The opening round of the 2026 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship delivered thrilling race action that matched the excitement leading into the season. The Anaheim 1 Supercross pays points toward both the 17-round Supercross season and the 31-round SMX World Championship. Clear skies but high winds challenged the riders and track crew; the dirt inside Angel Stadium was hard packed and slick for the 20-minute plus one lap 450SX Class Main Event.
Ken Roczen (94) was on point throughout the day at the Anaheim 1 Supercross. In qualifying, Roczen garnered a top-three result in each session as well as in the overall qualifying standings. In his heat race, Roczen was part of a four-wide battle down the first rhythm lane. Roczen emerged from the second corner with the lead. After an opening-lap battle, Roczen pulled a gap on the field and took the win.
The main event was red flagged on the opening lap due to multi rider-crash. On the re-start, Roczen crossed the holeshot stripe in eighth place and immediately worked his way toward the front. Roczen moved his Suzuki into fourth place before the third corner and was into the top three within one lap. Roczen pushed into second place just one lap later, then set the fastest lap time of the race. Roczen kept the leader in his sights as he put down a blistering pace from that point until the checkered flag.
“Anaheim is done and dusted. We had a really good day the entire day in qualifying, the heat race, and the main,” said Roczen. “We got first in the heat race and then went to the main where we had a really good battle with [the race leader]. We pretty much kept the same gap for the entire race and [both of us] put a big gap on third. We just rode our own race. The track was really tricky, very slippery and it broke down, so it was very easy to make mistakes. I’m really happy to get away with a second place here; it’s a great start to the season and now the focus is on the next round.”
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