CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana - Ken Roczen is doing something rare in SuperMotocross. For one round, he will drop down a division to race with the 250 riders, primarily for the enjoyment of doing so, but with the added desire to dominate some of the athletes who have looked up to him for most of their lives.
The idea started as an intrusive thought, which he quickly ran by his wife. It took about 15 seconds for her to tell him to make the call and get the ball rolling. So Roczen arranged to borrow a bike from the BarX Suzuki team and start prepping.
There wasn’t a lot of time. Roczen has spent four days on the bike, learning how the powerband differs from the 450 he usually rides. There is a lot more shifting on the smaller bike and that has taken a little while to absorb.
“You have to rev it more, but there is a proper way to run a 250,” Roczen said before the Ironman National. “I’m definitely not over-reving it. I feel like I’m right in the meat of the power, but you have to execute that well when there are 39 other guys around. I’m confident I’ll be fine with that.”
To give him perspective, Roczen has been practicing with Levi Kitchen, who is battling for second in the 250 Pro Motocross Championship with Tom Vialle.
Kitchen believes he is prepared.
“He looks okay; he looks good,” Kitchen said with a dismissive chuckle. “And honestly I don’t know why he’s worried about his starts. We did starts the other day and he got me on a couple and I’ve been getting really good starts lately.
“He’s going to mix it up for sure.”
The last time Roczen was on a 250 bike, most of the riders in the field were barely in elementary school. Haiden Deegan was seven and preparing for a SuperMotocross career by riding a 50cc bike.
“I just think it’s cool I get to race Ken Roczen,” Deegan said. “I’ve looked up to him in racing; looked up to him since I was a kid. He’s getting a little older now so I’m sure he’s not too far from being done, so getting to race him is cool.”
Roczen responded to the comment by Deegan with mock indignation.
Roczen, 30, has been watching these Young Guns rise through the ranks. Some, like Jett and Hunter Lawrence have already made their way into the 450 class, but in a sport that rewards youth, Roczen is closer to the end of his career than its beginning.
He is now experiencing what he put Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, James Stewart, and Ricky Carmichael through.
“Now that I’m older and I’ve raced guys like Villopoto, Dunge, Stew, and getting to race guys who - no offense - were probably pooping in [their] diaper when I was racing these guys. I don’t mean that in a bad way. So now like stepping down and just the generation difference is pretty rad for me to see honestly.”
And those kids have one thing in mind: to show Roczen that the 250 division is just as strong as the premiere class.
In the first practice session for the Ironman Nationals, Roczen jumped to third on the board behind Deegan and Chance Hymas. Sportsbook traders are not giving him a lot of respect, however, with odds of +650 for the overall win.
“It’s going to be fun,” Kitchen said. “Obviously, but I just want to whoop him as bad I can because I see him a lot in the week and he would never live it down [if I beat him].”
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