VOLUME 61 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 13, 2024 P49
not to look at the time; I just
clicked my laps, lap after lap.
"My Progressive Ecstar Suzuki
was working flawlessly out here
today," he added. "I haven't
made many changes at all, and
it shows."
The win revived Roczen's
championship hopes, as he now
jumps to sixth overall and is only
nine points back from second
place. He's also tied for 10th all-
time with 22 main-event wins.
"My last win came with the team
almost a year ago," Roczen said.
"We've been riding good. I just
haven't been having the best luck
in the first turn, and that's been my
Achilles heel. This week, I got a
super good start in the main."
"I haven't won much in recent
years, so I take these moments
in so much," Roczen said. "My
start was good. I got a super
good jump. I may have shut the
throttle off a little bit too early,
so I almost got swallowed up
there. But I had the inside, and
as I went around the first turn, I
was like, 'This is what I need.'
"The track was really tricky; it
just got so slippery," he said. "I
made so many micro-decisions
on the track in certain areas that
I picked out; as I ran through
some of the first few laps, I just
noticed some of the key spots
that are really tricky and can re
-
ally bite you. So, I just managed
the race the whole way. I tried
TLD /FOWLER COLLAB
Both Supercross and the PGA
Phoenix Open were in Arizona
this weekend, which saw the
Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Gas-
Gas team collab with profes-
sional golfer Ricky Fowler. The
team wore special "Palm Tree
Crew" gear on the racetrack,
while Fowler, a long-time motor-
cycle rider and enthusiast, wore
the same jersey on the legend-
ary 16th hole.
CRASHES
Big rhythm sections meant big
crashes and, unfortunately,
resulted in multiple red flags
during the night. Nate Thrasher
hit the deck in a scary crash
during his heat race and did not
race the main event. "Glendale
was going good until it wasn't
last night," Thrasher said via
social media. "As you probably
saw in my heat, I had a gnarly
crash and was transported to a
local hospital. Thankfully, I will
be okay and leaving with just
a bone bruise and concussion.
Going to get some rest then
back to work. Ryder DiFran-
cesco also suffered a big get-off
during the 250 main and was
the reason for Levi Kitchen
rolling the rhythm when Jordon
Smith crashed. "Ryder started
out strong during the first part
of the day," team manager Max
Lee said. "He had a couple of
bad starts, but ultimately, a
crash in the main ended his
night early. He was evaluated
and released, so he will be
ready to line up at the next 250
West round."
Briefly...
