Photography by Andrea Wilson
Honda’s Trey Canard took victory on a historic night in San Diego in front of a sold out crowd of 42,017 for the sixth race of the 2015 season. It marked the first ever Monster Energy AMA Supercross at Petco Park and Canard will go down in the record books as the very first SX winner at the beautiful downtown venue. Canard made the pass for the lead on Ken Roczen on lap four. He then withstood a hard charge at the end by Roczen to win the race by 1.001 seconds. Series leader Ryan Dungey finished third, 8.54 seconds back. The results made for a much tighter championship chase with Dungey now leading Roczen by nine points (127-118), while Canard, with his second victory of 2015, moved to within 18 points of the lead.
Roczen holeshot and took the early lead on his RCH Soaring Eagle/Jimmy Johns/Suzuki. The German ran controlled the race for three laps, but on lap four Canard came up to challenge. The two traded the lead a couple of times in an exciting series of exchanges, before Canard final held the point for good. Once up front Canard pulled out to a fairly comfortable lead, but it wouldn’t end that way.
Just past half way Roczen began chipping away and then in the closing laps was parked on Canard’s rear wheel. Roczen actually made one inside move to nearly pull alongside Canard, but then messed up a rhythm section, while Canard stayed perfect. Then Canard got cleanly by a lapped Nick Wey, but Roczen got stuck behind him for a few turns. That was all the breathing room Canard needed. In spite of a last-ditch charge by Roczen, Canard was able to hold on to earn the victory.
In spite of putting himself squarely in the title hunt, Canard shrugged at the suggestion that he’s now a title contender this early in the season.
“There’s a long way to go,” said Canard, who hasn’t won two Supercross races in a season since 2011. “This is round six of 17, so we’ve got a lot of racing, but I tell you, it’s great to win!”
Being steady during the entire Main was the key according to Canard.
“I just tried to ride smooth and consistent. The track was really slick, so it was easy to make mistakes. I made a couple, towards the end especially. I’m so grateful to be able to do this and I want to keep doing it and have fun.”
Roczen tried to pull the trigger late, but he explained why he felt he couldn’t seal the deal.
“Overall that was a super-fun race,” said Roczen, who was back on the podium after missing it for two rounds. “We battled quite good, but I’m mad because I didn’t ride that good. I clipped too many things, made too many mistakes. I noticed that, but kept doing it and that’s what cost me big time. I got screwed up with lappers a couple of times and that cost me big. I wish we would have had another lap.”
Series leader Dungey stayed true to his new nickname of “The Diesel” and turned in yet another solid ride. He’s only finished off the podium once so far this season and that was at the first round.
“At that 10-lap mark the track started really going away,” Dungey said. “We were trying to catch Ken, the lappers were tough, but no excuses, we gave it our best. I kind of fought it today a little bit, so I’m happy. I rode much better in the Main than I did in my Heat.”
Chad Reed scored his second-best finish of the season with a fourth. That moved him up a couple of spots in the standings to seventh. Eli Tomac fought back after sliding out and falling while trying to pass Reed on the second lap. He ran as far back as 14th on the third lap before mounting what was undoubtedly the best charge of the night.
Rookie standout Cole Seely took sixth, followed by fellow first-year campaigner Blake Baggett in seventh. Andrew Short, Broc Tickle and Jason Anderson rounded out the top 10.
The series moves to the Dallas Supercross next Saturday (Feb. 14) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The racing will be on Fox Sports 2 next week and coverage starts at 8:00pm Eastern.
450SX Class Results: San Diego
1. Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki
3. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
4. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki
5. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda
6. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda
7. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki
8. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM
9. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Suzuki
10. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna
450SX Class Season Standings
1. Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM, 127
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki, 118
3. Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda, 109
4. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 100
5. Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna, 85
6. Cole Seely, Laguna Beach, Calif., Honda, 82
7. Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Kawasaki, 75
8. Justin Barcia, Greenville, Fla., Yamaha, 71
9. Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., Suzuki, 68
10. Andrew Short, Smithville, Texas, KTM, 66
