Preview: This Week in Monster Energy Supercross – Round 4 – Anaheim 2

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Round four of what is already a wild AMA Supercross season drops its gate this weekend for the final leg of the Californian tour, and the return to Angel Stadium in Anaheim heralds the first Triple Crown Format of the year! Here’s a preview, including tales and stats from San Diego, from Feld Motorsports themselves….

Words & Images: Supercross Live

450 SX Recap:

Plessinger Strikes Paydirt: Aaron Plessinger finally broke through for his first career 450SX Class victory in San Diego. He became the 68th different 450SX Class winner on his 68th 450SX Class start. His 15th AMA victory moves him into 50th all-time tied with Marty Smith and one under Johnny O’Mara. Plessinger’s 67 starts before his first 450SX Class win are the third most all-time (Justin Brayton- 131 starts; Andrew Short- 88 starts). It is the fifth time in KTM’s 450SX Class history that they have scored back-to-back wins from different riders.

The Cowboy rides it home! AP’s first 450 win was as popular as they come!

Webb Runner-up, Wanted More: Cooper Webb settled for a second-place finish in San Diego after a near race-long attempt to catch Plessinger. His attempts came up short when he collided with red-plated reigning Champion, and Plessinger’s teammate, Chase Sexton while attempting to lap him. Webb’s 55th career 450SX Class podium passes Jeff Stanton for 12th on the all-time list. Webb will be chasing his 100th career AMA podium in the Anaheim 2 Triple-Crown.

Barcia Rebounds: After a seventh and 17th-place finish to start his season, Barcia scored his 33rd career 450SX Class podium. His 151st 450SX Class start moves him into a tie for 12th with Davi Millsaps. The third-place finish was his 175th AMA top-five finish in 328 career starts. It was his first career third-round podium in 10 tries (450SX Class) and he has one fourth-round podium in his 450SX Class career (2018).

The 450 riders tackle the savage whoops in San Diego. They will be hoping for better weather in Anaheim this weekend!

Notes: Jett Lawrence (4th) – First time since Spring Creek and Washougal 2021 in 250cc Motocross that Lawrence has been off the podium for consecutive races. That makes for a 50-race gap between these occurrences. He is still only four points off of the red plate. Jason Anderson (5th) Nailed down his 145th career AMA top-five finish. His 137th 450SX Class start is good for 15th all-time. Eli Tomac (9th) Scored his 150th 450SX Class top-10 finish, good for fifth all-time.

450SX Class: Anaheim 2 Historical Facts

History Lesson: On December 4, 1976 Marty Smith won the first 450SX Class round in Angel Stadium on a Honda. Supercross has returned to Angel Stadium every year excluding 1980, 1988, 1997, 1998, and 2021. Anaheim 2 2024 will be the 83^rd 450SX Class round held in Angel Stadium and 25^th season Angel Stadium will host multiple rounds on the 450SX Class schedule. Jett Lawrence took the victory in the Anaheim Opener on his Honda, becoming the first athlete since Pierre Karsmakers won the first Supercross race to win in his first 450SX Class start.

A2: On February 6, 1999 Angel Stadium hosted the first Anaheim 2 and Ezra Lusk took the victory on his Honda. The victory pulled Lusk within 11-points of Jeremy McGrath in the point-standings and gave him the first Anaheim sweep in Anaheim history. Mike LaRocco lost the points lead with a fourth-place finish but exited Anaheim 2 with a one-point deficit to McGrath, who finished runner-up. 2024 Anaheim 2 will be the 25^th such round in Angel Stadium and the fourth time Anaheim 2 will be a Triple Crown, which is the most of any other Supercross venue. Eli Tomac has won exactly half of the 450SX Class Triple Crowns (7/14).

Get a Broom: There have only been five Anaheim sweeps in the 25 years with multiple rounds held in Angel Stadium. The first two seasons saw sweeps with Lusk (1999, Honda) and McGrath (2000, Yamaha). Multiple years later James Stewart (2007, Kawasaki) and Chad Reed (2008, Yamaha) scored the only three-round sweeps in Anaheim history. Ryan Villopoto (2012, Kawasaki) completed the last sweep meaning it has been 12 years since the last Anaheim sweep. Jett Lawrence won the Anaheim Opener and is looking to become the first Honda athlete since Lusk in 1999 to complete this feat. He would also be the first 450SX Class rookie to score an Anaheim sweep if he pulls it off.

Champion’s Circle: An incredible 17/24 (71%) athletes who won Anaheim 2 went onto win the 450SX Class title, including the last four with Cooper Webb in 2019, Tomac in 2020 and 2022, and Chase Sexton last season; and the last 6/7 only excluding Tomac in 2018. From 2003-2010 the winner of Anaheim 2 won the title, an incredible eight seasons in-a-row.

Manufacturer Wins in Anaheim 2 (Last Win)

Yamaha: 7 (2022)
Kawasaki: 6 (2020)
Honda: 4 (2023)
Suzuki: 4 (2015)
KTM: 3 (2019)

Top Winners in Anaheim 2

1) Eli Tomac: 3 (’18, ’20, ’22)
1) Ryan Dungey: 3 (’10, ’16-’17)
1) Chad Reed: 3 (’04, ’08, ’14)
1) James Stewart: 3 (’07, ’09, ’11)
1) Ricky Carmichael: 3 (’03, ’05-’06)
6) Ryan Villopoto: 2 (’12-’13)
6) Jeremy McGrath: 2 (’00-’01)

250SX Recap: San Diego

Thrasher Takes Top Prize: Nate Thrasher rebounded from a tough start to his season with the fifth victory of his 250SX Class career. He moves up to 12^th in the point standings and 47^th in 250SX Class wins tying 450SX Class veterans Anderson and Ken Roczen. He is now 99^th in all-time AMA wins.

Thrasher stayed clean for the win in San Diego!

Marching Podiums to the Bank: Garrett Marchbanks is right in the thick of the title chase (-10) after his first back-to-back podiums since 2020 (Daytona-SLC1). He now has six podiums in 37 250SX Class starts. He has 50 top-10 finishes in 86 career AMA starts.

First For Yamaha: The first ever 250SX Class race held in San Diego 1985 also featured the first podium sweep in the Class (Kawasaki). Since then, there have been 10 podium sweeps, six being Kawasaki, three for Honda, and two for Suzuki. Yamaha had never scored a podium sweep in 610 250SX Class races until San Diego 2024 with Thrasher, Marchbanks, and Jordon Smith. Smith’s 22^nd podium moves him into a tie for ninth on the all-time 250SX Class podiums list with Hunter Lawrence, Tim Ferry, Adam Cianciarulo, and Justin Barcia. Smith will hold the points lead going into the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown.

The Factory Yamaha team looked the business in San Diego, and the 250 riders did the look justice for their first ever Podium sweep in the class.

Notes: Jo Shimoda (4^th) Scores his 21^st top-five finish in 34 250SX Class starts. He sits seventh in the points after his unfortunate DNF in San Fran. RJ Hampshire (6^th) 59^th start ties him for 21^st with Jeremy Martin on the all-time 250SX Class starts list. He also ties Martin and Jimmy DeCotis for 13^th on the top-10s list. RJ sits only 13-points off the red-plate. Ryder DiFrancesco (8^th), Hunter Yoder (9^th), & Anthony Bourdon (10^th) Each scored their second career top-10 finishes in the 250SX Class, with DiFrancesco scoring a career best finish. Alex Nagy (21^st) Qualified for his fourth career 250SX Class race.

250SX Class: Anaheim 2 Historical Facts

History Lesson: The first 250SX Class round held in Anaheim was on February 2, 1985 and Mike Healey won on a Suzuki. 250SX Class racing has continued in Angel Stadium every season except for 1988, 1997, 1998, and 2021. This will be the 75^th time the gate will drop for a 250SX Class race in Anaheim. Just like the 450SX Class this will be the 25^th Anaheim 2 in 250SX Class racing. Levi Kitchen won the Anaheim Opener and is looking to steal the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown for the second consecutive season.

A2: The first 250SX Class Anaheim 2 was on February 6, 1999 and Nathan Ramsey won on a Kawasaki. Yamaha’s Casey Johnson had a comfortable point lead going into the race but suffered a season ending injury in his Heat Race. Even after Ramsey won the Main Event the injured Johnson was only six points behind new points leader and teammate Casey Lytle. Ramsey was only two-points behind Lytle and would go onto win the title by only six points after reeling off five straight wins. Anaheim 2 has returned in every Western Regional 250SX Class season except for 2021, just like the 450SX Class.

Get a Broom: Kitchen is looking to score the seventh 250SX Class Anaheim sweep in the 2024 Anaheim 2 Triple Crown. Ernesto Fonseca nailed down the first 250SX Class Anaheim sweep in 2001 on a Yamaha. Since then, Ivan Tedesco (2004, Kawasaki), Ryan Villopoto (2007, Kawasaki), Josh Hansen (2011, Kawasaki), Cooper Webb (2016, Yamaha), and Christian Craig (2022, Yamaha) have completed the feat. Kawasaki has won almost half of the 250SX Class Anaheim 2 rounds (11/24), but Yamaha has won the previous three.

Champion’s Circle: The winner of Anaheim 2 has gone onto win the Western Regional 250SX Class title in 15/24 (63%) seasons. Kitchen won Anaheim 2 but failed to win the title last season. Incredibly, from 2003-2007 every Anaheim 2 winner in both 250SX and 450SX Classes won their Championship.

Manufacturer Wins in Anaheim 2 (Last Win)