Aaron Plessinger was back for A1 after missing the second half of the summer last year with an illness. He had an up and down day, struggling with setup during practice and getting cleaned out, on accident, by Cooper Webb after getting a great start in his heat race. We caught up to him in the pits afterward to get his take on his first race back.
Racer X: How’d you feel out there? Did you have some rust to knock off, or did you feel good?
Aaron Plessinger: I felt pretty dang good until Coop [Webb] and I hit the ground [laughs]. Practice was wild. I was having trouble with setup. I’m never good in practice, but this time it was like, fish outta’ water. It was rough. But, ultimately, we got the bike figured out and got everything ironed out. The start was awesome in the heat race, and then, yeah, just got kind of blindsided [by Webb]. But, he didn’t mean to do it, obviously.
Anaheim 1 (A1) - 450SX Main Event
January 10, 2026| Rider | Time | Interval | Best Lap | Hometown | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eli Tomac | 1:05.367 | Cortez, CO  | KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition | ||
| 2 |  Ken Roczen | 1:05.335 | Mattstedt, Germany  | Suzuki RM-Z450 | ||
| 3 |  Jorge Prado | 1:07.059 | Lugo, Spain  | KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition | ||
| 4 |  Hunter Lawrence | 1:07.230 | Landsborough, Australia  | Honda CRF450R Works Edition | ||
| 5 |  Jason Anderson | 1:06.821 | Edgewood, NM | Suzuki RM-Z450 | ||
| 6 |  Justin Cooper | 1:07.331 | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | Yamaha YZ450F | ||
| 7 |  Cooper Webb | 1:06.910 | Newport, NC | Yamaha YZ450F | ||
| 8 |  Chase Sexton | 1:06.682 | La Moille, IL | Kawasaki KX450SR | ||
| 9 |  Dylan Ferrandis | 1:07.243 | Avignon, France  | Ducati Desmo 450MX | ||
| 10 |  Aaron Plessinger | 1:07.583 | Hamilton, OH | KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition |
Yeah, in the press box we saw it and we were confused. It almost just looked like he came in and his brakes didn’t work.
He thought I was going outside, for sure. I checked up on that single and he wasn’t ready for it. It was a single and he couldn’t really hit the brakes. It sucked, but I told him, ‘Stuff happens.’
So you guys talked about it afterward?
Yeah, yeah, he texted me about it. I don’t hold grudges.
As far as those setup issues you said you were having in practice, how much of that can be attributed to the dirt? It was really dry and slick during qualifying. Was that part of it?
Maybe some of it, but something was in the wrong place so we had to go and double check everything. After we did that everything was back to normal. But that was after the first practice, so the second practice almost felt like a first practice. The first practice was just a waste of time. I was out there and I was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ It felt like I’d never ridden a bike before and I was just floundering around.
When you say something was in the wrong place, can you elaborate on that?
No, no, I can’t really talk about that. But we’re good, everything is in the right spot now, so moving forward we’ll be good.
So everything was good in the main then?
Yeah, the main was better. I definitely have some testing to do this week. I need to get a little more balance. I feel like I’m riding a little bit off the back. I do like it like that, but I want a little more balance.
