Team Honda’s Trey Canard won his first Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, race of the 2015 season in front of over 47,000 fans at O.co Coliseum. And GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart captured his first win in the Western Regional 250SX Class Championship.
BTO Sports/KTM’s Andrew Short won the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award with RCH/Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/Factory Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who came into Saturday’s race as the points leader with two wins, and Discount Tire/TwoTwo Motorsports’ Chad Reed in second and third respectively.
Reed passed Short for the lead on the opening lap, and Roczen passed Reed on Lap 1. However, after the pass, Roczen did not have the momentum needed to clear the triple jump and crashed upon landing, forcing him to drop back to nearly last place. He eventually remounted and finished 16th overall.
Roczen’s crash allowed Reed – who was black flagged last week because of an on-track altercation with Team Honda’s Trey Canard – to take over the lead. Team Honda’s Cole Seely moved into third place on Lap 4 and Canard pulled into third place on the same lap.
Canard took over second place, just behind Reed, on Lap 5, and the stage was set for the highly anticipated duel between the two riders. Canard wasted little time on Reed, passing him on the following lap.
On Lap 16, Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey passed Reed for second place, marking his second-consecutive runner-up finish of the year. Reed finished third, his best finish of the season.
“All things considered, tonight’s track was really tough,” said Dungey. “I wanted to make up some ground on Trey [Canard] for the lead, but it didn’t work out. It’s nice to take over the points lead, but the season is still young.”
Canard’s last win came in Arlington, Texas in 2011.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Canard. “I didn’t think I would be on the podium after the first few laps; it was busy out there. It has been a long haul to get here on top of the podium, and I am really happy about it.”
Rockstar Energy/Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Bell started the Western regional 250SX Class Main Event by winning the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot Award. Following closely was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge and GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart in second and third respectively.
Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, who came into Saturday’s race with a two-race win streak and the points lead, started near the back of the pack.
Stewart worked his way into second place on Lap 1, and on the following lap, he moved into the lead. On the race’s third lap, the lead would change again as Red Bull/KTM’s Justin Hill passed Stewart for the lead. Alldredge had a miscue and jumped off the track, which cost him several positions. Cycle Trader/Rock River/Yamaha’s Alex Martin moved into the third position by Lap 5.
While working his way through the pack, Webb collided with four-time AMSOIL Arenacross Champion Tyler Bowers and subsequently crashed.
While in the lead on Lap 7, Hill crashed and turned the lead back over to Stewart. Following the bad start and the crash, Webb came back, and passed Bowers, to put himself in third place. On the last lap, Webb passed Martin for second place and earned his third consecutive podium finish.
Martin finished third, the first podium of his career.
“I didn’t get the start that I wanted, but I worked my way through, but then Bowers [Tyler] sawed my front end off,” said Webb.
Webb holds and eight-point lead in championship standings over Bowers. Stewart moved up one spot in the stands and is sixth.
“This is a big moment for me,” said Stewart. “First of all, I want to thank my brother. I want to thank these fans out here tonight; I am an Oakland Raiders fan, so you guys are great. I knew I could do it, and tonight it finally paid off.
Monster Energy Supercross continues next weekend with its fifth stop of the 17-race season from Anaheim, California, the third of three stops at Angel Stadium. Live broadcast coverage on FOX Sports 1 begins at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 31.
