2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series Fan Guide: Part Two

2018 Teams/ Riders

There hasn’t been a litany of changes for 2018 in terms of the big stars and where they’re riding, but there have been a few. Broc Tickle took the second 450cc spot at the coveted Red Bull KTM team after Red Bull apparently balked at Justin Barcia (a long-time Monster athlete) racing for the team, and Tickle looked fantastic in off-season races. A couple months of training under Aldon Baker at the Baker’s Factory will certainly set him up well for 2018, too. While Jeremy Martin is racing the 250cc East for GEICO Honda, he plans to line up for the first three 450cc Supercrosses of 2018 as well. He raced a 450 at Daytona last year and finished second.

Ken Roczen is back on his bike and looking solid, although he’s still a question mark considering his brutal left-arm injuries. He’ll have his 12th surgery before Anaheim 1, to remove scar tissue from his wrist. It will be interesting to see the kind of speed he can bring, and whether or not his arm can hold up to the pounding of a 17-round series over only 18 weeks. If he comes out and wins anything at all in 2018, it should land him in legendary territory considering what he’s gone through.

Chad Reed has purchased some Husqvarnas and Mike Gosselaar has accompanied him to his second attempt at racing under his own awning. Not much is known about sponsorship and the like, but Reed is staring down the barrel of a couple of supercross-series records for this coming year, including surpassing Mike LaRocco’s record number of 450cc main events (which Reed should pass around halfway into this year’s championship, as long as he stays healthy). And if he can manage to win a main event, he’d be the oldest ever to do so, and the first to do so on all four Japanese motorcycles plus one non-Japanese motorcycle.

Yamaha signed Davi Millsaps for 2018, then Millsaps went down at the test track and badly injured his elbow. It’s a tricky joint. At first, Yamaha signed Justin Barcia to just the first six rounds of the series, but the word is that Millsaps is running into a few complications during his healing process, so that might extend Barcia’s time with the race team. If things go well, he could end up racing for Yamaha throughout supercross as well as outdoors.

Zach Osborne will defend his 250cc East title before moving up to 450s full-time for the outdoor championship and beyond. And Justin Hill, who proclaimed during supercross that he planned to move to the 450cc class in 2018, was unable to find a ride on the big bikes and will defend the title he won with Pro Circuit while racing for the Joe Gibbs Racing Suzuki team instead. Taking his spot on the Pro Circuit team is another guy who couldn’t find a good 450cc ride, despite 450cc podiums during the AMA Nationals, Martin Davalos.

Eli Tomac is the early favorite to take the title based on 2017 results, but Marvin Musquin cannot be discounted, and Ken Roczen also has it in him if his arm holds up. And there’s likely a surprise or two awaiting for the start of the series as well, and it could come in the form of Cooper Webb, Cole Seely, Justin Bogle, Blake Baggett, Josh Grant, Jason Anderson, or even Chad Reed.
We’ll have to wait until early January to know for sure.

450
Team Honda
14 Cole Seely
94 Ken Roczen

Smartop/Motoconcepts Honda
10 Justin Brayton
12 Jake Weimer
55 Vince Friese

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
15 Dean Wilson
21 Jason Anderson

Chad Reed Husqvarna
22 Chad Reed

Monster Energy Kawasaki
3 Eli Tomac
33 Josh Grant

Red Bull KTM
20 Broc Tickle
25 Marvin Musquin

Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM
4 Blake Baggett
60 Benny Bloss

Toyota/Monster Energy/Joe Gibbs Racing Suzuki
19 Justin Bogle
34 Weston Peick

Monster Energy/Knich/Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Cooper Webb
18 Davi Millsaps
51 Justin Barcia

CycleTrader/Rock River Yamaha
91 Alex Ray

250
GEICO Honda
6 Jeremy Martin (East)
32 Christian Craig (West)
36 RJ Hampshire (East)
40 Chase Sexton (West)
66 Cameron McAdoo (East)

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
1E Zach Osborne (East)
30 Mitchell Harrison
64 Michael Mosiman

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki
17 Joey Savatgy
29 Martin Davalos
35 Austin Forkner
92 Adam Cianciarulo

TLD/Red Bull KTM
26 Alex Martin
28 Shane McElrath
43 Sean Cantrell
45 Jordon Smith

Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM
42 Dakota Alix
56 Anthony Rodriguez

AutoTrader/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing
1W Justin Hill (West)
47 Jimmy Decotis
54 Phil Nicoletti
76 Kyle Peters

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha
23 Aaron Plessinger
24 Dylan Ferrandis
31 Colt Nichols
52 Mitchell Oldenburg
62 Justin Cooper

CycleTrader/Rock River Yamaha
53 Bradley Taft

51Fifty Energy Yamaha
11 Kyle Chisholm
63 Hayden Mellross
75 Noah McConahy

Traders Racing
38 Luke Renzland
N/A Jayce Pennington