Lewis Phillips April 18, 20220
Jason Anderson wins Atlanta Supercross, discusses breakthrough ride after a difficult run.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson has been one of the standout stars throughout the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross series. Few expected him to secure a single victory, let alone stand atop the box consistently and be the closest to Eli Tomac. Even a rough run of events, where he made it onto the podium once in a five-week span, has not taken the shine off of his campaign, as he still runs in second in the championship standings and quite comfortably too.
The fourteenth round of the current term, held within the confines of Atlanta Motor Speedway, was yet another chapter in Anderson’s successful ‘green’ tenure. ’21’ raced to his fourth win of the season and in an impressive fashion too, as all of the main contenders started towards the front. Discussing the triumph in the post-race press conference, it was clearly a weight lifted from his shoulders and something that has helped erase doubt that had crept into his mind over the last month.
Press Conference: You had some wins earlier in the season – you got one almost every other weekend! You have had a rough patch lately though. What was that time like for you and how did you process the last month and a half, when the speed was there but there were mistakes along the way? How did you regroup and get the big one here today?
Jason Anderson: Yeah, you know, it was like I had everything going for me there for a little bit. It kind of fell apart once we got to Daytona. It was frustrating though because they were situations that should not have been happening. It was just reading the race and managing it a little bit better. It is tough to keep pushing and trying whenever it seems like nothing is going right, but to get this win and stuff like that is good. I was kind of bummed last weekend, because I felt like I made some good progress on the off weekend. I had a little bit of a cold last weekend and then felt better this weekend – you still kind of doubt yourself a little bit though. To get that win felt really good.
Align Media
How was that track today? In the middle of the main event there, when it was the most important, what was it like for you?
It was not too terrible. It was really slick in practice, you know, and the whoops were kind of cupped but they were not actually too terrible or sketchy. It kept you on your toes. The high speed of the track is intimidating, especially yesterday with all of the huge jumps. Thankfully, they tamed it down a bit. It is kind of an intimidating track. Daytona is not as big and a little sandier, so it keeps the pace down a bit. This Georgia clay is a little higher speed. It is a good track.
From your Twitter comments yesterday, it seemed like you did not like the track. It seemed like it came around quite a bit today and made for some good racing. Did you change your opinion from yesterday?
I believe that eighty percent of the 450SX class is out with injury right now. I think like a one-hundred-and-twenty-foot triple… I understand that they want shock value for the fans with the longest start straight and longest triple. We are four rounds away from the end, at the end of the day, so let us get through the season and have good racing. We are all going to have to hit the triple. It is going to rain too and we are still going to try to hit the triple. The track ended up good, luckily, but I just think that the shock value that they are trying to get out of some of the obstacles is too much for us racers and our safety. I understand where their heads are at, but we are humans and want to stay safe. We want to limit the risk. We know the risk that we take, so when they make it a little bit bigger and we do not have control over that… It is a little bit frustrating for me, personally. I hate to be the ‘Karen’ but at the same time I feel like someone needs to speak or I need to speak. If something happened to me on one of those jumps then I would be frustrated that I did not say something.
Align Media
I want to go back to the heat race battle that you had with Eli [Tomac]. It looked like a lot of fun, with you two going back and forth a bit. Take us through that.
It was a good battle. For me, I kept feeling him… I am telling you that Yamaha is so loud where the air intake is. You could hear it from so far behind, but I felt it getting louder after that sand section every time. It was tough to pass and especially in those heat races. It was a good battle.
Historically, Atlanta has some of the biggest crowds in a stadium. Would you rather have been in a stadium, like in years past, or are you happy with this?
I actually ride good here, but I do not know if I like it as much as racing in the Georgia Dome or places like that. I feel like that stadium in Atlanta is so nostalgic with all of the battling and stuff that has gone on inside there. I like this one, but I really liked racing in the stadium too. All in all, if you keep the track normal then I think that the racing is good here. The fans were here – it was pretty cool.
You seem like you have got the Kawasaki figured out, but is there still stuff that you feel like you are learning this late in the season? Can you also talk about Broc Tickle’s influence on the bike and coaching?
I rode a steel frame for eight years, so there are still times where it catches me off guard. I think that has been the reason for a lot of my mistakes this year. Even though I have been having success, I still feel that there are times where I do not read the way that it works. We have Broc and I think that the team has been working really well with being a little more open minded. I think Broc is a good influence too, because he is very smart and awesome. The cool thing about training with him is that he is one of my friends – we trained together with Aldon [Baker] back in the day. We bounce ideas off of each other. It’s not like we are doing anything crazy, as everyone basically does the same thing to get ready, but Broc understands it a little more, just from being in it. It is cool having him on my side.
A rough couple of weeks there and you had not won in a while. How satisfactory was it to keep on digging and get this? It seemed like you were extra excited, with the crowd right there as you crossed the finish?
Like I said, I am damn excited about any win right now. It feels good, especially after having a little bit of chaos go on. It seems like you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. To breakthrough, get a win and ride well gives you that motivation to keep going. It is tough whenever you keep getting beat down a little bit – everyone in our sport understands that. It is just a part of it and the nature of the beast. For some reason, as stressful as it is, we keep coming back for more. It is pretty awesome.
Friday, April 22, 2022 at 8:15AM 
