One thing has been certain in recent years of the Monster Energy Supercross opener: it has been anything but predictable.
In 2021, when the remnants of the COVID-19 pandemic were still affecting major league sports, Justin Barcia outran Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, to win in his third straight season. When the series returned to its accustomed opening location in Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, in 2022, it was reasonable to expect Barcia would run well again. He did, but Roczen held the upper hand, and Cooper Webb finished second. Barcia stood next to them on the bottom rung of the podium.
Since then, the season opener has been won by different riders, with Eli Tomac taking the top spot in 2023 and the defending Pro Motocross and SuperMotocross World Champion Jett Lawrence picking up where he left off in 2024.
The 2025 SuperMotocross World Championship begins at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California
Despite often getting off to a slow start, Cooper Webb has been consistently strong in the first Anaheim race with second-place finishes in 2022 and 2023, plus a third in 2020. He’s never won this race during his career, so that is high on his bucket list.
Anaheim holds a special place in the hearts of Supercross riders. The facility has hosted races since the mid-1970s, and with a long season ahead of them, riders can focus on winning without worrying about points. Four riders top the chart with eight wins apiece, and they are the cream of the crop. Jeremy McGrath, Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Ricky Carmichael capitalized on their strong starts with dozens of wins and championships.
If one had to use a tiebreaker to tell these riders apart, Carmichael might hold the advantage with a winning percentage of 42.11, but Reed would beg to differ since he has the most podiums there with 27 and the most points of 813, according to Clifton Fowler at WeWentFast.com.
Eli Tomac has won nearly everything possible in professional dirt bike racing. The only thing missing is a SuperMotocross World Championship.
Roczen’s 2022 win was his fifth, making him the winningest active rider this weekend. Tomac is the next most productive rider with four Anaheim wins.
As expected from a developmental series, the 250 West division has shown even greater parity with Anaheim as the opener. One has to scroll back to 2018 to find a repeat winner in Shane McElrath, who also won the 2017 race. Since then, Colt Nichols (2019 winner), Justin Cooper (2020), Christian Craig (2022), and Lawrence (2023) have moved onto the premier division. Last year’s winner, RJ Hampshire, won the 250 West championship and has only one year to defend before he is forced to move up.
He will face stiff competition from the 2023 Pro Motocross and 2022/2023 SuperMotocross 250 champion Haiden Deegan and Levi Kitchen this week.
Previous Anaheim 1 Winners
450s
2024: Jett Lawrence (Followed by Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton)
2023: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Chase Sexton)
2022: Ken Roczen (Cooper Webb, Justin Barcia)
2020: Justin Barcia (Adam Cianciarulo, Cooper Webb)
2019: Justin Barcia (Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac)
250s
2024: RJ Hampshire (Jordon Smith, Levi Kitchen)
2023: Jett Lawrence (RJ Hampshire, Cameron McAdoo)
2022: Christian Craig (Seth Hammaker, Hunter Lawrence)
2020: Justin Cooper (Dylan Ferrandis, Christian Craig)
2019: Colt Nichols (Dylan Ferrandis, Shane McElrath)
More SuperMotocross News
2025 SX schedule | MX schedule | WMX Schedule
2025 Supercross tickets on sale | Pro Motocross tickets
2025 TV Schedule | Track Maps
Cooper Webb is determined to score one more title
How to Watch Anaheim 1
RJ Hampshire is set to defend 250 West title
Eli Tomac and one last shot at SMX glory
Jo Shimoda, Honda have high expectations
Aaron Plessinger brought the sunshine
SMX announces partnership to initiate sports betting
Hunter Lawrence shone brightest on 2024 outdoor tracks
WMX announces six-round schedule for 2025
Jason Anderson and the ticking clock
Read the full article here