Justin Barcia survived the mudder in Anaheim to claim the first 450 supercross victory of the season just like we all predicted.
Where the hell did Bam Bam Barcia even come from? In our season preview, he wasn’t a guy we thought would win a lot of races or even be a legitimate factor. After running a privateer campaign for most of the 2018 season, Barcia joined the Yamaha Factory team in 2019 as a teammate to Aaron Plessinger. Saturday night Barcia made a statement that he was here to win and not play second fiddle to the kid from Hamilton, Ohio.
Dean Wilson
Dean Wilson led for the first 15 minutes of the race as he filled in for the injured Zach Osborne on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna. Wilson he was originally entered as a privateer and made the most of his opportunity on the factory bike. A 4th place finish is nothing to be ashamed of but it has to be a punch in the guy knowing he led for so long.
Justin Barcia
Barcia took the lead from Wilson and led for the remaining minutes plus two laps to take the win and insert himself into the championship talk. Could Barcia have a career resurgence and fight for this title? He certainly has the intangibles but staying healthy is a bigger question. For now, he leads the championship just like we all thought. He might be supercross’ Martin Truex Jr. though when all is said and done.
Ken Roczen
Ken Roczen came home second after winning his heat race and missing most of the 2018 season with an arm injury it was the next best return outside of winning the race. Sporting the 90’s throwback gear the German got off to a slow start but methodically picked his way through the field. Instead of pushing it in his first race back he settled for second, a smart championship play and one that could pay off come spring.
Eli Tomac
Eli Tomac was uncharacteristically off the pace at times this weekend and even at the start of the race. As the race went on, the rain got heavier and Tomac came to life. He finished third after struggling most of the race.
One name that was missing all night was defending champ Jason Anderson who finished a lap down in 14th. El Hombre looked like a stiff out there Saturday night. He reportedly couldn’t see which is actually key when racing supercross. Look for him to rebound after a very weird night.
Cooper Webb
Cooper Webb crashed on the holeshot and fell to something like 17th. But this kid rode like a maniac in the second half of the race and managed to finish 5th which is absurd when you consider how far back he was at one point.
Supercross is back in action Saturday night in Glendale at 8 PM.
