VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P63
450SX
Tomac, on the Monster Energy
Star Racing Yamaha YZ450F
and the number-one plate holder,
came in hot to start the 2023
season. In the main event, Tomac
started up front behind two-time
A1 winner Justin Barcia on the
TLD/Red Bull GasGas, before
securing a pass on the fourth lap.
Moments later, Barcia went
down on his own, and dropped
to 10th place.
Ken Roczen, who looked
highly motivated on his new
ever raced on. The crowd in the
sold-out stadium, which has more
than 45,000 seats, got its money's
worth, with exciting action all night
culminating in podium positions
changing on the last lap. When
all was said and done, it was
the previous year's champions
who prevailed. Defending 450SX
champ Eli Tomac captured his first
A1 victory of his long career and
Jett Lawrence, the 2022 SX250
East Champion, who is switching
coasts this year, came out on top
to win the 250SX West main.
MYOWNRACE
94 KEN ROCZEN
5TH 450SX
Ken Roczen had the stadium buzzing with
his debut on the Progressive Insurance/
Ecstar Suzuki, and he rode well, scrapping
at the front for much of the race. "Our
weekend at Anaheim was a fun one, but
a very gnarly one... quite possibly one
of the gnarliest Supercross tracks that
I've ever ridden. Overall, I'm stoked to
get away with a top-five. We didn't blow
anything out of the water, and we didn't
do the absolute greatest, but at the same
me we have something strong to build
on and I'm super stoked about it."
27 MALCOLM STEWART
16TH 450SX
The crowd went crazy as Malcolm Stew-
art took over the lead in the 450 main
event. Eventually a big crash set him back
to the 16th posi on. "I was leading the
main for a while, which was amazing," he
said. "I don't think I've done that in my
whole en re career: Just having all that
pressure and dealing with it. If anything,
[it] brings confidence to me, because
I know where I belong. I'm very proud
of myself. Unfortunately, we did have a
crash with three laps to go. It was a big
crash for sure. I'm glad that I'm healthy
and walked away from it. I'm more proud
