Larry Lawrence | January 9, 2016
Photo by Kit Palmer
It was an historic night in Anaheim. Jason Anderson broke through to earn his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross premier event and in doing so also gave Husqvarna its first premier class victory in AMA Supercross history.
Anderson took the victory in come-from-behind fashion, moving up from seventh on the first lap, cautiously at first before twisting the throttle in the middle stages when he moved from fifth to the lead in the charge of the night.
Ryan Dungey made the best of what could have been a disaster. He crashed fairly early in the race before remounted and slicing his way back up to second by the checkered flag. He was 4.243-seconds behind Anderson at the finish.
It was Cole Seely who might be looking back at this race with what-ifs. He led 13 laps of the 20-lap final, had over a five-second lead at one point, but faltered in the closing laps and had to settle for third.
The track was in amazing shape considering the amount of rain the LA area received this week. Justin Barcia and Stewart nearly simultaneously nailed the holeshot on the first start. Barcia emerged the leader with Stewart second. Anderson moved up to challenge and the three ran bar to bar early on.
On lap three Anderson moved by Stewart and Stewart went into a 180 turn and Dungey came in hot on the inside, with his KTM’s front wheel T-boning Stewart’s Suzuki resulting in Stewart going down hard off the high side. Stewart was down in a bad spot and the race was red flagged.
The race was a complete restart.
On the restart Cole Seely took the holeshot with Eli Tomac right with him. Barcia came up to take second and Tomac and Dungey battled for third. Of the series contenders Ken Roczen was way back in 13th after a poor gate pick after being taken out in his heat race.
On lap four defending champ Dungey went down when Honda’s Trey Canard took him high into a soft berm. Dungey was quickly back on his bike and running seventh. On lap six Canard moved by Tomac to take over third and looked to be charging hard to the front. A couple of laps later he got Barcia to take second.
But then Jason Anderson was also moving up. He got by Tomac shortly afterward Barcia. And then Anderson rapidly closed in and passed Canard, with the Husky rider clearly the fastest rider on the track mid-race.
Ten laps in and it was Seely continuing to hold the lead by 4.7 seconds over Anderson.
Barcia, Dungey, Reed and Roczen were in a big battle for fifth in the middle stages. Dungey, recovering well from his fall, got away and with eight to go Roczen got by Reed.
In the second half of the race Anderson was the fastest rider on the track and closing quickly on Seely. With seven to go Dungey got by Tomac for third.
Barcia fell late and dropped way back.
Anderson took over the lead with seven laps remaining with Seely only offering resistance for a short time. And that way the race. Anderson charged all the way to the flag to score his first victory.
Dungey passed Seely on the final lap and those two rounded out the podium. Tomac finished fourth in his return to racing and debut with Kawasaki and Roczen made a solid run, finishing the night strong to round out the top five.
“I honestly just felt good out there,” said Anderson, who scored a podium at Anaheim 1 last year. “It was high intensity and I was coming through the pack. To pull off the victory and put a Husqvarna on the top is so unreal I can’t thank everyone enough. I’m stoked right now and pumped to have a red plate on this white bike, I think it will look sweet.”
Defending champ Dungey sounded about as happy as you might expect after recovering from the crash to take second.
“I was running pretty good and just kind of settling in,” Dungey explained. “And then Trey came in and took me out. It’s alright, I mean it’s racing, but I was glad I rebounded. The bike is working good and after the heat race and what happened there I’m glad we rebounded and had a solid finish.”
Seely was surprisingly upbeat for a rider who led 65 percent of the laps.
“I felt awesome out there until a little past halfway and Jason rode a great race,” Seely explained. “Hats off to him and Dungey. I’m just excited to be on the podium. If you would have told me yesterday that I was going to be on the podium I would have been stoked.”
The series moves to San Diego next Saturday, Jan. 16.
Anaheim I Supercross Results – Jan. 9, 2016
450SX Class Results
- Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM
- Cole Seely, Sherman Oaks, Calif., Honda
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki
- Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki
- Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha
- Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda
- Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., KTM
- Dean Wilson, Wesley Chapel, Fla., KTM
- Justin Brayton, Mint Hill, N.C., KTM
450SX Class Championship Standings
- Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.M., Husqvarna – 25
- Ryan Dungey, Belle Plaine, Minn., KTM – 22
- Cole Seely, Sherman Oaks, Calif., Honda – 20
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 18
- Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki – 16
- Chad Reed, Dade City, Fla., Yamaha – 15
- Trey Canard, Edmond, Okla., Honda – 14
- Davi Millsaps, Murrieta, Calif., KTM – 13
- Dean Wilson, Wesley Chapel, Fla., KTM – 12
- Justin Brayton, Mint Hill, N.C., KTM – 11
