Anaheim 3 Supercross Goes to Jason Anderson

Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA — February 12, 2022

Monster Energy AMA Supercross wraps up their west coast residency with a third visit to Anaheim, CA. The last time the series stopped at Angel Stadium it was points leaders Eli Tomac(450SX) and Christian Craig(250SX) atop the winner’s podiums.

Tomac dominated the Triple-Crown event last week at Glendale, AZ to extend his points lead to 11 over Chase Sexton. Hunter Lawrence eeked out the overall winner in the three 250SX motos to cut Christian Craig’s advantage to just 8 after Round 5 of the West Riders competition.

Tomac enters tonight’s event as the 2nd fastest qualifier behind Jason Anderson who is 3rd in the points standings, 15 behind Eli. Christain is again the fastest 250SX rider as he looks to maintain his season-long momentum of winning almost everything he lines up for.

250SX

Garrett Marchbanks(35) looked like he was going to run away with Heat #1 of the 250SX class until Jo Shimoda(30) made a late run. Unfortunately, Shimoda suffered an ugly crash trying to make a move to the inside of the leader and went down just before the finish line. Trapped under his bike, Shimoda was unable to get up and finish the heat. He will have to run the Last Chance Qualifier(LCQ), if he is able to make it to the starting gate, in order to qualify for the main event.

In Heat #2 Hunter Lawrence(96) lined up next to Christian Craig(28) as the top two riders in the class continue their battle for the championship lead in the West Division. Craig took the top spot early, but it was Michael Mosiman(29) running in second ahead of Lawrence in third. Prior to Marchbanks’s breakthrough in the first heat, these 3 riders have taken every heat win so far in 2022. Craig held on for the win, Lawrence was able to catch and pass Mosiman for 2nd. The top three distanced themselves by over 20 seconds from the remainder of the field.

Jo Shimoda failed to make it to the starting gate for the 250SX LCQ, likely putting an end to his championship hopes for this year.

250SX Main Event

After a wild scramble at the start, Christian Craig led lap one with Hunter Lawrence within striking distance in second. Michael Mosiman was forced off track early and got mired back in the 16th position.

Lawrence got out of sorts in the whoops and crashed over the handlebar of his bike forcing him out of the event. Craig held a 16-second advantage over Vince Friese(62) who inherited second when Hunter went down. Mosiman recovered to get himself in a podium position and when Friese bobbled, Mosiman advanced to the second position.

Mosiman cut the interval behind Craig by a couple of seconds and then he lost it going down in almost the same position as Lawrence did. Friese moved back into second, while Mosiman recovered to settle into third.

The trio finished in that order with Craig extending his points lead to over the maximum a rider can earn in one race. Baring a serious mishap, Christian has virtually wrapped up the 250SX West Championship.

250SX Main Event Results

250SX West Points Standings

Next week the 250SX East Riders get their first opportunity to strut their stuff as the series moves to Minneapolis, MN. The West riders take a five-week break before they are back on the track, March 26th, in Seattle.

450SX

Justin Brayton(10) grabbed the holeshot in the 450SX Heat #1. Justin Barcia(51) was hot on his heels and made the pass quickly. Points leader Eli Tomac(3) ran back in 8th after a collision with his teammate Dylan Ferrandis(14) in the first turn caused Ferrandis to go down.

Barcia rode away for the win, Marvin Musquin(25) worked his way up to second. Tomac recovered to place third edging ahead of Brayton at the end of the heat. Ferrandis did not finish a lap and will have to rely on the LCQ to make it into the 450SX feature.

Jason Anderson(21) rocketed out of the starting gate and rode away from the field in Heat #2. Aaron Plessinger(7) took second and Chase Sexton(23) came in third.

Dylan Ferrandis made it to the gate for his LCQ thanks to his crew that virtually rebuilt the bike after it suffered serious damage when he crashed out of his heat. It was the first LCQ appearance of Ferrandis’s Supercross career. After getting crowded into the first turn, Dylan avoided trouble and quickly moved to the front to separate himself from any potential difficulties. A clean ride secured Ferrandis a spot in the Main Event.

Dean Wilson(15) was also forced into the LCQ, his second-place finish behind Dylan also transferred him into the feature.

450SX Main Event

The 450SX Main gave the fans exactly what they came for as Jason Anderson and Eli Tomac staged a classic battle for the win. Out quickly and separating themselves from the rest of the field. Two minutes in Tomac made a bid for the lead but could not hold the pass as Anderson rode back by.

At the 13 minutes to-go mark, Tomac had some trouble in the whoops. He maintained control but lost a couple of seconds to the leader. The interval fluctuated as the pair rode through lapped traffic at the halfway point of the race.

Consecutive bobbles in the whoops on two consecutive laps cost Anderson some time and Tomac began to creep closer coming to the five-minute mark. Ultimately, Tomac was unable to make a late charge and safely guarded his position for second on the night. Justin Barcia finished in third.

Tomac entered the night 11 points up on Chase Sexton(23) and 15 ahead of Anderson. He left the west coast 12 points up on Anderson and 18 ahead of Sexton.

450SX Main Event Results

450SX Points Standings