried here but I think the best will be to double out of the corner, step over the tabletop, then triple up over the bigger 5-footer, and then triple from 3 footer to 3 footer before blasting across the start straight. It’s the lowest, fastest option I can conjure up. Let’s see if I’m right.
A 180 slings riders back the other way and they will be absolutely ripping through these sections as they careen towards the finish line. Upon landing, a unique setup has them go immediately into a standard supercross triple and into a bowl berm at the far end of the stadium.
The next section is made up of 10 jumps and for the elite, will be a 3-3-3-1 or possibly 3-3-3-4 for the 450 quad gods. Anything less than 3-3-3-1 will lose time, full stop. Riders will send it into a long, right hand sand berm. The end of the sand will cross the starting line and a wall jump is all that separates riders from starting lap two.
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Who’s Hot
Jett Lawrence got a win for the first time in 2025 and had to work for it. I’m not sure if there’s a more precarious spot for him than needing to pass JA21 for the lead and he was able to make it work.
Ken Roczen is the points leader after three rounds, and it’s been through consistency and solid positioning. His 2-4-2 scores might not grab the headlines but that red plate will.
Jason Anderson led some laps at A2 and now has two podiums in three races. Glendale should be a nice opportunity to keep the momentum going, too. He’s been dangerous at these Triple Crown events and this dirt works for him.
Haiden Deegan brought his best stuff to A2 and won a fairly uncontested 250 main event. He loves to stir up the drama and this win gave him the cover he needed to go after JuJu Beaumer. Wild ride that Deegan train is.
JuJu Beaumer is still the points leader and while he didn’t win, he still looks great. Glendale is his home race and where he broke out as an amateur so look for him to want to send a message to Deegs and co.
Cole Davies scored the first podium of his career. I am not sure if I could be more impressed with his improvement from a year ago.
Drew Adams filled in for a down-and-out Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team and got a top ten for his trouble. He’s the real deal, he just needs time to mature a bit.
Who’s Not
Eli Tomac got an awful start in the 450 main event and slowed some of the momentum he had going in. His heat race was proof that the riding is not a problem but starting outside the top 15 is a tough setup to overcome in this field.
Aaron Plessinger has had a miserable start to 2025. Crashes, bad starts, injuries, he’s seen it all and it is still January.
Jorge Prado will miss Glendale with a shoulder injury he suffered in qualifying practice at A2. This was not in the script for how to manage SX.
Cooper Webb didn’t have the opening laps he wanted and lost a few more points than he would have liked at A2. Glendale is statistically his worst track so he will need to dig deep on Saturday.
Bold Predictions
Haiden Deegan and JuJu Beaumer release dueling diss tracks on Friday. Everyone over 50 years old reading this article mumbles “what’s a diss track.”
Kawasaki management launches an inquiry into just how far Prado would like to mimic Adam Cianciarulo. His Monster Energy Kawasaki and pink gear were one thing but onboarding a shoulder issue is a bridge too far for the decision makers.
With Eli Tomac looking for more power at a conducive Glendale layout, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing enlists Dominic Toretto to install nitrous into the airbox of his YZ450F.
Ken Roczen not only arrives to Glendale with shiny red plates, the state of Arizona also designates his RM-Z450 as a vintage vehicle and slaps appropriate license plates on the rear fender.
