Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1197900
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 7, 2020 P59 450SX It's always good to come out swinging at Anaheim 1, but nowadays, it seems that much of the field comes into the open- ing round just hoping to get through the race healthy and see where they are in terms of their motorcycle setup. It's one thing to get their motorcycles working well in a controlled environment like a supercross test track, and another thing to get their bikes working well on race tracks that are pounded into submission by dozens of other racers throughout a typical race day. Everybody in the 450SX main struggled with the track at Anaheim 1, and only Barcia and Cianciarulo looked like they had things mostly under REED'S NEW RECORDS In his final season racing su- percross, Chad Reed is setting records with every race he starts in 2020. Anaheim 1 marked his 250th career 450SX main event and his 19th consecutive main event at Anaheim 1. His results weren't what he was hoping for, though. "In 249 main events, I've never gotten arm-pump," Reed said after the race. "But I did in my 250th race." Reed was 18th on the night. GEICO HONDA The Geico Honda team seems to be a hectic place right now. Christian Craig and young Jett Lawrence made the lineup at Anaheim 1, and Craig was the most impressive of the two, but 2019 250SX East champ Chase Sexton and two-time 250MX National Champion Jeremy Martin were both originally slated to compete in the 250SX West title chase but couldn't due to crashes/injuries. Sexton, who was planning to race 250SX West and then some East Coast 450SX races, suffered a broken collarbone before A1, and Martin had a big crash a few weeks ago and just didn't think he'd be completely ready for the series opener. Hunter Lawrence is also healing from a shoulder injury. If the rest of the team can be healthy by the Tampa Super- cross—the 250SX East series opener—there could end up be- ing four Geico Honda racers out on the track, with Martin, Hunter Lawrence, Sexton and rookie Jo Shimoda all slated to compete. SICK AS A DOG Speaking of Hunter Lawrence: "Well, Friday started off with getting food poisoning from a Chick-fil-A sandwich!" said Lawrence. "I ended up waking up at one in the morning throw- ing up and having diarrhea and really bad stomach cramps so I couldn't make it to press day. Saturday morning, I was feeling a little bit better but I didn't get very good sleep. I was pretty tired plus couldn't eat anything— just a rice cracker and some sips of water so my energy was pretty low. In practice I was struggling to dial the track in and get a good flow and was struggling with the whoops a bit because they were very close together and fast. It was easy to miss a whoop with the front wheel and go over the bars, and then of course that's exactly what I did! By the time it came to the main event I was starting to feel a little bit better but halfway through I started to get some belly cramps and started to feel a little bit light- headed. At the end of the day it was not the result I was wanting but I guess it is not such a bad result for my first race." Briefly... The 450SX main boiled down to a two-man race for the win between Barcia and Adam Cianciarulo (9).