A controlled ride from Ken Roczen saw him become the fifth different rider to take a 450SX main event victory this season in Glendale, as RJ Hampshire scored his second win of 2024 in 250SX West.

Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki’s Roczen was the class of the field at State Farm Stadium, finishing 4.781s ahead of Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and with Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence finishing third.

While Roczen was able to withstand the constant pressure of Anderson at the front, Lawrence fought his way back from ninth at the end of the opening lap to the podium following a late move on Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing). Fifth was a career-best for rookie Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC).

Positions six through 10 were filled by Dylan Ferrandis (Phoenix Racing Honda), Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) despite injuring his hand coming into round six, and teammate Aaron Plessinger after he went down while P2 in the early stages.

The championship will now take a weekend off before resuming in Arlington for round seven of the season on 24 February. It will be Lawrence who leads the points for the second time this year, now six ahead of defending champion Sexton.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s RJ Hampshire has won his second main event of the 250SX West season after delivering a pivotal performance in Glendale.

Hampshire added the victory to his result at Anaheim 1, while second position for Levi Kitchen was enough for him to take sole possession of the title lead heading into the mid-season break.

With dual red plate-holders leading into the weekend – Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Kitchen and Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – the main event was hard fought. It was Kitchen who led first, before Smith took charge, only to go down in an unforced error.

With Hampshire already making his way by Kitchen, he inherited the lead and sprinted away at the front of the pack, while Smith went down again after making contact with Kitchen under yellows. While Hampshire won by 2.993s ahead of Kitchen and with Jo Shimoda (Team Honda HRC) third, Smith recovered for P4.

Fifth was Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), followed by Mitchell Oldenburg (MCR Honda), Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM), Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Yamaha) and Hunter Yoder (Partzilla PRMX Kawasaki) the top 10.

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas newcomer Ryder DiFrancesco crashed out of the main event, while Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was ruled out earlier in the evening after crashing out of his heat race.

The 250SX West category will now take a six-week break with Kitchen in the championship lead, four points ahead of Smith, with Hampshire one more back. They will next appear at the Seattle round on March 23, which will be round 11 of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

Detailed results