VOLUME 57 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2020 P127
2008 and lost that year's
250SX West Champion-
ship to Jason Lawrence
before winning the cham-
pionship in 2009 and the
450SX Championship
four times. He speaks
openly about how losing
that title changed him as
a person and as a racer.
Since thriving under
pressure can be learned,
the question is, has it
been learned?
Webb's one of only
three current racers
who have ever won the
450SX championship;
the other two are 2018
champ Jason Anderson
and 2004/2008 champ
Chad Reed. Reed isn't
going to win the 2020
title, and Anderson's
chances aren't looking
too promising at the mo-
ment, with him already
trailing by 37 points. So,
the only racer truly in the
championship hunt who
has proven he can win
this, the biggest off-road
motorcycling champion-
ship in the world, is Webb. We know Webb can
win this title, because he's done it, and he's also
coming on strong of late, finishing 2-1-2 in the last
three races, putting him 11 points out of the points
lead with 10 rounds left to run.
For the bench-racing purposes of this column,
now we'll analyze the other three racers who are
currently within 26 points of the championship
lead (one race win's worth of points):
Monster Energy Yamaha's Justin Barcia
Since he's won the Anaheim 1 series opener two
years in a row, Justin Barcia has also led the
450SX championship two years in a row. His
points lead lasted one race in 2019, with a sixth-
place at round two in Glendale, Arizona, knocking
him out of the championship lead. This year, his
lead lasted two races before he relinquished it to
Honda's Ken Roczen.
Here are his career supercross finishes with
the red plate on his motorcycle, summarized:
2019 ... Glendale, round 2 .....6th
2020 .. St. Louis, round 2 .....2nd
2020 .. Anaheim 2, round 3 ..9th
It's hard to say if Barcia can or can't thrive
under pressure, but although he's riding strong
right now, he's not putting in the finishes neces-
sary to vie for the title. He's 20 points back at the
moment after an impressive fourth-place finish in
Tampa, where he passed more than 10 racers to
achieve that result.
Honda HRC's Ken Roczen
Ken Roczen is a fan-favorite for myriad reasons.
He's charming, friendly, out-going and he races
with heart. But by far, the most significant factor
for his popularity is his determination. His struggle
over the last few years will be legendary if it's not
already.
At only 25 years of age, it's remarkable that
Roczen has carried the red plate for leading the
450SX Supercross Championship seven different
times in five separate years despite having only
won 13 races in his not long 450SX career.
In 2014, at just 19, he won the series opener at
Anaheim 1, then finished sixth with the red plate
at round two in Phoenix and lost the points lead.
He got the lead back again after a third-place at
round three, then finished sixth with the red plate
again and relinquished the points lead perma-
