McThoughts: 450 Supercross – A1
By: Jeff McConkey
Photos by: Tyler Spikman @spikman
A1 went off on Saturday night. We’ve been waiting a long time and it didn’t disappoint. The class is truly stacked, and throughout the season there will be some high profile racers missing the main events. There was some drama in the heat race and semi race, but I’m honestly so sick of seeing it all over social media to comment any further. Let’s have a look at the results and see my thoughts:
450 Class
1st Jason Anderson: Jason Anderson was on fire last night – from the guy that his team sent him home for a few weeks to ‘figure it out’ early on in his career, to winning a 450 main. He was very aggressive and it paid off. He just looked like he was having a ton of fun out there. Congrats, Jason and Husky!
#21 Jason Anderson
2nd Ryan Dungey: Ryan showed everyone why and how he wins championships. He had a rough night, but never gave up and earned a 2nd. Very impressed with him again last night.
3rd Cole Seely: After Cole got out front, I really thought he had the win. He didn’t seem to unravel, but he did lose quite a bit of time on Jason and Dungey. Either way, a very solid first round compared to his 4th last year.
#14 Cole Seely
4th Eli Tomac: Tomac looked solid, but I still think it will take him 3 or 4 more rounds to start clicking off wins. He looked good for a guy who hasn’t raced since June.
5th Ken Roczen: Not the start Ken was looking for, but considering everything that happened, it should have been much worse. Roczen showed some heart and kept himself in this title fight.
#94 Ken Roczen
6th Chad Reed: Great ride for Reed, who just pulled this deal together very last-minute. He looked very good all night and was absolutely killing it with his entry speed into the whoops.
7th Trey Canard: I expected more from Trey last night, but I’m happy that he still got decent points and is healthy.
#41 Trey Canard
8th Davi Millsaps: Davi looked much better than I expected. He looks like he has been on the KTM for years. He is probably going to make my pre-season predictions look awful and do much better than I said he would.
9th Dean Wilson: Solid night to build from for Dean. He’s not used to racing SX with all of this talent around him. He will move up the standings very soon.
#15 Dean Wilson
10th Justin Brayton: Decent ride for Brayton in this stacked class. He wasn’t very noticeable out there, but that isn’t always a bad thing.
Biggest Stud: ‘LA FLAMA BLANCA’ Jason Anderson is my stud. He is just so fun to watch, and really could be a wildcard for the title. ( editors note: I called him to win the title)
Biggest Dud: Justin Barcia is my dud. I really thought he had a chance of winning before the restart. Then, after the restart, I still thought he had a podium in him. I’m not sure what happened, but he fell apart big time. ‘Filthy Phil’ needs to be ready to go as I’m betting the JGR guys are going to need his services soon.
#51 Justin Barcia
Biggest Surprise: I’m just shocked at how much talent is in the class. It’s going to be a great season!
Thanks for reading and see you in San Diego.
