Anaheim 1 delivered its share of drama, producing a mixture of results across both the 450SX and 250SX West categories. We’ve gathered comments from a selection of riders in this first Reaction feature of the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Championship season.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – First:
This one feels good! Leading from the get-go like that is tough, because you need to really maintain focus the whole time, but my motorcycle was the best it was all day in the main event after a slight adjustment from the heat race. We went in the right direction, and this is the perfect way to start a new season and with my new team in Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. After a big off-season with both myself and the team testing and developing all over the place, it means a lot to achieve this early success together.

Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Third:
This is really ahead of my expectations – the goal for this weekend was to just get through each session and do the best that I can. I had a great preparation leading into this year, but I am still so new to Supercross. Getting the heat race win was awesome, but I am really happy with my main event and to be on the podium. I rode within my limits, and still don’t have a lot of words to describe my feelings right now, but all I can say is that hard work always pays off! It’s great to start the season this way, so now we’ll keep learning and look forward to a new opportunity next week.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – 10th:
Obviously, this wasn’t the Anaheim 1 that I wanted. It started well, but I hit the ground with Coop [Cooper Webb] in the heat race, which was unfortunate, but it happens. Good to get the round one jitters out, and I had a few good starts today actually, which was nice. We have a good direction, my setup is in the ballpark, and I came from dead-last in the Main Event to 10th place, which I thought was a good way to rebound. It was a decent ending to a tough start, and now we’ll go back and do some homework for next weekend.

Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) – Fourth:
That was my best A1 to date. I said to myself that I’d be content with a top-five finish. I really wanted to get the win, but we’re still working, chipping away. I think we’re in a great spot to make progress where we want to and hopefully get that worked out. But I’m okay with tonight, for sure – this is one of my worst venues if you look back over my career, so I’m happy to move forward.

Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Seventh:
It was an up-and-down day. It was good to be at A1, but I just made a lot of mistakes today, which is not like me. The heat race incident was on me, and I put myself in a bad position. Getting the holeshot for the first start of the main was good, but I just didn’t quite execute the second one. We’ll clean it up and be ready for San Diego.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Sixth:
Overall, it was a good start to the season. A lot happened today. I had a crash in my heat and went to the LCQ, which is never fun, but it was kind of uphill from there. It’s tough starting from the 20th gate pick, so sixth on the night is really good all things considered. It was a long day with a lot of laps, but I made my way through the pack well and felt I had good speed tonight. We’ll move on to next weekend and try to get a better start.

Chase Sexton (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Eighth:
The day started off well with earning fastest qualifier. I felt really comfortable on the track and felt like I had the speed to contend up front. Unfortunately, I had a couple of mistakes during the heat race and main event that forced me to work my way through the field. It’s only the first round, and we have a good base to build off. We’ve got some work to do, but I know we’re capable of improving and putting up better results next week.

Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – DNQ:
Today was a tough one for me and not how I expected or would have liked for it to go. I felt good during qualifying, and I had good speed throughout sections of the track. Poor starts and mistakes on my part led to me being out of the mix. I know what the team and I are capable of and we will show it next weekend. This will be a learning experience for me and we’ll move forward.

Dylan Ferrandis (Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing) – Ninth:
It was a good day overall. I feel comfortable and very confident with the bike and the team. We made a small change between practices, and it helped in the direction. I had a strong heat race and finish. The main issue was that I started before the red flag. It was unfortunate that my teammate crashed, triggering a red flag, so I had a second chance for a start. The second start was great, right around top five or six, which was good for the first race on this bike. I was able to push and be fast, but I struggled a little bit in the second half of the moto and lost some position. We know what we need to improve, and I know what I need to improve on myself. I think for the first race, it’s not bad for this first manufacturer’s race.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – 18th:
A1 was a challenge all day. I started out alright and was building throughout the day, but then in the Heat Race I unfortunately got tagged and went down. We aimed for an entry into the main event from there, which we were able to, and I was in a decent spot after the race restart once we got going in the main. By the third or fourth lap in, I had a big one in the whoops, so that made for a tough night in the end. The main thing for round one was building experience, getting some data for the bike to further develop a Supercross setting for me, and I think we’ll be much better from next weekend onwards.

Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki) – Second:
Anaheim is done and dusted. We had a really good day the entire day in qualifying, the heat race, and the main. We got first in the heat race and then went to the main where we had a really good battle with Eli [Tomac]. We pretty much kept the same gap for the entire race and 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.

Jason Anderson (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – Fifth:
We ended up fifth on the night. It was a pretty eventful night for everyone, and for me it was solid. I’ve been a little bit under the weather but was able to manage the race with a decent start and ended up fifth. We’ll see if we can get better from there.

Austin Forkner (Triumph Racing) – 15th:
My riding was good in the main event. It was just a little too much of a rollercoaster. I was figuring out when to push and when to conserve energy. There are many aspects of racing that you run into in the longer 450SX main event. We will make some adjustments this week, but we are close and it was a solid debut in the premier class for me and the team.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Max Anstie (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – First:
Anaheim – it’s got a place in my heart. I remember coming here as a kid and dreaming of being here, so to actually win tonight at A1, that’s something special. The whole Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing crew has done a great job, and the bike was working awesome. It’s been a fantastic night and a fantastic run into this championship. Of course, it’s only round one. I know I’ve got another nine more to go, so we’ll refocus again tomorrow and get back to work.

Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fourth:
Today was a little unfortunate because I’ve worked my butt off to try and win this first round, but we’ve got a long season ahead. So you can’t really care about that too much and just take it as it comes. We’re healthy, so that’s the main part, and we got the heat race win, which was cool. Our speed and fitness are there. We’ve just got to come out swinging next week.

Michael Mosiman (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fifth:
Man, I’m stoked to get the year started, and happy to leave here healthy and with a fifth. I also think getting all the Star Yamaha boys in the top five was really good. It was a wild day, and I had to be resilient and build back from some chaos in the heat race, but I’m stoked on my performance, my fitness, and my bike. There are a lot of positives to take into the season, and starting the year with some good points is going to be huge.

Chance Hymas (Honda HRC Progressive) – Second:
The first round at A1 was really good for me. Third overall in qualifying, third in the heat race, second in the main was really good. I wanted some consistent laps, I made a few mistakes, but we’ll clean it up for next weekend.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Sixth:
It felt good to start the season with the fastest qualifying time. The speed is there, and the bike felt great all day. The main event didn’t go how we wanted off the gate, but salvaging a sixth after being that far back is something to build on. It’s a long season, and this is just the beginning.

Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 22nd:
It felt great to be back behind the gate and racing again. The heat race and the start of the main showed what we’re capable of, and I felt comfortable up front. I had another rider cross jump me, which led me to crash, and I had to go into the mechanics area for a while. I went back out and salvaged as much of the race as I could, but tonight wasn’t our night. We’ll come back next week prepared and ready to fight.

Ryder DiFrancesco (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) – Third:
Today was good! All day, I just wanted to be on the board in each practice, then the heat race was just okay. In the main event, we got the holeshot, and then I just tried not to look back from there – I wanted to lead as many laps as I could, and tonight was a big learning step. We’d like to lead more laps next weekend, continue to build, and try to land on the podium like this each weekend to give us a good shot at the title. This cements the work we’ve done in the off-season – I’m ready for more, now.