450SX
Roczen is in uncharted territory.
The Progressive Ecstar Suzuki
rider has never led the points
this late in the season and just
matched his season-best win
count with another victory in
Philadelphia. Roczen entered
the night with momentum, one
point behind in the champion
-
ship hunt. The treacherous
conditions
played to his advan-
tage, as the veteran is always
a threat when precision
is key.
Roczen jumped past his title
rival, Hunter Lawrence, early in
the shortened 17-minute main
event but felt continued pres
-
sure as Cooper Webb hounded
him in the latter
half of the race.
Roczen avoided the lappers and
led all but one lap en route to his
fifth win of the year, his fourth
in the last five rounds. It also
marks his 28th 450SX victory,
tying him with Rick Johnson
for ninth all-time. He now takes
over the red plate and leads the
series by four points with only
two rounds remaining.
"The pressure has been there
for a long time, but now I'm just
dealing with it on a weekend
basis," Roczen said. "I just do
whatever I need to keep myself
calm or whatever mindset I need
to be in. There are certain week
-
ends when you need to be more
aggressive
and whatnot. This
was such an important race. In
these conditions, things can go
sideways in a heartbeat. I am so
pumped and proud of my crew
and myself for putting all this
together when it's important. I'm
enjoying it. Hard work pays off."
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 17 APRIL 28, 2026 P73
working, keep putting in the time. I
did enjoy the day, other than the main
event. So we'll check that off—we're
healthy and keep building and get
back to it."
4 CHASE SEXTON
7TH 450SX
Bad starts kept Chase Sexton out of
the spotlight for most of the night, nar-
rowly missing a top five finish. "I had
a bad start in the heat race and just
tried to make it through. In the main
event, I had another bad start. I made
it up to around seventh, and then I
fell, and I went back to around 12th,
and then just worked my way back
to seventh. I actually rode a decent
race, just a bad start and a fall kept
me from the podium."
MYOWNRACE
141 NICK ROMANO
14TH 250SX
Nick Romano won his first-ever heat
race in Philadelphia but finished 14th
in the main event. "I was able to get
my first career heat-race win in the
mud, so I was ecstatic with that,"
he said. "I know it's just a heat-race
win, but a win's a win. It's been a
long time since I've won something,
so I was stoked on that. I got off to
(Above) Roczen
felt the pressure
from Cooper
Webb in the latter
stages of the
450 main event
but secured
the win and the
points lead. (Left)
Webb earned his
third second-
place result in
a row. He's still
mathematically in
the hunt.
