Roczen: “I Never Thought I Would Be In This Position Again”

After Birmingham, Ken was 31 points behind Hunter Lawrence in the series, and his closest foe in points was Cooper Webb in a fight for third third. But then Lawrence had trouble, going down in the whoops in Detroit and over the course of two weekends Ken has closed the gap to only five points (Lawrence and Tomac are tied for the red plate). All of a sudden, the championship has a three-way battle for the lead.

Ken admitted it's hard to ignore the points situation he is in, “I mean, of course, it's hard to ignore when you cut down the points, but Larry [Brooks] keeps telling me, ‘Don't even look at the points, just go race,’ and I really try to do that. Now again, you mentioned it, like, it's hard to ignore, right? But I'm honestly just so thankful to be in this position. I haven't been in this position this late in the season in a Supercross Championship at all, so I'm just really enjoying every minute of it. Doesn't matter what anybody says out there, like I'm obviously the one racing and even if it goes south, it's been a really cool ride so far and like I said, I try not to look at the points too much.”

At almost 32 years old Ken has yet to win a 450 Supercross Championship. He seemed the first two rounds in 2017, before he had a horrific crash breaking his arm. He came back in 2018 only to break his other one. It has been a long road back to health for Ken. And St. Louis holds a special place as it is the first venue he won after those double injuries. But for Ken he doesn’t credit the venue or the “vibes” for this second win.

“Yeah, after my arm injury, this was the first win that I've gotten back. Yeah, I don't know. Honestly, the track was way different than it even was for SMX last year, way more hard packed last year. This year was super soft. I was a little bit surprised, it was almost like a new venue, I guess, you know, like just the dirt was so incredibly soft, so. I don't know, it has nothing to do with this venue. I think it's just that I'm locked in at the moment, it doesn't matter where I go.”

The significance of this comeback, being in the championship fight so close to the end, is not lost on Ken, “Honestly, at one point, I never thought I would be in this position again. Even once I started racing after my arm injuries, you know, I didn't feel the same physically, mentally. There were just a few years where it just was tough and sometimes when you're at the bottom like that, it's just way harder to dig yourself out of that. So yeah, the hard truth, I never thought I would be in this position again, but part of me also believed, and I don't know, here we are. This is kind of new to me too, right? So, I'm just enjoying every bit of it and a lot of work has been put in by my team, by me personally and I am just thankful to be in this position.”

Win or lose, Ken has the right mentality. To be in this position after all he has gone through, is a feat in itself. That perspective, too, could pay off for him as the  pressure begins to build. Can he stay in the same place, physically and mentally, over the next five races? Ken says that "even if this goes south...I have nothing to lose." The real winners in this scenario are the fans who get to watch this incredible resurgence of Ken Roczen and this championship battle.