The opening round of the 2025 Monster Energy Supercross season was a stark reminder of why the race is run.
No one expected Jett Lawrence or Haiden Deegan to struggle, and then they crashed on the first lap, and the storyline of the West Coast Swing changed. Chase Sexton won Anaheim 1 at Angel Stadium, and Eli Tomac finished fifth, so they do not need to look over their shoulders in Round 2 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
Chase Sexton won the season opener while Jett Lawrence finished outside the top 10 in Round 1 of the Supercross season.
San Diego first appeared on the Supercross schedule in 1980 in San Diego Stadium and remained there through two name changes until 1997. Petco Park replaced it from 2014 through 2022 and is now, for the past two seasons, it’s on the site of the old Jack Murphy Stadium, coming full circle.
Since 2016, when Ryan Dungey won his second consecutive Supercross race in San Diego, only one rider scored multiple wins: Tomac was victorious in 2019 and 2023. He is determined to prove that last week’s speed in the preliminaries was not a fluke and that without his Lap 1 crash, he would have won by a considerable margin. But those are Tomac’s only victories in San Diego, which has been the site of some emotional podiums in the past.
Aaron Plessinger’s first Supercross win was high on the list of dramatic finishes last year. Sexton’s victory in Anaheim underscores the strength of Red Bull KTM, so Plessinger cannot be ignored.
Here’s what the Supercross riders had to say and post after the season opener at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
Cooper Webb also demands attention. He narrowly missed the box last week with a fourth-place finish, and three of his previous four San Diego attempts ended on the podium, including a victory in 2020. Webb, Sexton, Tomac, and the remainder of last week’s frontrunners know that Lawrence doesn’t make many mistakes, and they have to capitalize on his 12th-place Anaheim 1 result with a solid performance South on the I5.
With the opening-round win, Sexton secured the Supercross red plate for the fourth time in his career. According to Clinton Fowler at WeWentFast.com, he’s never held it for more than one week at a time, including when he lost it in San Diego in 2024. Even so, Sexton’s recent opening rounds say a lot about how he will run throughout the season. In 2021, he finished 14th in the Houston opener and 12th in points at the end of the year. In 2022, he was fifth in Anaheim 1 and sixth in the points, and the last two years have witnessed third-place openers converted into top-three finishes, including his 2023 series title.
Plessinger gets redemption with 450 win in SD
Aaron Plessinger can’t contain his excitement getting his first 450SX win and talks about overcoming his heartbreaking loss in Detroit last year.
As for Lawrence, it seems that it is not time to worry about him just yet. Ricky Carmichael finished 20th in the season-opener in 2002 and won the title. Ryan Villopoto was 16th in 2013 before taking the top spot, so Lawrence can easily overcome his 12th-place result.
Jo Shimoda’s win in the 250 class last week was his first season-opening victory, and he hopes it will bode well for his season. In all three championships of the 2024 SuperMotocross League, Shimoda got off to modest starts and consistently improved. He is thrilled to have this little cushion over Deegan, who finished a distant fifth last week after a Lap 1 crash.
The Anaheim 1 250 West podium was filled with great stories. Julie Beaumer failed to crack the top five last year in Supercross, but he improved throughout the season and was second in the SMX Playoffs finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. He backed that up with another runner-up finish in Anaheim.
Jordon Smith’s third-place finish was the first podium for Factory Triumph in its second full season of competition.
Previous San Diego Winners
450s
2024: Aaron Plessinger (Followed by Cooper Webb, Justin Barcia)
2023: Eli Tomac (Cooper Webb, Justin Barcia)
2022: Chase Sexton (Eli Tomac, Dylan Ferrandis)
2020: Cooper Webb (Adam Cianciarulo, Blake Baggett)
2019: Eli Tomac (Marvin Musquin, Ken Roczen)
250s
2024: Nate Thrasher (Garrett Marchbanks, Jordon Smith)
2023: Jett Lawrence (RJ Hampshire, Cameron McAdoo)
2022: Michael Mosiman (Hunter Lawrence, Christian Craig)
2020: Dylan Ferrandis (Austin Forkner, Justin Cooper)
2019: Adam Cianciarulo (Garrett Marchbanks, Jimmy Decotis)
More SuperMotocross News
2025 SX schedule | MX schedule | WMX Schedule
2025 Supercross tickets on sale | Pro Motocross tickets
2025 TV Schedule | Track Maps
How to Watch San Diego Supercross
Ty Masterpool moves to 250 West
What riders said after Anaheim 1
Anaheim 1 450 results | 250 Results
Chase Sexton, Jo Shimoda win A1
Levi Kitchen makes race day decision to move to 250E
Ducati intends to enter 2026 SMX
SuperMotocross announces three playoff venues
Jalek Swoll injures Achilles tendon, will miss SX opener
Cooper Webb is determined to score one more championship
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