Breaking onto the Monster Energy Supercross stage is a major milestone, and 18-year-old Kayden Minear made an instant impression by winning on debut in the SMX Next category at A2 for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing. In this Fast Thoughts feature interview, the Western Australian reflects on his winning performance.

Image: Octopi Media.

Soaking the victory in…

Yeah, a bit. I went back, celebrated with the family. I got my grandparents over from Australia, so it’s been good. I’m enjoying it for sure.

The Anaheim 2 track conditions…

The track was really hard – probably the hardest Supercross track I’ve ever ridden in my life. The biggest thing I took away from today is going into each session with a plan. I feel like I went out there the first two sessions without a plan and it all went to shit, so we’ll definitely take notes and keep it going for next week.

Composing yourself after the red flag…

The second gate drop was a bit of a blessing in disguise. The first one, I thought I had a good start and looked up and [Caden] Dudney was four bike lengths ahead already, so I was caught off guard. Obviously, it’s never good to see your fellow riders go down, but I feel like sitting on the gate for that long, looking up in the stands, you’re like, ‘Damn, there’s a lot of people out here.’ I was trying to just focus on what I needed to do and the job ahead.

Image: Octopi Media.

Lining up in Supercross at Anaheim…

It’s daunting. I mean, walking out into the stadium, looking at how many people there are around, I’ve never experienced that in my life.

Making it happen after a string of injuries…

For sure. I mean, this is my first successful off-season with the team. Last year got interrupted with injuries, and I feel like we made a lot of right steps in the right direction this season. Today I really put it all out there, and it’s showing that the hard work is paying off for sure.

Post-race celebration plans…

To be honest, I’ve got to catch a flight at 8:30 in the morning, so there won’t be much celebration going on.