Eli Tomac made it three winners in three races on three brands in the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series as he overcame a mid-pack start to take a comfortable Anaheim 2 win in Angel Stadium. Last week’s winner Ken Roczen took P2 after leading the seven opening laps, and leaves A2 with the points lead. Cooper Webb made it two podiums in Anaheim for 2020 with a steady ride to P3.Eli Tomac.Grabbing the holeshot, Roczen (Team Honda HRC) took an early lead with Blake Baggett, Zach Osborne, and Aaron Plessinger in hot pursuit. Baggett (Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/WPS/KTM) fell on lap 4 at the entry to the spit-lane section, putting him out of contention. Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) was dropped to P6 by lap 3 (of 24), and Plessinger (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) getting blitzed and fading out of the top 10 by lap 5.
Roczen’s lead extended to five seconds in the aftermath of the Baggett crash, with Webb (Red Bull KTM) taking up the job of chasing down Roczen. However, Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki) had been slicing through the pack, passing multiple riders per lap before taking over P2 on lap 5. Tomac was clearly the fastest rider on the track, and was the only racer turning in 52-second lap times. It took Tomac three laps to catch and easily pass Roczen for the lead on lap 8. By lap 13, Tomac had built up a five-second lead and cruised to the win. Tomac played it safe on the final two laps, making the final result look closer than it was. Roczen had looked secure in P2, but Webb made a late run at Roczen. However, Webb came up 1.2-seconds short at the checkers.Eli Tomac passes Ken Roczen for the lead.Jason Anderson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) had an uneven night. Anderson started in P6, held a podium position for six laps before the midway point, but slid back to P4 when Webb passed him on lap 11, back another spot when Adam Cianciarulo passed him a lap later, and Osborne got by three laps later. Anderson eventually got back by Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) for a P5 finish. Anderson’s teammate Osborne also moved up and down the leader board. Starting the race in a podium position, Osborne found himself in P6 by lap 3. Osborne stayed there until lap 14, when he went by Anderson for P5. Osborne moved up to his final P4 finishing position when he passed Cianciarulo on lap 17. Cianciarulo was the fastest qualifier in the afternoon, and ran as high as P4 on laps 12 through 16, but was not able to mount a podium run before fading to P6.Jason Anderson leads Cooper Webb, Adam Cianaciarulo, and Zach Osborne.With the early season points volatile, Roczen takes the red plate from Justin Barcia, who was riding sick. After going 1-2 in the first two rounds, Barcia struggled to P9 at A2, costing Barcia the red plate. Barcia is three points shy of Roczen, and two points ahead of Tomac—A2 is Tomac’s first podium of 2020. Anderson stays P4 in the standings, while Cianciarulo drops two spots to P5. The spread from leader Roczen to Cooper Webb in P6 is just 13 points. The cream of 2020 Monster Energy Supercross has risen to the top, with the six leading riders in the standings accounting for all nine podium positions in the first three rounds. No rider has made the podium in all three Main Events in 2020, though Roczen, Barcia, and Webb have done it twice.A2 Main Event start.Next week, the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series moves to Glendale, Ariz., at State Farm Stadium for round four. Webb, Anderson, and Osborne will be looking to make it four winners on four brands in four races in 2020. Check and bookmark our 2020 Supercross TV Schedule for the times for the live cable and streaming of qualifying and racing.
2020 Anaheim 2 Supercross Results, Angel Stadium
Eli Tomac (Kawasaki)
Ken Roczen (Honda)
Cooper Webb (KTM)
Zach Osborne (Husqvarna)
Jason Anderson (Husqvarna)
Adam Cianciarulo (Kawasaki)
Justin Brayton (Honda)
Malcolm Stewart (Honda)
Justin Barcia (Yamaha)
Dean Wilson (Husqvarna)
Vince Friese (Honda)
Justin Hill (Honda)
Martin Davalos (KTM)
Blake Baggett (KTM)
Aaron Plessinger (Yamaha)
Justin Bogle (KTM)
Tyler Bowers (Kawasaki)
Chad Reed (Honda)
Chris Blose (Honda)
Ryan Breece (Suzuki)
Alex Ray (Kawasaki)
Benny Bloss (Yamaha)
2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series Standings (3 of 17 rounds)
Our first segment introduces you to the new Arch 1s. This latest, slightly more sporting American V-twin, adds to the original KRGT1 coming from the boutique manufacturer based in Hawthorne, Southern California. Senior Editor Nic de Sena rode through Malibu with Gard Hollinger, who co-founded Arch Motorcycle with his friend, Keanu Reeves. The 1s is a unique ride for sure, and Nic explains what makes the bike really stand out.
For the entertaining story behind Arch Motorcycle from Gard Hollinger himself, you must listen to his podcast episode on Motos & Friends HERE
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The guest segment of Motos and Friends is brought to you by the faster and most technologically advanced, 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa—visit your local dealer or suzukicycles.com to learn more.
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In our second segment, Associate Editor Teejay Adams chats with multiple Emmy award-winning writer, Producer, Director, and actor, Thom Beers. the former Chairman & CEO of Fremantle Media North America, responsible for American Idol and America’s Got Talent.
Thom’s fertile imagination led to most of the really big reality TV shows such as ‘Deadliest Catch’ (now in its 17th season!), and many others. Of course for us in the motorcycle world, you’ll be interested to hear the genesis and story of how he started the first real fabrication reality show ‘Monster Garage’, that showcased Jesse James, and then how that led to ‘Biker Build Off’ and the ‘Zombie Choppers’ movie.
You’d imagine that most of Thom’s time is spent sitting behind a desk and on his phone. Not so. His intense stories of capturing much of the content for these shows make for some hair-raising listening.
