There were many questions and absences going into the opening round of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Series. Not lining up were Supercross stars Malcolm Stewart, Marvin Musquin, Cooper Webb, Dean Wilson, and defending 450MX champion Dylan Ferrandis. The questions swirled around Ryan Dungey coming out of retirement, nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli racing in the US Nationals for the first time, freshly minted 250SX West Champion Christian Craig moving up to race 450MX, Ken Roczen returning to racing, and Tomac’s recovery from a Supercross knee injury. Although none of the questions are answered definitively, Chase Sexton dominated the proceedings with an unassailable 1-1 performance at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.
Honda celebrated 50 years of selling motocross bikes the night before at Peltzer Winery in nearby Temecula, and popped more champagne with Ken Roczen finishing in P2 in both motos behind his Team Honda HRC teammate Sexton—both mounted on CRF450RWE racebikes with Honda’s 2023 CRF450R 50th Anniversary Edition livery.
Christian Craig’s foray into the 450MX class got off to an impressive start, as he went 3-3 to round out the Fox Raceway 1 podium. However, Craig was far off Sexton’s pace, finishing over 30 seconds behind Sexton in each moto.
After running in podium position early in each moto, Ryan Dungey’s first race in five years resulted in P5 overall, courtesy of two P5 finishes. Cairoli’s P10 in Moto 1 was followed up with a P6 in the second moto, giving the MXGP superstar a P7 overall. Eli Tomac got off to a strong start in Moto 1 before fading to P7. Tomac rebounded with a P4 finish in Moto 2 for a P4 overall.
The series resumes on Saturday with the Hangtown Motocross Classic at Prairie City OHV Park in Rancho Cordova, Calif. Check out our 2022 Pro Motocross TV Schedule for viewing times and outlets.
Exclusive photography by Will Embree / SMX Pictures
2022 Fox Raceway 1 Results, Fox Raceway, Pala, CA
- Chase Sexton, Honda, 1-1; 50 points
- Ken Roczen, Honda, 2-2; 44
- Christian Craig, Yamaha, 3-3; 40
- Eli Tomac, Yamaha, 7-4; 32
- Ryan Dungey, KTM, 5-5; 32
- Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 4-8; 31
- Antonio Cairoli, KTM, 10-6; 26
- Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 6-10; 26
- Justin Barcia, GasGas, 8-9; 25
- Shane McElrath, Husqvarna, 11-7; 24
- Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, 9-12; 21
- Fredrik Norén, KTM, 14-11; 17
- Josh Gilbert, Husqvarna, 12-14; 16
- Alex Martin, Yamaha, 15-13; 14
- Benny Bloss, KTM, 13-15; 14
- Felix Lopez, Husqvarna, 18-16; 8
- Ryan Surratt, Yamaha, 19-17; 6
- Brandon Hartranft, Suzuki, 16-33; 5
- Jerry Robin, GasGas, 17-40; 4
- Marshal Weltin, GasGas, 38-18; 3
- Scott Meshy, 27-19; 2
- Justin Bogle, 20-20; 2
2022 Fox Raceway 1 Photo Gallery
