The Phoenix SX (now the Glendale SX) moved across town to the beautiful University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Photo by: Hoppenworld
The 2016 Glendale Supercross and round five of the Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series brought us two new winners in 2016 and one first time winner. In the 450SX class, RCH/Soaring Eagle/Suzuki’s Ken Roczen lit the candles for his fifth career 450SX main event win, while GEICO/Honda’s Christian Craig scored his first-ever career main event win in the 250SX class. Ken was joined on the podium by Red Bull/KTM’s Ryan Dungey (2nd) and Monster/Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (3rd), and Christian was surronded by Star Racing/Yamaha’s Cooper Webb (2nd) and Monster/PC/Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy on the 250SX podium.
After the inaugural Glendale SX came to a close, we gathered quotes from a myriad of riders in the pits and from around the world wide web. Check out what they all said about their fifth main event of ’16 below. Click for Glendale SX results.
Ken Roczen: “It feels awesome! I actually said this morning, “It’s a new Stadium and I’m going to win” and that’s actually what we did. The Stadium is absolutely fantastic. It’s super big, it’s super nice, it’s a cool area and the track was really different—super high speed. It’s the typical Phoenix dirt. The dirt got really hard here towards the end and it got chewed up. But man, we got it done. We have everyone in the house from the team here tonight. From Cary Hart, to Alecia (Alecia Moore, AKA Pink) and the whole team. It was absolutely amazing and my trainer was here too. We’re going to enjoy the night, and then we’ll get back to work on Monday, bottom line.” Read more from Ken here>>>
Christian Craig: “Tonight was something special for sure. I was struggling with the track, too. Got a good start. [Jimmy] Decotis, my teammate, got the holeshot, I think that’s almost every holeshot this year for the team, pumped for him, but I made the pass through the whoops, that was my strong point. Then I was like ‘Alright, here we go again, I see the number one [Webb] coming.’ Same thing again, he caught me, lap ten, he tried to run it in on me in one of the corners before the whoops, and I saw his front end push right under me. [After he crashed] I was like, ‘Okay, five more laps, just ride it in.’ Crossing that finish line was like a dream come true, for sure. A feeling I’ll never forget.
[More from Christian Craig] “Last year at this time I was working construction. To be here today, I didn’t see that happening. When I came back last year outdoors, I finally started to believe in myself, then this year around round three I knew I could win. I just needed to get the jitters out at the first few races.”
Ryan Dungey: “It was good tonight. My start was just a little bit off. We didn’t get off to a bad start, but I just got edged out a little bit. But hey, racing is racing and next week we really need to try to get out front off the start and just give myself a chance to battle for the win. Otherwise, everything else was good. We were able to make the passes happen, make them happen clean and make them stick. I just tried to work my way to the front. By the time I got into third, I saw Eli [Tomac] and was able to get Eli. But, after we got Eli Ken just had a little bit too much of a gap on me.”
Jordon Smith: “Day started out pretty good, I think it was my best qualifying of the year with sixth, and all the times were pretty close so I felt good about that. Got a good start in the heat race and made a few passes, found myself in the lead. That was the best I’d felt all year, and then on the last lap I had a really unfortunate crash in the whoops. They were really big and tough this week. That put me out for the rest of the night. It’s a bummer but we’ll be back.”
Davi Millsaps: “Yeah, my night was pretty good. Obviously, getting the heat race win was nice, getting the holeshot was nice, and I would of liked to stay up there with those guys, but they’re going fast. You know, I can’t run that pace for twenty laps yet, so I have to settle into my own pace to make it through twenty laps. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to be up there with them battling and making it an interesting race.”
Zach Osborne: “I was prepared to fight today, even though I was a little sick. It ended up being a big disappointment for me. I just wanted to get a good start in the main so I could get back on the podium, but I ended up getting tangled with another rider coming out of the second turn and then got landed on. I think I’m ok. I should be good to race next week in San Diego.”
Christophe Pourcel: “The start was super slippery. I just couldn’t get going fast enough, and it seemed like the track was so rough. I made a couple passes but still struggled. I almost crashed a few times, but was just a little slower than the other guys. The whoops were pretty steep and slick towards the end, which made it hard to carry momentum. I had a good ride in my semi, though. I got a good start and got to ride with Jason, which is good. I still feel like I’m going in the right direction.”
Jason Anderson: “I’m riding well and am always trying to move forward. I just need to work on a couple things that will help me get up front faster and put in consistent laps. The track was pretty tough this weekend, especially the whoops. It was technical and tight, which made it hard to make up time. I ended up having to capitalize on other’s mistakes. I was also searching for traction all night because it was so slick. I just need to figure out how to keep my laps fast with deteriorating track conditions.”
Mitchell Oldenburg: “I’m really happy that we’ve been able to put together a few good weekends. We have a few races before the break to get up on the podium where I think we have the speed to be. I’ve always liked San Diego so we’ll see if we can make it happen.”
Cole Seely: “It’s frustrating when you know you can be at the top with those guys. Everyone is riding really well and my mistake cost me a lot. But we learn from our mistakes and we’ll be back in a big way next week. I really want to be back on the podium and it would be great if I could do that before we head east.”
Cooper Webb: “It was just a little slick, and I tucked the front. I was trying to make the pass on Christian [Craig] and tucked the front. I’m a little bummed, but it was still good that I was able to get back up, get going and still get second. Once I got up, he rode a great race—it was tough. The whoops were really tough, the track’s a lot slicker and we’ll be back. It’s good to have the red plate back, and we still have a couple races left. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Wil Hahn: “Tonight was a huge improvement. From the start of qualifying to the Main Event, we made progress all the way through the day. I can’t thank Monster Energy Kawasaki enough with how patient they have been with me and for allowing me to grow. Another 10th tonight but I really felt I earned this one. Looking forward to next weekend and continuing to progress.”
Jimmy Decotis: “In the main I got the holeshot and rode the first couple of laps great, then it went downhill. I’ve been sick for the past three weeks and can’t seem to kick it. Ended up finishing ninth which I’m not happy about. Hoping I can get this sickness out of my system and get on the podium soon.”
Eli Tomac: “It was just a big improvement on the whole day itself. In the weeks past, I’ve been struggling to stay consistent in practice, through the heat races and into the main event. I’ve had a few good heat races, but haven’t been able to make it happen in the main. Finally, though, I felt comfy on the bike all day and it was a big step forward for me. I almost had a podium in Anaheim, but with today and what I think I have now, I think I’ll be able to keep fighting for those podiums week in and week out. Hopefully, I’ll get a win here within a few races, so it’s a huge step forward.”
Joey Savatgy: “Today was pretty good. We ended up qualifying second and had a pretty good heat race, where we were able to come home with another heat win. We struggled in a few key sections of the track but to come home with a podium and salvage points is great, but we want to work for another win and keep the red plate for another weekend.”
Marvin Musquin: “First of all, I knew going in that the track was going to be a tough one for me. In the end, though, I got better and better for every single practice and in the heat race I got third. That was nice to be able to move in to the main event right away from the heat. Then, not a good start in the main event. I tried to cut tight inside to make up some ground. I made some good passes, and I passed guys like [Justin] Brayton, and [Chad] Reed—that was intense and I was pretty happy about it. I got up to sixth and then [Jason] Anderson was in front of me and I felt like I was doing pretty good, but then Reed passed me back on like the 13th lap. That really cut my rhythm and then Brayton got me again. From there it was tough.”
Chris Alldredge: “My day was pretty good. I had the track dialed early in the first practice which I’ve been struggling with a bit. I didn’t have the start I wanted in my heat but I worked my way up into third which I was really happy with, especially because I ran some good lap times, much faster than I was in practice. I finally got the start I wanted in the Main Event, unfortunately a couple guys got by me but I kept it together for sixth. Sixth is a lot closer to where I should be, and I’m going to keep working hard, and keep getting better.”
Jake Weimer: “It was a tough night. All day was just a little bit of a struggle. I really struggled in the whoops and trying to get some confidence on that part of the track, in particular. We had some big whoops at an earlier round and I kind of struggled there. I need to improve on that. I crashed in practice so I was sore and had to deal with that. I think the bike is good. It was just me. I’m comfortable. I like the bike but I still need to work on a couple things. I was just a bit off but I know what I need to work on and we’ll be ready for San Diego.”
