Slaw
Things can change quickly in Monster Energy AMA Supercross. Just ask Hunter Lawrence. Or Cooper Webb. Or Eli Tomac. Or Ken Roczen.
Saturday night at round 11 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, provided just about everything you could imagine. Hunter’s grip on the championship came crashing down when he went down in the whoops late in the race and finished 18th, handing the red plates back to Tomac, who himself had an off-night with a fifth.
For defending champion Cooper Webb, Detroit seemed like a place he could get his season turned around and make a late run toward the title. But a decisive move on Jorge Prado early in the race, which left both riders on the ground, proved costly with a sixth place finish further pushing the points gap in the wrong direction.
Then there was Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen. Leading into Detroit, Kenny was riding great. In total control. Yet for one reason or another, he wasn’t able to grab onto a win. His last win? Glendale back in early-February.
But Detroit was different. He grabbed the early lead and never looked back, riding to an easy win over the returning Chase Sexton and Malcolm Stewart. Combined with Hunter’s costly night, Kenny is right back in the mix, as he trails Tomac by only 14 points with six rounds to go.
“I knew my back was a little bit against the wall, obviously at 31 points back,” he said in the post-race press conference after his win. “I knew what I was up against, and I said for the past couple of weekends, I need to start winning some of these and not let the same guys, even though I ride really good, but let the same guys win and I keep losing points. That’s been the most frustrating part over the last couple of weeks, two three races. So, it just, oh man, it just all came together. I really believe today was the day. But then also you got to go out and actually do it.
“But right now, it was just such an overwhelming feeling of emotions, just because it’s also been a long time since I’ve gotten two wins in one season,” he continued. “So, I hope I can add on to that. But it just, it all came together, my crew and everything. So, yeah, I need to sit down a little bit and actually like fully let it sink in.”
Entering Detroit, Roczen was facing a 31-point deficit in the standings and his route to the title looked all but over. But, as we saw on Saturday, that can change quickly.
“Even though I kept losing points, I couldn’t ignore that I’m riding really well and that I must be doing something right,” he said. “So that’s what I held on to, you know and it really is true. You’re at round ten, you got seven races to go. That’s a whole lot of races and we saw it again tonight. And that can swing the other way too. I can mess up which you know we don’t want to talk about that, but it can all happen so quickly. And ultimately, I don’t know how people can just be like, ‘It’s over,’ when you have seven races to go and I don’t know how many 200, 300 points whatever out on the available. So, I don’t know, like I said, my own guinea pig, I learn every year too, and I’m just trying to do my best to stay in it. And that’s really what I do on a weekend basis and on a daily basis, especially.”
The last few weeks, one thing Kenny has spoken out about is the notion that he can’t last an entire season. A topic he brought up again post-Detroit:
“I mean, I get where the media and fans or whoever it is, I get where they’re coming from because I haven’t been able to finish the season over the last couple of years because of injury. So, I guess I get where they’re coming from. But the last time I faded in a season was 2022. Honestly, let it go. Let me let me do the talking out there. And then if I keep doing it, you can go right back to it. But as of right now, there has been absolutely no signs and I’m sick of hearing it, honestly.”
St. Louis next Saturday will prove pivotal. If Roczen can win again and trim the points gap to within 10 with five rounds to go, the championship is up for grabs for anyone.
Photos: Octopi Media
