Three weeks into the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross season and parity continues to reign with no repeat names in either class for winners of Features, Heats, Last Chance Qualifiers or Fastest Qualifiers. And while no one in the field has won two of any of those sessions, three 450 riders and four from 250 class have managed to set themselves apart.
Aaron Plessinger’s Main Event win last week at San Diego was the third honor he’s taken in 2024 after being the fastest qualifier at San Francisco and winning a heat earlier in the day in San Deigo.
Jett Lawrence has a fastest qualification effort to augment his Anaheim 1 Main Event win while Ken Roczen has set a fastest qualification lap and won one of the six heats run so far in 2024.
In the 250 class, Jordon Smith has a Main Event and Heat victory as well as a fastest qualification lap. RJ Hampshire has a feature win and fastest qualification lap, Levi Kitchen won a heat and set a fastest qualification lap and last week’s Main winner Nate Thrasher also won a Last Chance Qualification race earlier in the year.
Both divisions are extremely deep in talent and Supercross should continue to see a high degree of parity, but one wonders just how long these unique streaks can continue.
Anaheim enters its 44th season, (82 races), hosting a Supercross round and four legendary racers are currently tied for the most wins at this venue. Jeremy McGrath, Chad Reed, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart each have eight wins and while they will not be caught in 2024, Ken Roczen’s five victories in Anaheim and Eli Tomac’s four make them the most productive riders in the field. At two apiece, Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson are the other two active riders with multiple wins there.
This is the 15th time Supercross has used the Triple Crown format of combining three motos for an overall winner and according to Clinton Fowler at WeWentFast.com, Tomac is the king of this style of racing with seven overall wins in the previous 14 rounds. Tomac is one of only two riders, along with Dean Wilson, to start every Triple Crown race and he sports a 66 percent podium rate.
Lawrence has struggled in the mud in the last two races and is not particularly fond of the Triple Crown format. Last year in the 250 West division, he fell twice in three races in Anaheim 2, but he finally had success with the format last year at Glendale by winning that event.
Also according to Fowler, this is the third-lowest points total after three rounds of racing, further underscoring the importance of parity.
Entering Anaheim 2, Plessinger will sport the red plate for the first time in his career and it’s giving him confidence.
“I think I’m good everywhere if I get a start,” Plessinger said in last week’s press conference after earning his first 450 win. “You know, it’s hard to come through 13 guys that can potentially win this thing. It’s crazy to think about when you look down the line.”
Of course, being the only competitor with a sweep of the top five and one of just two riders who has not yet been lapped, (along with Ferrandis), doesn’t hurt matters either.
Previous Anaheim Winners
450s
2024, A1: Jett Lawrence
2023, A2: Chase Sexton
2023, A1: Eli Tomac
2022, A3: Jason Anderson
2022, A2: Eli Tomac
250s
2024, A1: RJ Hampshire
2023, A2: Levi Kitchen
2023, A1: Jett Lawrence
2022, A3: Christian Craig
2022, A2: Christian Craig
By The Numbers
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