Steve Cox | January 25, 2020
Two weeks ago in St. Louis, Honda’s Ken Roczen completed one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of motorsports in finally winning his first 450SX main event 3 years after injuring his arm so badly that many thought he may never ride again, much less race, and much less win. Last week in Anaheim, California, at round three of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series, Roczen took the points lead. And this week in Glendale, Arizona, for round four of the series (the first of three 2020 Triple Crown events) Roczen dominated, winning all three main events on his way to the overall and extending his points lead from three points to eight as the series heads to Oakland, California, for round five next Saturday night.
Roczen fought off the advances of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac in the first of three Triple Crown main events to take the win, but Tomac was leading early in the second of three main events, only for the red flag to come out due to a downed rider—Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM’s Justin Bogle, who went down in the first turn and was knocked unconscious. The race was restarted, and Roczen got out front and got away again. Tomac again was second, but farther back, with 2018 champ Jason Anderson third.
In the final of the three main events, Roczen and Tomac found themselves duking it out for a position near the tail end of the top 10, but again the red flag flew as Chris Blose went down in the whoops and the Alpinestars Medical Crew had to attend to him. On the restart, Roczen remedied his start and quickly took over the lead while Tomac again found himself mired in the pack. Tomac was running fourth late in the main event when his teammate Adam Cianciarulo—fastest qualifier at every round in 2020 so far—went down hard at the end of the whoops and landed on his back, scoring a DNF. This gave Tomac third in the main and second overall. Anderson was third overall just in front of defending champ Cooper Webb on his Red Bull KTM and round-one winner Justin Barcia on his Monster Energy Yamaha.
In the 250SX class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner—who won round two in St. Louis—recovered well from his poor result a week prior in Anaheim, where Forkner went down in the whoops and finished 17th. Forkner got out front and got away in the first two main events on the night, while defending series champ Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha) grabbed second after passing his way through the field. In the final main, Ferrandis’ teammate and points leader Justin Cooper got out front and ran away with it after having his overall result destroyed by an early fall in the first of the three main events. Cooper won the final main while Ferrandis finished second, and then Forkner, who rode a conservative race for third, knowing he had the overall win in the bag.
Cooper still leads the points standings, but now just by three points over his teammate Ferrandis. TLD/Red Bull KTM’s Brandon Hartranft (fourth overall tonight) sits third in points, but the big story here is Forkner, who came into tonight’s event 22 points down on the points leader and leaves Glendale only 10 points back.
The series continues next Saturday night in Oakland, California.
450SX Overall
1. |
Ken Roczen |
Hon |
1-1-1 |
2. |
Eli Tomac |
Kaw |
2-2-3 |
3. |
Jason Anderson |
Hus |
5-3-2 |
4. |
Cooper Webb |
KTM |
8-5-4 |
5. |
Justin Barcia |
Yam |
6-8-7 |
6. |
Justin Brayton |
Hon |
7-7-9 |
7. |
Malcolm Stewart |
Hon |
4-14-6 |
8. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
Kaw |
3-6-17 |
9. |
Aaron Plessinger |
Yam |
11-9-8 |
10. |
Blake Baggett |
KTM |
12-4-14 |
11. |
Martin Davalos |
KTM |
10-16-5 |
12. |
Justin Hill |
Hon |
9-13-10 |
13. |
Dean Wilson |
Hus |
16-10-11 |
14. |
Vince Friese |
Hon |
13-12-12 |
15. |
Tyler Bowers |
Kaw |
15-15-13 |
16. |
Ryan Breece |
Suz |
19-18-15 |
17. |
Chris Blose |
Hon |
17-17-18 |
18. |
Zach Osborne |
Hus |
22-11-22 |
19. |
Alex Ray |
Kaw |
20-20-16 |
20. |
Chad Reed |
Hon |
18-19-19 |
21. |
Justin Bogle |
KTM |
14-22-21 |
22. |
Jerry Robin |
Hon |
21-21-20 |
250SX Overall
1. |
Austin Forkner |
Kaw |
1-1-3 |
2. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
Yam |
2-2-2 |
3. |
Michael Mosiman |
Hus |
4-4-6 |
4. |
Brandon Hartranft |
KTM |
5-6-4 |
5. |
Jacob Hayes |
Hus |
6-5-5 |
6. |
Mitch Oldenburg |
Hon |
7-7-7 |
7. |
Alex Martin |
Suz |
8-8-9 |
8. |
Derek Drake |
KTM |
10-3-13 |
9. |
Justin Cooper |
Yam |
17-9-1 |
10. |
Luke Clout |
Hon |
13-12-8 |
11. |
Carson Brown |
Hus |
11-13-11 |
12. |
Robbie Wageman |
Yam |
16-11-12 |
13. |
Martin Castelo |
Hus |
12-14-14 |
14. |
Killian Auberson |
Hus |
15-16-10 |
15. |
Jay Wilson |
Yam |
14-10-18 |
16. |
Aaron Tanti |
Yam |
9-17-17 |
17. |
Christian Craig |
Hon |
3-22-22 |
18. |
Michael Leib |
Hus |
19-15-15 |
19. |
Mitchell Falk |
Hon |
18-18-16 |
20. |
Cheyenne Harmon |
Hon |
20-19-19 |
21. |
Logan Karnow |
Kaw |
22-20-20 |
22. |
Ludovic Macler |
Kaw |
21-21-21 |
450SX Points Standings
1. |
Ken Roczen |
92/2 wins |
2. |
Eli Tomac |
84/1 win |
3. |
Justin Barcia |
81/1 win |
4. |
Jason Anderson |
78 |
5. |
Cooper Webb |
72 |
6. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
71 |
7. |
Justin Brayton |
63 |
8. |
Malcolm Stewart |
62 |
9. |
Blake Baggett |
55 |
10. |
Zach Osborne |
51 |
250SX West Points Standings
1. |
Justin Cooper |
86/1 win |
2. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
83/1 win |
3. |
Brandon Hartranft |
77 |
4. |
Austin Forkner |
76/2 wins |
5. |
Alex Martin |
66 |
6. |
Michael Mosiman |
62 |
7. |
Jacob Hayes |
62 |
8. |
Mitch Oldenburg |
55 |
9. |
Luke Clout |
48 |
10. |
Derek Drake |
48 |
2020 Glendale Supercross Qualifying
Tonight in Glendale, Arizona, marks the first “Monster Triple Crown” round of 2020, round four of the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series, which means there are three main events tonight, and no heat races. To qualify, instead of taking the top 40 into the night show through timed qualifying, only the top 18 qualify for each class, and then the next four—filling out the 22-racer field—are determined by an LCQ.
In the 450SX class, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo kept his perfect streak alive, topping qualifying for the fourth race in a row. To do it, he had to top a time put in by his teammate Eli Tomac, who won last week in Anaheim. Points leader Ken Roczen qualified third, just in front of 2018 champ Jason Anderson.
Chad Reed qualified outside the top 18 on times, but raced his way into the night show with a second place in the 450cc LCQ, just behind Alex Ray.
One notable loss in the 450cc class was CycleTrader/Rock River Yamaha’s Benny Bloss, who went down in qualifying and was knocked unconscious, so he’s now under concussion protocol until further notice and will not be racing tonight.
In the 250SX class, it’s actually very similar. For the fourth race in a row, keeping his perfect streak alive, defending 250SX West champ Dylan Ferrandis topped timed qualifying, just in front of his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha teammate and points leader Justin Cooper. St. Louis winner Austin Forkner was third in qualifying, and GEICO Honda’s Christian Craig was fourth.
450SX Qualifying
1. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
Kaw |
1:01.333 |
2. |
Eli Tomac |
Kaw |
1:01.445 |
3. |
Ken Roczen |
Hon |
1:01.954 |
4. |
Jason Anderson |
Hus |
1:01.971 |
5. |
Malcolm Stewart |
Hon |
1:02.174 |
6. |
Justin Hill |
Hon |
1:02.375 |
7. |
Cooper Webb |
KTM |
1:02.505 |
8. |
Justin Barcia |
Yam |
1:02.659 |
9. |
Blake Baggett |
KTM |
1:02.667 |
10. |
Martin Davalos |
KTM |
1:02.677 |
11. |
Zach Osborne |
Hus |
1:02.707 |
12. |
Dean Wilson |
Hus |
1:02.762 |
13. |
Justin Brayton |
Hon |
1:03.124 |
14. |
Justin Bogle |
KTM |
1:03.374 |
15. |
Aaron Plessinger |
Yam |
1:03.582 |
16. |
Vince Friese |
Hon |
1:03.932 |
17. |
Chris Blose |
Hon |
1:03.982 |
18. |
Tyler Bowers |
Kaw |
1:04.386 |
19. |
Alex Ray |
Kaw |
LCQ 1st |
20. |
Chad Reed |
Hon |
LCQ 2nd |
21. |
Ryan Breece |
Suz |
LCQ 3rd |
22. |
Jerry Robin |
Hon |
LCQ 4th |
250SX Qualifying
1. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
Yam |
1:02.064 |
2. |
Justin Cooper |
Yam |
1:02.308 |
3. |
Austin Forkner |
Kaw |
1:03.181 |
4. |
Christian Craig |
Hon |
1:03.288 |
5. |
Brandon Hartranft |
KTM |
1:03.299 |
6. |
Jacob Hayes |
Hus |
1:03.714 |
7. |
Derek Drake |
KTM |
1:03.902 |
8. |
Mitch Oldenburg |
Hon |
1:03.924 |
9. |
Michael Mosiman |
Hus |
1:04.058 |
10. |
Alex Martin |
Suz |
1:04.671 |
11. |
Luke Clout |
Hon |
1:05.306 |
12. |
Robbie Wageman |
Yam |
1:05.445 |
13. |
Martin Castelo |
Hus |
1:05.530 |
14. |
Carson Brown |
Hus |
1:05.749 |
15. |
Jay Wilson |
Yam |
1:05.835 |
16. |
Michael Leib |
Hus |
1:05.859 |
17. |
Mitchell Falk |
Hon |
1:06.057 |
18. |
Aaron Tanti |
Yam |
1:06.078 |
19. |
Killian Auberson |
Hus |
LCQ 1st |
20. |
Ludovic Macler |
Kaw |
LCQ 2nd |
21. |
Logan Karnow |
Kaw |
LCQ 3rd |
22. |
Cheyenne Harmon |
Hon |
LCQ 4th |