2019 Anaheim 2 Supercross Results:
Webb Takes First-Ever Win
Just when you think the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series can’t get any less predictable, another curve ball is thrown at the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown race.
We saw Cooper Webb take his first-ever 450SX win, a week after Blake Baggett won for the first time. The podium was completely different than last week, and just seven points separate the top five riders.
Ken Roczen, who has yet to win this year, extends his lead in the Series by a point, despite finishing off the A2 podium. Wow!
- Cooper Webb came out of nowhere to take the A2 win. Last week at Glendale, Webb (Red Bull KTM) could only manage a 10th—this week at A2, he goes 1-1-3 for the win. Webb had strong starts in all three Mains, which kept him constantly up front. Webb waited until the last lap to pass Roczen in M1, led every lap of M2, and played it safe to finish on the podium in M3 after Marvin Musquin passed just before the halfway point. Webb put in solid rides, rather than winning flashily. Even as Webb hunted down Roczen in the opening Main, Webb looked smooth on the demanding track, which was generally one-line.
- Nursing an injured knee, Marvin Musquin is starting to put his season together. With podiums in all three Mains, Musquin (Red Bull KTM) was a comfortable second on the night. His 3-2-2 performance might have been good enough for an overall win under normal circumstances, but not on a night where his teammate was on fire. Musquin started the year with an eighth place at the opener, moved up to P5 last week, and the runner-up at A2. His 8-5-2 puts him in fifth place in the standings, though just seven points behind Roczen.
- It was another frustrating night for Roczen, who finished off the podium for the first time this year. The frustration for Roczen (Team Honda HRC) in M1 came from losing the win on the final lap to Webb. In M2, while in a podium spot, an unforced error put Roczen on the dirt at the halfway point; however, Roczen did finish in P4. Roczen’s P6 start in M3 didn’t do him any favors. Although he passed Dean Wilson quickly, it took nearly half the race to get past Chad Reed. By then, the top three had a comfortable gap. Taking the sting out of Roczen’s off-podium overall was the increase in his points lead from one-point over Justin Barcia to two points over Tomac.
- It took a while for Tomac to get going on the night, and by then it was too late to challenge for the overall win. In M1, Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) had a good P3 start, but never made inroads. On lap 11 (of 14), Tomac was knocked off the podium by a charging Musquin. Tomac’s P12 start in M2 doomed him to play catchup. He did work his way up to P8 after two laps, but it took until Lap 11 to hit the top 5. Tomac passed a fading Jason Anderson for P4 at the end. Tomac came alive in M3 with a holeshot and a comfortable gap the entire race—he was never challenged. His 4-4-1 put Tomac on the podium, and he advances to second place in the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Championship Standings, just two points behind Roczen—not bad for a 3-4-3 start of the season.
- Defending Champion Jason Anderson’s season is taking a turn for the worse. Three rounds in, Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) sits seventh in the standings, 17 points behind Roczen, and he is not looking good. Anderson’s 14th in the rain at A1 might be excusable, and he was strong in Glendale, despite folding at the end to lose the win. His 6-6-17 performance at A2 is disastrous. He appeared to have bike problems after contact with Reed in M3, but he was an unimpressive 6-6 in the first two Mains. For a rider who won the 2018 Monster Energy Supercross title through consistency, none of this is a good sign.
- Justin Barcia had a horrible crash in the last Main. While flying high, Barcia (Monster Energy/Yamaha Factory Racing) bailed and landed hard on Lap 6 while running in P10 after a bad start. Because of the Triple Crown format, Barcia was still able to take 10th overall with a 7-3-22 night. However, he had to be assisted off the track, so it remains to be seen if he will be riding next week at Oakland. Barcia drops from P2 to P4 in the standings, and he’s still just seven points behind Roczen in the standings.
- Dean Wilson continued to earn his factory-assisted ride, and had to feel pretty lucky about his overall finish at A2. Despite going 9-8-7 and never coming anywhere near the podium, Wilson (O’Neal/Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) was fifth overall for the night. Three rounds in, Wilson is the top Husqvarna rider. He’s sixth in the standings—11 behind leader Roczen, and six points ahead of temporary teammate Anderson. Wilson is getting help while Zach Osborne is out, but he’s making a case for assistance for the rest of the year from his former team.
- Cole Seely is progressing in his comeback after serious injuries last year. Seely (Team Honda HRC) did fade through the night, going 5-7-13, yet that was good enough for P6 overall—his best finish of the year. Still, Seely is languishing in P10 in the standings.
- It was another rough night for JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing. Reed started the night with a tenth place finish, and ended it with a strong fifth place. Unfortunately, technical problems kept him from leaving the gate in M2, dropping him to P13 overall. Justin Hill has not shown the speed on the 450 that he displayed last year when he was a part-time rider in the 450SX class. Hill went 13-11-9, and finished outside of the top 10. Amazingly, it is still Hill’s best showing of 2019.
- Aaron Plessinger bested Joey Savatgy in the battle of the rookies by a spot. Neither rider was consistent, with Plessinger’s 12-9-6 card beating Savatgy’s 8-13-8 series. Given that Savatgy (Rockstar Energy Kawasaki) suffered a race-ending concussion at Glendale, Savatgy had to feel good about his night. Plessinger’s slow start put him out of any podium consideration immediately, though his P7 overall at A2 isn’t terrible.
- The top 11 riders in the standings are all within one-race of the leader. At this point last year, only the top 7 riders were that close to the leader. With so much inconsistency, the field has tightened up. Even the bravest prognosticator wouldn’t have predicted that after three races Anderson, Musquin, Roczen, and Tomac would have zero wins between them. Plus, no rider has podiumed at all three races. However, it would have been easily predictable that Roczen and Tomac would be 1-2 in the standings. We’ll be watching to see if a pattern emerges starting in Oakland next week.
- We don’t like delayed showings of the races, and NBC Sports Gold is not living up to its name. Because the race wasn’t cablecast live on NBC Sports, we had staffers check out NBC Sports Gold. They were not impressed. Although it is cool that the subscription service shows practice, there are ads shown in what is supposed to be “without commercial interruption.” Further, the lame static shot from the outfield when commercials are run on the cable version is just an embarrassment. NBC Sports Gold should have content ready to run during the breaks. Also, there were multiple interruptions of the streaming during the Mains in both classes, a problem we never have with the MotoGP VideoPass. Finally, despite repeated attempts, we were unable to authorize our AppleTV so we could use the NBC Sports Gold app. Instead, we had to stream it to the television from an iPad. This all adds up to a substandard user experience for $75. NBC Sports Gold needs to do better for Supercross. To know when the races will be aired, be sure to bookmark our 2019 Supercross Television Schedule for cable and streaming.
2019 Anaheim 2 Supercross Results, Angel Stadium of Anaheim
- Cooper Webb, 5 points, 1-1-3 (KTM)
- Marvin Musquin, 7, 3-2-2 (KTM)
- Eli Tomac, 9, 4-4-1 (Kawasaki)
- Ken Roczen, 11, 2-5-4 (Honda)
- Dean Wilson, 24, 9-8-7 (Husqvarna)
- Cole Seely, 25, 5-7-13 (Honda)
- Aaron Plessinger, 27, 12-9-6 (Yamaha)
- Joey Savatgy, 29, 8-13-8 (Kawasaki)
- Jason Anderson, 29, 6-6-17 (Husqvarna)
- Justin Barcia 32, 7-3-22 (Yamaha)
- Justin Hill, 33, 13-11-9 (Suzuki)
- Vince Friese, 33, 11-12-10 (Honda)
- Chad Reed, 37, 10-22-5 (Suzuki)
- Justin Brayton, 39, 14-14-11 (Honda)
- Blake Baggett, 43, 21-10-12 (KTM)
- Tyler Bowers, 46, 15-15-16 (Kawasaki)
- Justin Bogle, 48, 16-18-14 (KTM)
- Ben Lamay, 49, 18-16-15 (Honda)
- Angelo Pellegrini, 56, 17-21-18 (Honda)
- Alex Ray, 57, 19-17-21 (Suzuki)
- Austin Politelli, 60, 22-19-19 (Honda)
- Ronnie Stewart, 60, 20-20-20 (Husqvarna)
2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Standings (after 3 of 17 rounds)
- Ken Roczen, 63 points
- Eli Tomac, 61
- Cooper Webb, 57 (1 win)
- Justin Barcia, 56 (1 win)
- Marvin Musquin, 56
- Dean Wilson, 52
- Jason Anderson, 46
- Blake Baggett, 45 (1 win)
- Aaron Plessinger, 45
- Cole Seely, 44
- Justin Brayton, 37
- Chad Reed, 33
- Vince Friese, 32
- Justin Hill, 30
- Joey Savatgy, 22
- Justin Bogle, 18
- Malcolm Stewart, 17
- Ben Lamay, 14
- Carlen Gardner, 11
- Tyler Bowers, 9
- Alex Ray, 9
- Kyle Chisholm, 8
- Angelo Pellegrini, 4
- Ronnie Stewart, 4
- Ryan Breece, 3
- Austin Politelli, 2
- Cheyenne Harmon, 2