Chase Sexton took his first win aboard his Kawasaki KX450 as he returned to Angel Stadium for the AMA Supercross Sequence’ second go to to Anaheim in 2026.
Sexton received off to a robust begin at Anaheim 2, setting the quickest qualifying time and being the one rider to interrupt one minute.
On the evening present, the 2023 450SX champion on a roll from when he took the lead in his warmth race, however shortly thereafter, the errors that plagued him within the first two rounds appeared to return to the fore once more, inflicting him to crash in a flip within the sand.
Sexton began second behind Jason Anderson in the principle occasion, and the Kawasaki rider in an awesome place to take his first win of the season. However earlier than he may assault the Suzuki rider, HRC’s Hunter Lawrence demoted him to 3rd place.
Sexton shortly wrested second place from the Australian and was capable of begin once more after Anderson. Within the meantime, Purple Plate holder Eli Tomac made his personal transfer for Lawrence’s third place, realizing he wanted to reduce Sexton’s high time on his personal to have an opportunity at a 3rd straight win to start out 2026.
Tomac was capable of move Lawrence, however not earlier than Sexton handed Anderson. The KTM rider misplaced momentum for the primary time this season when Tomac tried to make his transfer on Anderson. Anderson’s resistance led him again into the clutches of Lawrence, who regained third place and commenced his personal transfer in direction of second.
Lawrence was known as into motion with seven minutes left, at which level he was about three seconds behind Sexton.
The Australian was capable of shut the hole to 2 seconds within the factors, however thanks partially to uncooperative lapping visitors, he finally wasn’t able to place stress on Sexton, who had Tomac in San Diego.
Lawrence’s path to Sexton being blocked by Triumph’s Austin Forkner within the remaining two laps additionally put a remaining nail within the coffin for the Honda rider’s hopes of victory with per week remaining.
At that time Sexton’s victory was assured and he lastly achieved a consequence that mirrored the pace he had proven for the reason that begin of the season on his Kawasaki.
Lawrence continued his stable begin to the season by ending second, beating Tomac, who maintained a one hundred pc podium report in 2026, however his successful begin ended on the similar stadium the place he began two weeks in the past.
Anderson was handed by Cooper Webb after ending within the high three, however the reigning champion dropped for the third week in a row and fell behind Suzuki on the end to fifth. Anderson’s fourth mark marked his greatest AMA consequence with the HEP crew since becoming a member of this season.
After ending fifth in San Diego, Joey Savatgy had one other spectacular sixth place end, however this time it was extra a case of regaining place than holding one. The identical was true for Ken Roczen, who had an early crash that put him in final place, however he finally recovered to eighth place.
Jorge Prado seemed set to have one other disappointing run after beginning exterior the highest 10, however not like final week, the Spaniard was capable of progress and moved as much as seventh place.
RJ Hampshire and Justin Cooper rounded out the highest 10.
Aaron Plessinger crashed on the ultimate lap of his warmth race, going over the bar within the remaining rhythm part of the lap. He completed eighth and certified for the principle occasion, however dropped out mid-way by way of the highest 10.
Heading into Spherical 4 subsequent weekend in Houston, Tomac at present leads the standings with an eight-point lead over Lawrence, whereas Sexton has now moved into third place within the standings with 13 factors, one level behind Roczen. Reigning champion Webb is at present tied with Anderson and 24 factors adrift of the lead.
250SX: Deegan doubles up
The 250SX race at Anaheim was a dramatic one from the beginning, with two manufacturing unit riders retiring on the first nook.
Privateer KTM rider Avery Lengthy stretched out halfway by way of the primary nook when he made contact with Cameron McAdoo’s Kawasaki. This despatched him straight into the trail of HRC’s Probability Hymas, inflicting him to fall and retire.
Levi Kitchen was one other huge casualty within the first nook, however he made it by way of the primary nook safely and was not concerned within the Ron Hymas incident. Kitchen fell on the primary leap from the primary nook because of his beginning gear being locked down, and misplaced little management as he struck his first rhythm. This crash was his second of the day after a giant second over the bar in his warmth race, however he was capable of remount from there and end within the high 9. It was additionally Kitchen’s third first-turn crash in three races, however he’s at present 33 factors behind the chief within the championship, that means he’s successfully out of competition for the title.
Along with Kitchen’s personal poor begin to the season, Hayden Deegan’s robust begin additionally contributed to his unofficial elimination from title competition early within the yr. Now, the reigning 250SX West Champion was solely fifth in Anaheim 1, however his win in Anaheim 2 was his second in a row after chasing down Michael Mosiman within the remaining minutes of the race.
Early on, it seemed like Mosiman had one thing to struggle Deegan, however the 20-year-old finally proved too robust. Nevertheless, Mosiman moved as much as second place within the championship together with his second consecutive podium end.
Behind his two Star Racing teammates, rider DiFrancesco denied the aforementioned McAdoo a podium spot within the closing levels, and whereas the Rockstar Husqvarna rider secured his second top-three end of the yr, McAdoo was pressured to accept fourth place.
Max Folland had an unremarkable run on his ClubMX Yamaha to complete within the high 5, defeating Max Anstey, whose title problem is barely on the decline after successful the primary spherical. The British rider missed out on the rostrum for the second time in a row, leaving him in third place within the standings, 10 factors behind Deegan.
