Ken Roczen has given a detailed breakdown on the three key decisions that led to him being crowned 2026 AMA Supercross champion; a new engine, his gate pick choice and the quick pass on Hunter that all added up to perfection on a night that required nothing less to be crowned champion.
Speaking on the Title 24 podcast with Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto, two guys that know exactly how hard it is to win a title and what Ken was going through, Roczen gave an amazing insight into what was going through his head at the time with astounding clarity.
On the different engine chosen for the final round Ken revealed: “After Denver I was surprised what the altitude did to the motorcycles, I hadn’t been there the last two years, I was hurt. The last time I was there was 23 and it kind of fades a little bit (memory of the power reduction).
“We went to Salt Lake City with an engine package I had tried in the off-season with more power, more-so different power but it was too fast for me and I wasn’t able to ride it the same and I went back to what I knew, but it came in handy. I am a little bummed I didn’t think about that coming into Denver but it was also hard because we were doing amazing, I was comfortable and we did little tiny adjustments to help that we did in ’23 as well.
But when you are splittling hairs and Hunter is so good, I didn’t want to leave it up to a guessing game because it was all or nothing on the weekend and I wanted to go for it (and use the more powerful engine).
On the having the eighth gate pick and choosing to go beside the box on the outside, Roczen said: “There was a constant debate throughout the day, I was talking to my dad too and watching the heat race starts. Inside is normally the safer bet, we know that, but also, it all bunches up on the inside and tighter turns. I told my dad it doesn’t matter if you go there (inside) or outside the box because if you get a good jump you are good either way but if you get a bad jump you are screwed either way.
“Once Hunter lined up, I had eighth gate pick which wasn’t ideal, and looking at the ruts, I could have went inside Hunter and the rut wasn’t great, and on the right side of the box I had two ruts, and one was quite a bit better. I felt like that gave me my best option, because I had faith that if I had a decent rut I am pretty sure I can get a good jump. And then sometimes when you are in the middle and next to the box you have a little bit of room even you don’t get the best start, you can swim around the first turn a lot better. “
“You have Hunter, great starter, Jorge, great starter, Cooper, great starter so you have 5/6 guys all next to each other, all great starters, so for you to get a good start, you have to be really good. I was out there with a bit of room to my left, not having to start around five guys that are insane starters, I had trust this was giving me better odds.”
On the biggest pass of his career Roczen remembers exactly why he made the move in that moment: “Hunter came over on me just a little bit (in the first turn), which is to be expected, I would have done the same thing. But then the angle was just right to where I was on the left side of him and I could square it up and I’m like, ‘it is now or never.’ I knew it was risky to do it early on but it was now or never so I did it, and I do believe that move changed the entire narrative of which way that main could have gone, if I would have let him go first around that turn.”