Roczen's Mentality with Points Lead, Two SX Rounds to Go: “We Gotta Go Out And Win”

Meanwhile behind him Hunter fell and Webb got around, putting him back to third. Ken held a comfortable lead until the end when lapped riders started impeding Ken’s momentum. To be fair when you lap fifth place (Justin Hill) and lap most of the back of the pack twice, there is a lot of lapped traffic. This allowed Webb to close to within two seconds of Roczen.

“Ultimately towards the end it was a super tight race because of the lappers," he said. "I mean it yo-yos for us anyways, just because you can get lucky with the lappers and then the opposite. So, I had a couple of laps that I rolled everything because the riders in front of me were rolling everything and that’s what tightened everything up, big time. So, I really had to keep on my toes, but I am glad that I could get it done.”

As Webb closed in behind Roczen, fans collectively held their breath. We have seen this race before, Ken leads early and Webb perseveres only to pass him on the last lap. But not this time. Ken was able to clear the lapped riders and hold onto it. It was an important win as it meant three extra points that Ken made up on title rival Lawrence (third on the night). A fact that was not lost on Ken during the race.

“Those three points are just so valuable and after having like seven or eight seconds at one point towards the end, I just sacked up and didn’t have any doubt in my mind but I really had to keep on my toes because as you tried to push harder that last lap, there’s a lot for me to lose when it comes to that," he said. "So, I had to push but make a calculated push, not just send it through the whoops and go for luck type thing. It was hairy there towards the end, not going to lie. But all I thought about was how important these three points are and stick it out.

A five-point swing in Roczen’s favor, Ken now has a four-point lead heading into the penultimate round. Ken explained things do not change for him at this point just because he has the red plate.

“Nothing’s going to change on my side, because when the gap is that close anything can happen," he said. "I feel like I’ve done a really good job of not throwing things away and doing what I am doing. So, I need to do the same thing, mainly offense because Hunter is riding really good. And we can’t always just talk about us because some of the other guys are riding really good too. It takes nothing to have two or three guys in between us and then it’s a big points swing. So, again, two rounds to go, it is almost like it is Anaheim 1, that tight points gap it's really nothing. So, we gotta go out and win.” 

Philly marked Roczen’s fifth win of the season, the most of anyone so far, beating out Lawrence and the injured Eli Tomac, who both have four. And, this is the most 450SX wins in a season for Roczen! With only two rounds to go, this championship could go either way. But if Ken pulls it off, it will make for the ultimate comeback story, and not just because he was at one time 31 points down in this series. For the Ken Roczen fans who have watched him come back through his injuries, they will all be collectively holding their breath again until the checkers fly in Salt Lake City.