10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANAHEIM I

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By Jody Weisel

Although no one wanted to say that Ken Roczen was the chosen one for 2015 before the race, his performance on Saturday night spoke volumes.

(1) WHO’S NEXT? One race does not a season make, but Ken Roczen went into Anaheim as the odds-on favorite to win…and win he did. No one should be surprised, Kenny was winning races last year and making the podium with regularity. Does his Anaheim 1 victory mean that he will sweep the rest of the series. We hope not. We came to see racing, hopefully at the front, but that didn’t happened at A1. Roczen probably would have won anyway, but he owes a percentage of his victory to Andrew Short and Mike Alessi. Once they slotted in between Roczen and the pack, they kept the hounds at bay. Jason Anderson got by the cleanly, but everyone else stacked up behind Alessi. And, while they were back there, they made mistakes, dropped places when they made foolish moves and, in some cases, brain faded out of contention. By the time the established contenders cleared Short and Alessi, Roczen was already wiring his $100,000 Suzuki bonus check to a Swiss bank (or buying a new surfboard).

Zach Osborne was the center of attention all night long. He got knocked down twice in his heat race, won the 250 West Last Chance and scored the brand-new Husqvarna team a second overall in the 250 class.

(2) EASY TRACK CONNUNDRUM: If the opening round track is too difficult, the riders complain that they shouldn’t have to start the season with a track that can change their fortunes at the first race of  the year. So, the 2015 Anaheim I track was easy. Of course the riders complained that it was too easy. Since everyone’s lap times were razor close it was hard to get by riders who were only a millisecond slower. Anaheim was all rhythm — no bass. Whoops, we mean no whoops. Let’s hope that this isn’t a trend for 2015.

Jason Anderson had a night he’ll never forget. In his first-ever 450 Supercross he scored a second overall. Totally unexpected four days ago, but now expected for next weekend.

(3) BIG NIGHT IN SALZBURG: Austria had a great night. Jessy Nelson won the 250 West main event convincingly on his new Troy Lee Designs’ KTM. It was Nelson’s first win, and his first time on the podium ever. He was followed home by Husqvarna-mounted Zach Osborne (and that Husky didn’t come from Sweden). Fourth in the 250 West went to KTM’s Justin Hill with Troy Lee’s other KTM rider, Shane McElrath, in sixth. Austria could claim first, second, fourth and sixth in the 250 West. Although Austria could not claim a victory in the 450 class, Jason Anderson put a Husqvarna on the second step of the podium for the first time since…well, you weren’t born yet. Ryan Dungey and Andrew Short were fourth and fifth (with Justin Brayton 13th and Dean Wilson 15th). All in all, a major step forward for both KTM and Husqvarna (especially Husky who was second in both classes in their first year back since the Fast by Ferracci team more than a decade ago).

ONE OF TOMAC’S TWO MAIN EVENT CRASHES

(4) RICKY & THE 90: On five different occasions during the broadcast, Ricky Carmichael expressed his disgust with 90-degree turns. It was repetitive overkill and it got monotonous. A color commentator is only as good as his material, and when he starts rehashing the same stuff over and over again, he loses his usefulness to the broadcast. Say it once, say it proud and then say something else. Plus, there were a considerable number of passes at the end of the long straights with 90-degree turns (including the one Roczen made for the win). Plus, just from a home schooling point of view, if you don’t have at least two 90-degree turns on a racetrack it can not go around the inside of a stadium — because it would never return to where it started. Perhaps Ricky could pitch his all-hairpin track idea to Monster as the counterpoint to the Red Bull Straight Rhythm course. It would be the Monster Energy Crooked Rhythm Cup. It would start in Las Vegas and end in Primm.

Eli Tomac had a good start and, with the speed he showed in his heat race, he could have given Ken Roczen a run for his money in the 450 main. But, Eli crashed…twice.

(5) TWIT-HER: Why would a race organization or a TV network encourage its viewers to stop watching TV so they can go to Twitter and hashtag their dexterous little fingers off? The Dianna Dahlgren Twitter segments are a complete waste of air time — plus the programmers actually run tweets and photos that weren’t generated from that night’s show, but are a couple days or weeks old. That takes the immediacy of Twitter right out of the equation. If they need something for Miss Dahlgren to do, perhaps she could have gone into the pits and talked to Josh Hill about the 12th hour Yamaha deal that got him on the track, or found James Stewart and ask him what his favorite “House Hunters” episode is, or interviewed the three Swedes (Noren, Lind and Thuresson) about their decision to race in the USA, or given a minute of time to Australian Supercross Champion Matt Moss, or showed a little love to ancient mariner Nick Wey in the twilight of his career. Nope, instead we get the same fuzzy photos of little kids in helmets watching TV or big kids dragging their bikes into the living room to the dismay of  Mrs. Big Kid. Television time is valuable. Our sport waited decades to get the kind of TV coverage we now have — let’s not waste it on meaningless drivel.

Malcolm Stewart got last in the 250 West. Not that he wasn’t fast, he just wasn’t fast to get up after crashing.

(6) YOUR REPUTATION FOLLOWS YOU:  Let’s be clear that Tyler Bowers is not a nice motocross racer. His bio is filled with lots of controversy, but he can be forgiven for the events at A1 for several reason: (1) Tyler came from Arenacross, where takeout moves, close running and revenge moves are part of the game. (2) Bowers may be the “Man in the Black Hat” in the 250 West because he booted Zach Osborne into the next straight-away, but a couple laps later Matt Biscelgia blew Osborne into the giggle weeds, followed by Jessy Nelson cleaning out Cooper Webb — all in the same heat race. Even in the TV replay, Ricky Carmichael was of the opinion that Bowers didn’t make enough contact to worry about it. (3) In the history to Black Hat racers, Bowers is a lightweight. Lots of riders with skewed ethics have succeeded in this sport. (4) And since the AMA has a very checkered history of enforcing rules against this sort of riding, and the layout of modern Supercross tracks encourages coming up the inside and punting instead of passing, the riders will have to self-enforce whatever style of racing they want to live by. (5) Bowers said that Osborne touched him first a few corners earlier (although the TV fans never saw Osborne’s pass on Bowers) — and, under the Bushido Code of Pro Racing, that means that Bowers was justified in what he did. Although Tyler Bowers does not normally wait for justification.

BOWERS & OSBORNE

(7) AIR FORK RUMORS:  After Wil Hahn crashed in practice, rumors spread through the internet that his SFF-TAC forks had lost their air pressure and collapsed on Wil. No so! Wil simply seat bounced a small double and got kicked rear end high, which caused the front wheel to drop on the top of the second jump. From that point on Wil Hahn was a cannonball aimed at the base of the third jump in the sequence. He hurt his arm and looks to be sidelined for awhile. Apart from the obvious reality that coil spring don’t go flat, it has been a marvelously safe off-season for the AMA field. Thus, Hahn’s quick departure from Anaheim Stadium brought the dangers back into focus. Hahn was hurt badly last season in a brutal crash and getting pegged to become Davi Millsaps’ teammate at Factory Kawasaki was like manna from heaven. He literally fell off the turnip truck to get that gig — unfortunately, he fell off of his Kawasaki before the gate even dropped.

WIL HAHN CRASH

(8) JAMES WHO? Feld handled the James Stewart drug ban like a candy striper nurse handles Ebola blood samples. They barely touched it, squeezed it into a list of other slam-bam info and hoped that it would just fade away. And it has. With Ken Roczen taking Suzuki to the top step of the podium, no one in Suzuki’s front office was saying, “I wish we had James Stewart out there.” In all sports, athletes come and go. Baseball isn’t still weeping about the fact that Mickey Mantle isn’t playing anymore and, for those with short memories, last year Trey Canard, Davi Millsaps, Chad Reed, Broc Tickle, Josh Hill, Eli Tomac, Jake Weimer, Blake Baggett and Marvin Musquin all spent considerable time at home on the couch. Don’t forget, James Stewart voluntarily skipped complete AMA National series before so that he could stay home and watch “House Hunters.” He will be back, but until then we’ll all survive.

His style is to be cautious, score points and be there at the end of the 17 races, but Ryan Dungey took caution to a new level at A1.

(9) THE OLD RYAN DUNGEY: Last year at Anaheim II, the old gun shy Ryan Dungey suddenly became trigger-happy and started to show some aggression. This year the old milque-toast Dungey is back. He followed Mike Alessi in the 450 main event as though he was worried that passing him would hurt Mike’s feelings. Don’t worry Ryan, Mike is used to being passed in Supercross — it comes with getting the holeshot in every moto, but not having the speed to back it up. Dungey’s timidity with Alessi allowed Trey Canard to get the last step on the podium. Dungey doesn’t have to take people out to be more aggressive, but he has to be more aggressive to be be more aggressive. By the time Dungey did make a solid move on Alessi — it was too late for Ryan to catch Trey Canard, but not too late for Alessi to go back to 9th.

Justin Hill won a 250 West race last year. He will probably win more than one this year — but it won’t be A1.

(10) LIVE IS AS LIVE DOES: Kudos to Fox and Feld for making every round of the 2015 Supercross season live on TV. Split between Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 and one race on Fox itself, the fans will get to see all the action. The race that is on the Fox network will be the New York/New Jersey round. It will be a day race — starting at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) and 12:00 noon (Pacific) on Saturday April 25. Day races have always been a challenge because the Supercross track crew just barely keeps the track watered and prepped well enough at night (when there is moisture in the air) — let alone in the daytime. Old school racers will remember the day races at the L.A. Coliseum (when they ran a doubleheader with a night race on Saturday and a day race on Sunday) and the Oklahoma City race from decades ago. Not great memories.

ANAHEIM I RESULTS: 450 CLASS
1. Ken Roczen…….…Suz
2. Jason Anderson…Hus
3. Trey Canard…….…Hon
4. Ryan Dungey…….KTM
5. Andrew Short..…..KTM
6. Justin Barcia……..Yam
7. Weston Peick………Yam
8. Broc Tickle……..….Suz
9. Mike Alessi……..….Suz
10. Chad Reed…..…..Kaw
Other notables: 12. Blake Baggett; 13. Justin Brayton; 14. Cole Seely; 15. Dean Wilson; 19. Davi Millsaps

This is the look of a winner! Jessy Nelson (28) is boring a hole through the first turn as his teammate Shane McElrath (40) helps cement the idea that the KTM 250SXF Factory Editions are fast.

ANAHEIM I RESULTS: 250 WEST
1. Jessy Nelson….….…KTM
2. Zach Osborne………Hus
3. Tyler Bowers……..…Kaw
4. Justin Hill……….…..KTM
5. Aaron Plessinger…..Yam
6. Shane McElrath……KTM
7. Cooper Webb…….…Yam
8. Alex Martin……..…..Yam
9. Josh Hansen……..…Kaw
10. Michael Leib…..….Hon
Other notables: 11. Zach Bell; 14. Tommy Hahn; 16. Nico Izzi; 21. Darryn Durham; 22. Malcolm Stewart

450 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 1 of 17 races)
1. Ken Roczen…………..25
2. Jason Anderson……22
3. Trey Canard…………20
4. Ryan Dungey………..18
5. Andrew Short..……..16
6. Justin Barcia………..15
7. Weston Peick……..…14
8. Broc Tickle……….….13
9. Mike Alessi……….….12
10. Chad Reed…..………11

250 WEST POINTS STANDINGS
(After 1 of 8 races)
1. Justin Nelson………….25
2. Zach Osborne…….…..22
3. Tyler Bowers……..…..20
4. Justin Hill……………..18
5. Aaron Plessinger.……16
6. Shane McElrath………15
7. Cooper Webb……….…14
8. Alex Martin……….…..13
9. Josh Hansen………….12
10. Michael Leib…………11

Photos: Geico Honda, KTM, Husqvarna, Suzuki, John Basher

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