kept it on two wheels and was
still in podium contention. With
only a few laps left on the clock,
Mosiman hit the deck leaving
Friese to inherit second.
"Honestly, I was starting to think
it was never going to happen [fin-
ish on the podium]," Friese said. "I
think I've heard the word podium
so many times over the last six
months thinking, 'okay that's the
goal.' I blew a few over the last
couple weeks, I had a few locked
up. Tonight, I was super nervous
that whole race because every-
thing played out to where I had it,
and it was probably the worst rid-
ing I've done all year. I was just so
happy to see that white flag and
the checkered flag."
Friese is fourth overall in
the 250SX West class. The
With Lawrence finishing in
18th, Craig's lead now grows to
28 over Mosiman. Craig shared
that he plans on doing some
450cc outdoor testing for the
Star Racing Yamaha team while
the 250SX West class heads
into a month-long break before
resuming in Seattle.
Vince Friese continues to ride
the Supercross rollercoaster.
After last week's pass-attempt-
gone-wrong on Craig, the
Smartop/Bullfrog Spas/Moto-
concepts Honda rider returned
to Anaheim saying he "stayed off
his phone" this week and came
ready to fight. The 250cc-class
vet started up front in typical
fashion and quickly settled
into third place. As other riders
crashed in the whoops, Friese
sure early on by Honda's Hunter
Lawrence, but the veteran held
him off until Lawrence crashed
out on his own, another victim of
the whoops.
Craig knew where he needed
to be and won by 25 seconds at
the checkers. His clean sweep
of all three Anaheims puts him
in elite company with 250 class
greats like Ryan Villopoto, Ivan
Tedesco and Ernesto Fonseca.
"It's a bummer that [Law-
rence's crash] did happen,"
Craig said. "I felt like that was
a good battle brewing. He was
matching me in the whoops,
and we were only four laps in.
After I saw him go down I kind
of checked up. I just focused on
my laps, no mistakes, and was
very cautious with lappers."
ROUND 6 / FEBRUARY 12, 2022
ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM / ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
P58
SUPERCROSS I MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES
Vince Friese (left)
celebrates his second
career 250SX podium
with Smartop/Bullfrog
Spas/Motoconcepts
Honda Team Manager
Tony Alessi (center)
and Team Owner Mike
Genova. Friese took
second.
