WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 53 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 12, 2016 P49
450SX
Anderson's win in the 20-lap
Main was impressive to say the
least. He didn't luck into this one
but instead came from behind
and showed plenty of intensity
en route. The Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna Factory Racing Team
rider, in only his second season
in the 450 class, cleanly passed
seasoned veterans like Justin
Brayton, Chad Reed, Ryan
Dungey, Trey Canard and Justin
Barcia, until he found himself
trailing just one rider—his old
250SX West rival, Cole Seely,
who had up to this point, taken
the race by the horns. Anderson
eventually caught Seely with
seven laps to go, executed a
nice clean pass on the HRC
Honda Team rider, and pulled
away for the win, 4.2 seconds
clear of defending AMA Super-
cross champ, Red Bull KTM's
Ryan Dungey, who also passed
a tiring Seely on the final lap.
It was not an easy night for
many of the veteran racers:
Dungey crashed twice on the
night (once in the main), two-
time Anaheim 1 winner Ken Roc-
zen suffered a big get-off in a
heat race that resulted in a poor
gate pick and subsequent bad
start in the Main, James Stewart
was carted off the track with a
concussion, and Trey Canard
hit the ground after a promising
start. It's too early to tell if this
is going to be the year of the
young guns, but Anderson and
Seely might have, at least, put
some fear in some of the more
seasoned racers.
Jason Anderson said that
even he was a little "shocked"
by how he was able to come
up through the pack, passing
riders like Dungey, Stewart
and Barcia along the way. But
once he was able to get early
leader Seely in his sights,
there was no stopping him.
Anderson said that he made
up most of his time through a
"three-three" rhythm section
that just a few riders were
doing. "That was huge," he
said. "It wasn't hard to do but
it was intimidating."
