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Tomac Cruisin’

Eli Tomac scored two of the three victories in the 2022 Glendale Triple Crown to earn his 39th career 450SX Class victory. He could become the first Yamaha rider to win three-in-a-row since James Stewart won Rounds2-8 in his title season of 2009. That was also the last Yamaha title.

Career Best

Through his first 51 starts (2017-2020 + one in 2014) Malcolm Stewart had only converted 23 top-10’s and three top five finishes with no podiums. Since 2021, Mookie has 22 starts, 17 top-10’s, nine top fives, and two podiums. In the Glendale Triple Crown, Mookie went 3-2-4 for second overall, a career best finish in the 450SXClass for the former 250SX Class champ. His 40 career top-10 finishes are good for 61st all-time tied with Warren Reid.

Climbing the Boards

Kyle Chisholm’s 134th start ties him with Ryan Dungey and Damon Huffman for 13th all-time. Chiz is two starts behind Tomac who sits 12th with 136 starts, six behind 11th place Andrew Short. Justin Brayton’s 180th start brought him a start closer to Larry Ward’s 190 starts which is good for fifth all-time. Justin Barcia (121) sits one start between Jason Thomas (122) in 21st and James Stewart (120) in 23rd.

Sexton Holding Ground

As Tomac attempts to pull away from the stacked 2022 field, Chase Sexton is doing his part to keep the #3 in check. He is 11 points down from Tomac, which is easily surmountable with 12 races remaining. Sexton won the third moto in Glendale and his third overall finish was his sixth career podium in 16 starts.

History Lesson: On December 4, 1976 Marty Smith raced to the first ever 450SX Class victory in Angel Stadium (formerly known as Anaheim Stadium) on his Honda. The first points-paying Anaheim Supercross was the next season on November 12th and it was the season finale of 1977. Bob Hannah had long before clinched the title and cruised to victory over series runner-up Jim Pomeroy.

A3: The first “A3” was on February 3, 2001 and Ricky Carmichael won on a Kawasaki. It was the second of 14 consecutive victories en-route to his first 450SX Class title. Carmichael won the first three A3’s (2001-2003) and five of the first six (2005 & 2006). He did this on three different brands.

Path to the Title: A hefty 9/13 (69 percent) of riders who won A3 went on to win the title, including Ryan Dungey in 2015. This is the first A3 since 2015 and 14th total.

Anaheim 79: The 450SX Class races in Anaheim keep racking up as #79 approaches. Anaheim has hosted 11 percent of all 450SX Class races (79/713).

Laying Down the H-Law

Hunter Lawrence captured his second career win with a 2-1-2 overall finish in Glendale. Lawrence now has nine podiums in 16 career 250SX Class starts. He sits only eight points off of the red-plate.

Craig Overcomes Crash

Christian Craig secured two of three race wins in the Glendale Triple Crown but landed second overall on the night due to a wreck in the second race that caused him to finish fourth. It was his 19th career podium in 53 250SX Class starts. Only Chris Blose has more 250SX Class starts (54) than Craig of riders in the Western Regional.

Fifty for Friese

Overshadowed by his controversial collision with Craig was Vince Friese’s statistical milestone of 50 250SX Class starts. His fifth-place overall finish was the seventh top-five of his 250SX Class career. Friese has 154 combined 250SX/450SXClass starts with 35 top-10 finishes.

Shimoda on the Steps

Jo Shimoda earned his first podium of the season and fourth of his career in 23 starts. He has scored a top-10 finish in 21 of his 23 starts.

History Lesson: The first 250SX Class race held in Anaheim was on February 2, 1985 and Mike Healey won the race on a Suzuki. This was the second ever 250SX Class race. Healy won the next week in Seattle but would lose the first Western Regional 250SX Class title to Bobby Moore by 15 points.

A3: The first 250SX Class “A3” was on February 3, 2001 and Ernesto Fonseca won on a Yamaha. Kawasaki has won over half of the 250SX Class A3’s(7/13) but Cooper Webb won the last A3 on a Yamaha in 2015.

Path to the Title: The winner of A3 has gone onto win the Western Regional 250SX Class title in 9/13seasons, just like the 450SX Class, including 2015 A3 winner, Cooper Webb. This will be the14th A3 in 250SX Class history.

Craig’s to Lose: Riders who sweep Anaheim are 4/5 in winning the title, the lone exception being Josh Hansen in 2011. Christian Craig has already won A1 and A2. Only three other riders have Anaheim sweeps of the three-race variety in the 250SX Class (Fonseca 2001, Ivan Tedesco2004, & Ryan Villopoto in 2007).