{"id":132183,"date":"2026-01-13T21:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/132183\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T21:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:51:17","slug":"honda-hrc-progressive-opens-2026-supercross-at-anaheim-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/132183\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda HRC Progressive Opens 2026 Supercross At Anaheim 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anaheim 1 is never just another race. For off-road and dirt bike fans\u2014even those who just casually follow Supercross\u2014it\u2019s the tone-setter. The first gate drop of the season at Angel Stadium carries pressure, unpredictability, and the kind of chaos that can derail a championship before it ever really begins.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Honda HRC Progressive\u2019s approach to the 2026 AMA Supercross opener stood out. Instead of forcing the issue, the team leaned into strategic patience\u2014and when the dust settled, it paid off with a strong second-place finish in 250SX West for Chance Hymas and a gritty fourth-place run from Hunter Lawrence in the premier 450SX class.<\/p>\n

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Calculated Racing At A High-Risk Season Opener<\/p>\n

From the moment the trucks rolled into Anaheim, the Honda HRC Progressive mindset was clear: survive, score points, and build momentum. Anaheim 1 has a long history of red flags, pileups, and title contenders leaving bruised or broken. Team manager Lars Lindstrom summed it up best: \u201cThis was for sure one of the smoothest A1s that we\u2019ve ever had as a team\u2026 We wanted to get through the first one safe and get some good points, which we accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hunter Lawrence: Battling Through Chaos In The 450SX Main<\/p>\n

Hunter Lawrence came out swinging in the 450SX main event, launching to a strong second-place start. A lap-one red flag reset the field, but Lawrence regrouped and once again put his CRF450R out front, restarting in third.<\/p>\n

The restart didn\u2019t come without adversity. Lawrence slipped back early and spent much of the race locked in a tense battle with Jason Anderson, searching for a clean way through on a tricky Anaheim rhythm section. With just minutes remaining, things nearly went sideways\u2014literally\u2014when Lawrence had a scary off-track moment that could\u2019ve ended his night.<\/p>\n

Instead, he recovered, regrouped, and made a decisive pass stick. He even mounted a late charge on the rider ahead before ultimately crossing the line fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my best A1 to date,\u201d Lawrence said. \u201cI said to myself that I\u2019d be content with a top-five finish\u2026 this is one of my worst venues if you look back over my career, so I\u2019m happy to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite missing the podium, Lawrence leaves Anaheim sitting third in the 450SX championship standings, thanks in part to a post-race penalty to Jorge Prado for failing a sound test. After one round, he\u2019s just four points out of second in a 17-round title fight.<\/p>\n

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Chance Hymas Delivers Big In 250SX West<\/p>\n

If there was one ride that truly turned heads it was Chance Hymas in the 250SX West main event.<\/p>\n

Fresh off knee surgery, Hymas nearly grabbed the holeshot and immediately settled into second behind Ryder DiFrancesco. What followed was one of the more intense battles of the night, as Hymas fought tooth-and-nail with Cameron McAdoo and Max Anstie in a fast, physical scrap for podium position.<\/p>\n

Mid-race, Hymas briefly slipped to third. Staying smooth and consistent, he clawed his way back to second, ultimately finishing behind Anstie and ahead of a stacked 250SX West field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first round at A1 was really good for me,\u201d Hymas said. \u201cThird overall in qualifying, third in the heat race, second in the main was really good. I wanted some consistent laps; I made a few mistakes, but we\u2019ll clean it up for next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Points, Momentum, And What Comes Next<\/p>\n

After one round, Honda HRC Progressive sits exactly where it wants to be: healthy, competitive, and firmly in the title conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t ride to his full potential,\u201d Lindstrom said of Lawrence. \u201cThat makes me excited for the rest of the series, since he tends to improve throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up is AMA Supercross Round 2 in San Diego, where the patience shown at Anaheim could quickly turn into podiums\u2014and wins\u2014as the series starts to take shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anaheim 1 is never just another race. For off-road and dirt bike fans\u2014even those who just casually follow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-132183","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\/132183","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=132183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}