{"id":129373,"date":"2026-01-11T18:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/129373\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:26:21","slug":"supercross-round-1-recap-anaheim-jan-10-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/129373\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercross Round #1 Recap | Anaheim | Jan 10, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship got underway in front of a sold-out crowd inside Angel Stadium for the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. It turned out to be a memorable night for the elder statesman of the sport as 33-year-old Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Eli Tomac captured the 54th win of his legendary career in his debut with the team following a dominant performance in which the Coloradoan led every lap.<\/p>\n

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A capacity crowd was on hand to watch the 2026 SMX World Championship kick\u00a0off from Southern California\u2019s Angel Stadium, the most storied venue in Monster Energy Supercross.<\/p>\n

The 450SMX Class Main Event was forced to restart when a red flag brought the race to a halt on the opening lap after a multi-rider incident. When the gate dropped for the second time, Tomac positioned himself right behind his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Jorge Prado and seized control of the lead on the opening lap. Once out front, Tomac easily gapped the field while Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki\u2019s Ken Roczen made an impressive charge into contention after rounding the first turn deep in the top 10. The German veteran made multiple passes to slot himself just outside the top three and eventually worked his way around Honda HRC Progressive\u2019s Hunter Lawrence for third before making the pass on Prado for second. Roczen closed to within a couple seconds of Tomac and kept him honest throughout the 20 Minute + 1 Lap race but never got close enough to mount a challenge.<\/p>\n

Tomac took his second Anaheim 1 victory by a margin of 1.4 seconds over Roczen, while Prado leveraged the holeshot into the single-best-performance of the Spaniard\u2019s U.S. racing career and his maiden Supercross podium in his seventh start. Following the race, Prado\u2019s KTM failed the post-race sound inspection, which resulted in a penalty from the AMA of three championship points. Prado retained his third-place finish.<\/p>\n

Lawrence earned his best Anaheim 1 result in fourth as he came out on top of a race-long battle with Twisted Tea Suzuki Presented by Progressive rider Jason Anderson, who finished fifth. Defending 450SMX Class Champion Cooper Webb endured through an up and down Main Event to finish seventh, just ahead of last season\u2019s championship runner-up Chase Sexton, who went down and went off track multiple times in his debut for Monster Energy Kawasaki.<\/p>\n

With the win, Tomac has established a three-point lead over Roczen in the 450SMX Class standings, with Prado in third, five points behind his teammate.<\/p>\n

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Red Bull KTM Factory Racing\u2019s Eli Tomac put forth a memorable debut with his new team as he led every lap of the 450SMX Class Main Event for the 54th win of his career and his second victory at the Anaheim opener.<\/p>\n

Eli Tomac \u2013 1st Place \u2013 450SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a start for us. We got out of the gate well and then it was just on. I would say our motorcycle was the best when it mattered. My bike was so in tune, and I had a great flow around the track. We can still do it. We got A1. What a cool night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ken Roczen was in top form aboard his Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki and keep Tomac honest throughout the Main Event, eventually finishing just over a second behind in a runner-up effort.<\/p>\n

Ken Roczen \u2013 2nd Place \u2013 450SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an amazing race. Eli and I were just yo-yo-ing within one second. I would catch him a little bit then I\u2019d make a little mistake, and he\u2019d gain a little bit. It was just tough. It was a very tricky and very busy track that I expected to be softer than it was. You had to be really patient on the throttle. Overall, I\u2019m very excited with this second place and I hope we have many more of those coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In his first race with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing,\u00a0Jorge Prado grabbed the holeshot and stayed in the battle up front to secure his first ever podium result since moving to the United States.<\/p>\n

Jorge Prado \u2013 3rd Place \u2013 450SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unreal. I can\u2019t even think about standing on the podium right now. This shouldn\u2019t be now, it should maybe be at the end of the year or maybe next year, not Round 1. Hard work always pays off and this offseason I\u2019ve been putting in a lot of work. I always do, but with the right people we managed to get here with a good result. With just the little experience I have in Supercross this feels amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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450SMX Class Podium (left\u00a0to right)
Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac, and Jorge Prado<\/p>\n

The first race of the Western Divisional 250SMX Class was historic as England\u2019s Max Anstie became the oldest winner in the history of the smaller displacement at 32 years, 8 months, and 16 days of age. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider brought confidence into the Main Event after winning his Heat Race and took advantage of a start inside the top five to quickly move into the top three. Anstie continued to move forward and took his time to take second place from Honda HRC Progressive\u2019s Chance Hymas before tracking down Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing\u2019s Ryder DiFrancesco for the race lead with a little more than seven minutes and one lap to go. Once out front, Anstie was able to sprint away from the field to capture his fourth career SMX victory by a margin of 7.5 seconds.<\/p>\n

Hymas was able to make a late pass on DiFrancesco to earn a runner-up finish in his first start since suffering a torn ACL last June, while DiFrancesco parlayed the Main Event holeshot into the first podium result of his career in his 13th Supercross start.
\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a dominant Heat Race performance, defending Western Divisional 250SMX Champion Haiden Deegan was never a factor in the Main Event. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider started outside the top 10 but made an impressive climb through the field to narrowly miss out on the podium in fourth.<\/p>\n

Anstie now holds a three-point lead over Hymas in the Western Divisional 250SMX Class, while DiFrancesco sits five points out of the lead and Deegan seven points behind his teammate.<\/p>\n

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Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing\u2019s Max Anstie became the oldest winner in the history of the 250SMX Class with an impressive victory to open the Western Division Championship.<\/p>\n

Max Anstie \u2013 1st Place \u2013 Western Divisional 250SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just blown away. I remember coming here when I was 7 years old watching Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart race around here. To actually win tonight, that\u2019s something special. Anaheim has a place in my heart. I always dreamed of being here and now I\u2019m here. I\u2019m 32 years old and this is the best night of my career thus far. It\u2019s only Round 1. I know I\u2019ve still got nine more [races] to go, and I know after last year what can happen. I\u2019ll refocus tomorrow and go back to work for this championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In his first race back from a torn ACL suffered last summer, Honda HRC Progressive\u2019s Chance Hymas finished in the runner-up spot.<\/p>\n

Chance Hymas \u2013 2nd Place \u2013 Western Divisional 250SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of speechless. It\u2019s been a long road just to get back to this. I haven\u2019t raced since High Point [during the Pro Motocross Championship]. I honestly thought my career was over. I dug deep and I\u2019ve got some really good people in my corner. The pieces are coming together and I\u2019m figuring it out. It\u2019s the first round and we came away with a really good result.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A holeshot in the Main Event helped Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing\u2019s Ryder DiFrancesco break through for his first career podium result.<\/p>\n

Ryder DiFrancesco \u2013 3rd Place \u2013 Western Divisional 250SMX Class<\/p>\n

\u201cI got out front and thought I was going to give it all I got and win this thing or pull it into a third. I dream about this, especially at A1. I grew up coming here. I laid it all out there tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Western Divisional 250SMX Class Podium (left\u00a0to right)
Ryder DiFrancesco, Max Anstie, and Chance Hymas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Monster Energy SMX World Championship got underway in front of a sold-out crowd inside Angel Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-129373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}