Proper Start
Max Anstie has earned a handful of podiums and two wins in recent years, so it wasn’t a shock to see him win the 250SX East season opener in Tampa. It probably wasn’t the most common prediction, however. Considering the depth of the class, anyone would have a hard time winning! It didn’t seem to bother the veteran though, as he really took ownership of the race after Pierce Brown crashed and caused a red flag. If Anstie rides as well in Detroit as he did in Tampa, he could go back-to-back. -Aaron Hansel
Unfavorable Outcome
Opening rounds are often whacky, but did anyone really think Levi Kitchen was going to finish ninth? This is the same guy who won multiple races in 2024 and was in the thick of a championship battle all the way to the wire, but in Tampa he went down in the sand and couldn’t ever really recover. Kitchen is better than ninth, look for him to show it in Detroit. -Hansel
Unfavorable Outcome x2
RJ Hampshire’s night was even worse than Kitchen’s. After making a mistake and landing on a round Tuff Block, Hampshire found himself fighting to get his bike free of the object. At one point Hampshire’s bike was even upside down as he tried to get it of the Tuff Block! The incident cost him a ton of time, and even put Hampshire a lap down, which is not something we see often. He finished 18th and how faces a huge deficit in points. If he’s going to get back in this thing, he needs to start winning in Detroit. -Hansel
Feel Good Win of the Year
If you weren’t happy for Malcolm Stewart when he took his first 450SX win in front of his home crowd in Tampa, congratulations on your emotional blindness. Now back to sitting in a dark room and staring into space while the rest of us soak it in by smiling and high-fiving. The only thing that’s even better than Stewart’s feel-good win is the way he was riding. The dude was on fire, and was straight up catching Chase Sexton in the lead, who is usually extremely difficult to hunt down in those situations. If we see that same Stewart show up in Detroit, he might just double his 450SX win count. -Hansel
Salvage Mode
Sexton was forced to go into salvage mode in Tampa after sustaining damage to his front brake and throttle when he crashed in the whoops. After holeshotting and leading the first 18 laps, the crash and subsequent damage to Sexton’s machine resulted in a fifth-place finish. Fortunately for Sexton he still has the points lead, but that loss had to sting. We’ll see if he erases that feeling by lighting the candles in Detroit. -Hansel
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Dangerous
Is a great word to describe Cooper Webb right now. Sitting in second, just five points back of Sexton, Webb always seems to find a way to keep his foot jammed firmly in the championship door, and if you let him hang around, he’ll often figure out a way to rip the door of its hinges. Webb can smell blood in the water right now—look for him to be on the attack in Detroit. -Hansel
Redemption
No matter where you stand on the lapper/leader debate, Kenny getting at DNF at Tampa sucked. Especially when he could have possibly capitalized on Sexton’s crash later in the main and retaken the points lead. The best thing for Kenny to do now is put his head down and regain some points by landing on the podium every weekend. A win or two wouldn’t hurt either. -Sarah Whitmore
McAdoo It Anyways
Torn ACL? No problem for Cameron McAdoo. We all know he has no problem letting it all hang out (literally, remember Detroit last year?). Now when other riders would call it a season, Cameron is gritting it out and racing anyways. Was Tampa a fluke, or will he be a threat for podiums and wins the entire season, sans an ACL? -Whitmore
A-Please Get It Together
You can’t think of Detroit supercross in recent years and not think of Aaron Plessinger almost winning there in 2023, only to throw it away on the last lap in heart breaking fashion. After 9-22-22-9-8 results to start the year, AP would probably be happy to lead any number of laps again. AP is known to favor the rutted style tracks of the Eastern Division; will it be enough to rejuvenate him? -Whitmore
Defending
Tom Vialle’s title defense got off to a poor start when he went down hard in the whoops during qualifying in Tampa. After the crash he never really looked as spunky as you would expect from someone running the number one plate. Can he rebound in Detroit and at least land on the podium? -Whitmore
