Being constant pays off: Cooper Webb wins Triple Crown in Anaheim

Angel Stadium hosted the AMA Supercross 450 for the second time this season, with this being a Triple Crown day, where Cooper Web finished as the winner… without ever having won. Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac and Jason Anderson were the race winners.

In the first heat Chase Sexton finished as the winner and dominated the entire session, crossing the finish line in first place on all 14 laps, finishing with a lead of 2.311s over second, Webb, while Ken Roczen was third.

Jason Anderson was fourth and Eli Tomac fifth.

In the second heat, it was Jason Anderson’s turn to win his first main event this season. Webb finished the first lap in front, but Webb overtook his opponent and once he had done so he never let go of the lead, relegating the #2 to second place in the session, with Jett Lawrence taking the final podium place.

Plessinger and Justin Cooper were fourth and fifth respectively.

In the final main event of the night, the third, victory went to Eli Tomac, who crossed the finish line in first place for all 14 laps, finishing with a lead of more than 7s over second, Sexton, while last week’s winner, Aaron Plessinger, was third.

Jett Lawrence was fourth and Webb rounded off the top five.

At the end of the day, Webb took overall victory with a 2-2-5, with Tomac second and Plessinger third.

In the championship accounts, Plessinger retains the lead with 80 points, Sexton is second with 76 and Webb has risen to third place, now with 74.

Daniel Blair on AP

Will Anaheim 2 Be Dry?

The Monster Energy® Yamaha Star Racing crew heads to San Diego in the throwback YZ livery as Justin Cooper looks to regroup after early round struggles and Cooper Webb looks to jump back in the 450SX title hunt with an impressive runner-up finish. In a battle to the final lap, Nate Thrasher emerges victorious with his first 250SX win of the season while teammate Jordon Smith gets a third-straight podium to expand his championship points lead.

Anaheim 2 Means Works Connection Pro Launch

Team Honda and Star Yaamaha riders will all be using the Works Connection Pro Launch Device at Anaheim 2. It's a safe bet one of them will get the holeshot.

Jett, Hunter and Joe will all be counting on WC for the holeshot

Josh Strang to race Sherco in GNCC

Josh Strang will race a Sherco SEF 450 in the 2024 Grand national Cross Country (GNCC) season running his own team with support from Sherco USA.

“I’m proud to announce that I will be running my own program with full support from Sherco USA for the 2024 season.” Says Former GNCC and ISDE champion, Josh Strang.

The Aussie has followed what looks to us like a growing trend in North America to us in  creating his own team and programme for the 2024 season with support from key sponsors, not least Sherco.

“This deal has been a long time in the making but it’s very exciting seeing everything come together like we have all been working for.” Josh continues. “I wanted to find support and sponsors that actually wanted to be involved. These are the companies that have stepped up and the companies that when I approached them with an idea, there was no hesitation in wanting to help. This is going to be fun!

“The Sherco SEF 450 is a bike that people should not sleep on… it already has proven results in American East Coast racing. I have put in a lot of time and feel very comfortable on it so I’m excited to get racing.”

Sherco is already proven in EnduroGP we’ll add in here as well Josh! It’ll be good to see the French manufacturer back at the sharp end in GNCC. 

SMX Insiders

Two Mud races in a row give the SMX Insiders a lot to talk about on this week’s show. First-time 450 main event winner Aaron Plessinger sits down for the big interview with Jason Weigandt and Jason Thomas, and Clinton Fowler breaks down the numbers from AP’s historic win in Fowler’s facts. The insiders deliver the news like no one else can as they break down the on and off-track altercations in the 450 class and talk about unprecedented parity to start the 2024 season.

Coop Is Ready

Cooper Webb | "This is EXACTLY what I was wanting..."

Legends and Heroes Honors Lars Larsson at Anaheim 2 Supercross

Swede off-road racer and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Lars Larsson will be recognized by Legends and Heroes at Supercross round two on January 27.

Legends and Heroes, along with our spokesman Broc Glover, is proud to announce that we will honor Lars Larsson at round two of the Anaheim Supercross on January 27, 2024.

Lars Larsson is a pioneering motocross and off-road racer from Sweden who helped introduce motocross racing to America in the late 1960s. He was a leading International Six Day Trials/Enduro (ISDT/ISDE) rider during the 1960s and 1970s. He earned multiple gold medals riding for the United States, Mexico and his native Sweden. Lars was also instrumental in setting up the original Husqvarna dealership network across America in the late 1960s, and he helped launch Torsten Hallman Original Racewear (THOR). 

Lars was born in on July 5, 1941 in Stockholm, Sweden. His first race was in 1959 in a Swedish enduro, riding a Husqvarna 175.

“The Husqvarna 175s were street bikes,” Lars recalled. “But we would convert them to off-road bikes by stripping them down and making them as light as possible. Lars had become a leading rider when the AMA instituted the Inter-AM motocross series. In 1971, he won four of the five Inter-AM 500cc non-national races on a special Husqvarna racer built with a titanium frame. His true forte became off-road racing. He was a leading national enduro rider through the 1970s and earned gold at the 1971 International Six Days Trials (later called the International Six Day Enduro) in Czechoslovakia riding for the U.S.A. Trophy squad.

By the late 1970s, Lars retired from racing professionally. During his career he was a factory rider for Husqvarna, Can-Am, Maico and Kawasaki. He continued to race on the amateur level and earned a World Vet Motocross Championship in 2001 at the age of 60. Now in 2024, Lars is 83 and still racing. He recently won the 80 class at the World Vet Motocross Championship at Glen Helen. Lars was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002.

Marvin's Play Day

The first AMSOIL Swapmoto Race Series event of the year went off last weekend at Glen Helen Raceway, and we were stoked to see Marvin Musquin pull into the track to have some fun. We were even more excited when we saw the bike in the back of his truck: a KTM 250 SX two-stroke! Always the gentleman, MM elected to race without being scored, so that he didn’t take money out of a local pro racer’s pocket. We chatted him up in between motos…

RC and RV Podcast - San Diego

Supercross Round 3 recap with special guest Aaron Plessinger

Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto chat with the latest winner in the SuperMotocross World Championship Aaron Plessinger to talk about his first career Supercross win, the road to get to this point, the camaraderie amongst riders, his feeling on the bike, and his dance move. Our team also gets into the contact between Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb, the post-race altercation between Jett Lawrence and Jason Anderson, what happened to Ken Roczen, and RJ Hampshire's issues in the 250 class.

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