Photos by: Simon Cudby
The 2018 Monster Energy Supercross series has produced some of the most competitive racing we have seen in decades in the 450SX class, and Saturday night in Oakland was the best race of the year thus far. With the circuit deteriorating into a living obstacle that could reach out and grab you at a moment’s notice, Team HRC / Honda’s Ken Roczen and Rockstar Energy Racing / Husqvarna’s Jason Anderson sacked up and treated the fans to a toe-to-toe, back-and-forth brawl for the 2018 Oakland SX main event win.
Anderson started the day with a huge crash in qualifying and finished a mediocre 5th in his heat race–11-seconds behind the winner, Justin Barcia. Going into the main event, it was looking like this might turn into a try to salvage solid points kind of night for the red plate holder, but as the track got more torn up, the #21 seemed to get more comfortable.
When the gate dropped on the fifth 450 main of the year, Jason got off to a 6th place start and began methodically fighting his way to the front. Jason got a little help with Cole Seely crashing and an aggressive pass on Marvin Musquin that put the #25 on the ground, and by lap 12, it was Anderson versus Roczen “mono e mono.”
With ruts going every direction and creating the most unpredictable lapped rider situations, both Kenny and Jason made substantial mistakes trying to get through them. Down the stretch, the track was as gnarly as any track we’ve ever seen and everyone in attendance knew it was going to come down to who made the last mistake. As it turns out, that was Kenny. After going back and fourth twice, Kenny made a mistake through one of the final rhythm sections and Anderson went by for the final pass and the win.
That last lap pass for the win was huge in the grand scheme of the 450SX Championship. Not only did Jason prevent a huge threat from breaking through for his first win of ’18, the win was also the difference between Jason having a 15-point lead over Kenny or a nine-point lead over him in the 450 points. If El Hombre wins this title, it’s going to be gritty performances like Saturday night that will be to blame.
After the race was over, we talked to Jason for five minutes about his incredible night in Oakland.
Jason, that was quite possibly the most entertaining race we have ever seen. The press box is supposed to be a bunch of worker bees, but the worker bees were going crazy up there. How do you feel after that race?
It was unreal. It was one of the best races of my life. (laughs) Those ones are sweeter than the ones where you get out in the lead and just cruise. It’s the ones that you have to fight for that mean a lot more. It’s cool. I want to soak up every minute of it, but still keep a level head. I’m thankful that I get the opportunities to be in these situations and do things like this that are probably the coolest high you can get, you know. (laughs)
Your day got progressively better. Qualifying was tough. Your heat race was tough. Was it one of those situations where you were just feeling better and better as the night went on?
Yeah, you know I crashed [in qualifying]. Then I was like, dang, I just want to make it through practice, ’cause the track was gnarly. I didn’t really want to push too hard. Once I got to the main event, I had a bad gate pick, and I was like I really have to pull this around. I was able to get a decent start–maybe 6th or 7th–then I got up to 5th right away. At that point, it was racing because those guys in front of me are no joke.
Late in the race, you had Cole Seely crash. A couple moves later and you’re in 2nd. You were doing that triple onto the table before the whoops and making up time there, but was there a spot you were taking chunks of time off?
I was just hitting my marks the whole time and was able to be faster in the whoop section. There was the three-on, and I was fast in the flat corner before the finish line. The biggest thing, I feel like I was really calm through it all. The biggest mistakes I made was when I was making the pass for the lead. Other than that, I felt pretty fricken solid the whole time.
That’s something new for you. I mean, that relaxed, calm, take your time approach to racing.
(laughs) I do get told that. It’s awesome, because I feel like a person like me–with the instincts I have–it’s hard to be able to do something that’s not normal to you, be calm and stuff like that. I’ve been subconsciously thinking about it day in and day out and trying to be that person. I’m pumped because I feel like it’s coming to fruition.
Sports psychology is a big business for that reason. I noticed Justin Barcia was going 3-3-2 through that second rhythm section and getting him away from those main line deep ruts. Was that a line you ever looked at?
I only did 2-3-3 in the last practice. (laughs) When I went into the main, I was like, “I’m just going to keep doing that.” That’s all I got.
I think it might have been, but it was getting him away from those main line deep ruts. Can you take us through that last lap battle with Kenny? Like you said in the press conference, you knew it was going to come down to those two rhythm sections.
It was pretty unreal. It was a blur, honestly. (laughs) I know we were going for it, and to be able to cross the line in first after that, it was unreal!
How much were worried about him running it in on that last turn before the finish?
Oh, I knew… Once I was behind him and I was catching him, I knew it was going to be a dog fight to the end. I got by him clean one time and I made the mistake, jacked up and let him by. I knew I overshot that triple into the corner and I’m thinking, “I gotta triple this and still keep that gap,” but it was going to be gnarly just because of how deep those ruts were.
