Photo by: Chase Yocom

The 2017 Anaheim 1 Supercross and round one of the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, kicked off at Anaheim, California’s Angel Stadium. The legitimately sold out crowd and the anticipation of a new season brought to life the perfect environment to kick off the new season of Monster Energy Supercross. With a packed stadium watching, HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen notched his third 450SX class A1 win in the last four seasons and dark horse Troy Lee Designs / KTM’s Shane McElrath came out of the shadows to score his first career win in the 250SX class. Both Kenny and Shane led every lap of their respective main events and left the opener with the red plates and 25 points on the board each.

In the battle for fastest 450SX lap time at the Anaheim 1 SX, that honor also went to the winner, Ken Roczen (1:01.859). In his supercross debut on his new Honda, Kenny got to the front immediately and built a cushy gap with unmatchable early race sprint speed. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac (1:02.111) was close to the German’s speed, but the #3 could not sustain the pace for twenty minutes plus one lap. “My arms set off a fricken mushroom cloud bigger than anything that’s ever happened,” said Eli in the post race press conference. “I don’t know. It was bad—I blew up.” Eli decided to live to fight another day and fell back from second to fifth with his arm pump issue.

Kenny looked mighty untouchable at the opener. Photo by: Chase Yocom
Kenny looked mighty untouchable at the opener. Photo by: Chase Yocom

The third, fourth and fifth fastest times of the night were clocked by the Baker’s Factory training partners Red Bull / KTM’s Ryan Dungey (1:03.110), Red Bull / KTM’s Marvin Musquin (1:03.193) and Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson (1:03.516). The Baker’s boys pace was strong enough to land inside the top five with Dungey, Musquin and Anderson finishing second, third and fourth in the main event, but the lost sight of Roczen up front. They’re going to have to get back to work in Clearwater, Florida this week to find that something extra it’s going to take to put a stop to Roczen’s momentum. Kenny was not only faster for a single lap. His average lap time (1:03.593) was seven-tenths of a second better than the returning champs in second.


450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Eli won his heat race and looked on his way to finishing second in the main before having problems with arm pumps. Photo by: Chase Yocom
Eli won his heat race and looked on his way to finishing second in the main before having problems with arm pumps. Photo by: Chase Yocom
Top 10 450SX Times Top 10 250SX Times
1. K. Roczen – 1:01.859
2. E. Tomac – 1:02.111
3. R. Dungey – 1:03.110
4. M. Musquin – 1:03.193
5. J. Anderson – 1:03.516
6. C. Seely – 1:03.823
7. B. Baggett – 1:04.383
8. C. Reed – 1:04.419
9. J. Weimer – 1:04.460
10. J. Bogle – 1:04.516
1. A. Plessinger – 1:03.588
2. M. Davalos – 1:03.982
3. S. Mcelrath – 1:03.999
4. M. Oldenburg – 1:04.395
5. J. Martin – 1:04.826
6. A. Forkner – 1:04.860
7. J. Hill – 1:05.336
8. J. Decotis – 1:05.375
9. D. Reardon – 1:05.640
10. K. Chisholm – 1:06.392

Full 2017 Anaheim 1 SX results here>>>

250SX podium. Shane McElrath (center), Aaron Plessinger (left) and Martin Davalos (right). Photo by: Chase Yocom
250SX podium. Shane McElrath (center), Aaron Plessinger (left) and Martin Davalos (right). Photo by: Chase Yocom

In contrast to the 450SX class, the fastest laps of the night in the 250SX class were not laid down by the winner. Star Racing / Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger (1:03.588) was the fastest rider in the 250SX main event, but he rounded the first turn around seventh and could not make up the gap on McElrath. “In the main, I was in the inside and I got the best jump I could. I kind of got pinched off,” said Aaron after the race. In the end, Aaron’s speed did get him up to McElrath’s rear wheel, but it was too little too late.

The second and third fastest 250SX laps belonged to Rockstar / Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos (1:03.982) and McElrath (1:03.999). McElrath and Davalos started 1-2 and were virtually equal on speed early in the main, but Shane’s start consistency won the battle. While Shane got away for his first career win, Davalos fell victim to a charging Plessinger and finished third. After the opening round, I have a feeling we’re going to see this trio on the box often with Plessinger looking like the favorite at the moment. Plessinger also scored the fastest average lap time on the night with a 1:04.845. If the #23 got the start, he would of been tough to beat.


250SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Aaron Plessinger didn't win, but he left feeling a lot more confident than he did coming in. Photo by: Chase Yocom
Aaron Plessinger didn’t win, but he left feeling a lot more confident than he did coming in. Photo by: Chase Yocom

You can check out the top ten average 250 and 450 times from the 2017 Anaheim 1 SX below. Scroll down to see how the main events broke down lap-for-lap with MotoXAddicts’ lap-time comparison charts. Also, see how the top 3 250SX riders matched up against the top 3 450SX finishers lap-for-lap.


Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.

Updated 2017 250SX West and 450SX Championship Points>>>

Top 10 450SX Avg Lap-Times Top 10 250SX Avg Lap-Times

1. K. Roczen – 1:03.593
2. R. Dungey – 1:04.290
3. M. Musquin – 1:04.451
4. J. Anderson – 1:04.609
5. C. Seely – 1:04.896
6. E. Tomac – 1:04.999
7. C. Reed – 1:05.573
8. D. Millsaps – 1:05.600
9. W. Peick – 1:05.839
10. J. Grant – 1:05.883

1. A. Plessinger – 1:04.845
2. S. Mcelrath – 1:05.027
3. M. Oldenburg – 1:05.551
4. M. Davalos – 1:05.663
5. J. Hill – 1:05.683
6. J. Martin – 1:05.705
7. D. Reardon – 1:06.381
8. A. Forkner – 1:06.456
9. J. Decotis – 1:06.653
10. K. Chisholm – 1:07.321


250SX vs 450SX Main Event Lap Time Graph. Click the riders name in the graph to add and remove them from the graph.


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Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.