Three rounds into the 2023 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series, the riders are making it easy to put together a list of top 5 riders. However, the secret to success in RMFastasySX.com leagues is getting the riders in the correct order. We have some tips to help you do just that and beat your friends! Let’s drop the gate.
- Only seven riders have cracked the top 5. That’s an unusually low number and narrows your likely field to a manageable number.
- Three riders have been in the top 5 in all three rounds—Ken Roczen, and Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb. Right there, you have three riders you want to put in your top 5 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
- Two riders have been in the top 5 in two rounds—Dylan Ferrandis and Eli Tomac. With the three riders above, you have your top 5 for Houston. However, it’s not quite that simple—it never is.
- Two riders have one top 5 finish—Jason Anderson and Justin Barcia. Both Anderson and Barcia were on the podium in their sole top 5 performances, so it’s not like they snuck in. However, though both riders are fast, they haven’t proven consistent in 2023. Still, Anderson’s 7-7-2 run is quite a bit better than Barcia’s 11-3-8 results. Given that, I’m not bullish on Barcia for the top 5, and Anderson looks strong.
- Setting the table with seven proven top 5 finishers, let’s start from the top with the podium. Three riders have two podiums—Tomac, Sexton, and Webb—and they are the top 3 in points, in that order. I’m going to go with past performance until shown otherwise. Tomac has two wins, Sexton has a victory, and Webb has yet to be on the top step. With that in mind, I’m going with Tomac, Sexton, and Webb, in that order, for the podium.
- Three riders are battling for the two remaining top 5 slots—Anderson, Ferrandis, and Roczen. Roczen is on a 5-4-3 run, and we can all see a pattern developing. However, I’m not ready to put Roczen in P2, so I’m playing it safe—he’s my P4 finisher. Anderson has looked faster than Ferrandis at every round, and that’s enough for me to give Anderson P5 over Ferrandis.
- It’s a quandary—if Anderson is on two wheels, he’s on the podium. However, two times out of three, Anderson’s on the dirt and rolls up in P7. Ferrandis has proven he’s consistent at the lower end of the top 5, even though his starts make him an iffy pick for the podium. Regardless, I’ll go with Anderson for P5, and he may end up much higher next week—we’ll see, as we always do. Oh, and if you like Barcia’s undeniable speed and can overlook his racecraft, I won’t laugh at you for putting him in the top 5.
- You might notice that my top 5 for Houston is in the same order as the top 5 riders in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Series Standings. That’s not by design—Associate Editor Kelly Callan pointed it out to me during editing. However, given the consistency of the riders this year, it’s not surprising.
- Adam Cianciarulo makes the usually tough Wild Card fairly easy. Cianciarulo has gone 9-8-9 and the RMFantasySX.com Wild Card this week is P9. There’s your guy. If you have a hunch that it won’t be Cianciarulo for whatever reason, consider Aaron Plessinger (8-9-7) and Joey Savatgy (10-10-10).
- Round 3 wasn’t bad for me, and I’ve moved from the bottom 10 percent after the first round in the overall RMFantasySX.com to the top half. Competing against over 110,000 players, I’m now in the top 40 percent and moving in the right direction. My fingers are crossed for Houston.
- Round 4 is in the Central Standard Time zone, so the racing starts earlier this week—8 p.m. ET. Check our 2023 Supercross Television Schedule for viewing details, though if you don’t have Peacock by now, get it.
tl;dr 2023 Houston Supercross Fantasy Picks
- Eli Tomac
- Chase Sexton
- Cooper Webb
- Ken Roczen
- Jason Anderson
Wild Card P9: Adam Cianciarulo
Exclusive photography by Will Embree / SMX Pictures
2023 AMA Monster Energy Supercross Championship Series Standings (after 3 of 17 rounds)
- Eli Tomac, Yamaha, 69 points (2 wins, 2 podiums, 2 top fives)
- Chase Sexton, Honda, 65 (1W, 2P, 3 T5)
- Cooper Webb, KTM, 65 (2P, 3 T5)
- Ken Roczen, Suzuki, 58 (1P, 3 T5)
- Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 55 (1P, 1 T5)
- Dylan Ferrandis, Yamaha, 54 (2 T5)
- Justin Barcia, GasGas, 48 (1P, 1 T5)
- Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 45
- Adam Cianciarulo, Kawasaki, 43
- Colt Nichols, Honda, 39
- Joey Savatgy, Kawasaki, 39
- Christian Craig, Husqvarna, 34
- Dean Wilson, Honda, 28
- Justin Hill, KTM, 27
- Malcolm Stewart, Husqvarna, 15
- Fredrik Norén, Kawasaki, 14
- Shane McElrath, Suzuki, 14
- Kyle Chisholm, Suzuki, 12
- Marvin Musquin, KTM, 11
- Justin Starling, GasGas, 11
- Josh Cartwright, Kawasaki, 7
- Grant Harlan, Yamaha, 6
- Josh Hill, KTM, 5
- Benny Bloss, Yamaha, 5
- Kevin Moranz, KTM, 4
- Cade Clason, Kawasaki, 3
- Alex Ray, Yamaha, 2
- John Short, Kawasaki, 2
