Race Report: Sexton and Shimoda Strike First! Anaheim 1 2025

The opening round of the 2025 SMX series and the start of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship from Anaheim, California, at Angels Stadium for Anaheim 1 was a wild and chaotic night in front of a sold out crowd!

Here is the breakdown of the Main Events along with rider quotes, results and championship standings leaving Anaheim ahead of Round 2 this upcoming weekend in San Diego.

250SX West Main Event

For the opening 250SX West Main Event of the 2025 season, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda grabbed the holeshot, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan—defending 2x 250SMX Champion—went down early, leaving him to start at the back of the pack. Shimoda led the charge with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer moving into 2nd, followed by Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks, Triumph Factory Racing’s Jordon Smith, and Rockstar Energy GasGas’s Ryder DiFrancesco early on.

Beaumer applied steady pressure on Shimoda at the front of the field as Marchbanks slipped back after a mistake, allowing Smith to take over 3rd. Then a few laps later, Smith made a mistake dropping back to 6th. Meanwhile, Deegan steadily climbed through the field, reaching 6th after Marchbanks crashed in the whoops and lost several positions. In the closing laps, Smith made a critical pass on DiFrancesco to lock in the final podium spot.

Shimoda pulled away in the second half of the race to secure the win, Beaumer claimed 2nd for his first Supercross podium, and Smith rounded out the podium, earning Triumph its first-ever Supercross podium. In a thrilling last-corner battle, Deegan edged out Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX’s Coty Schock to finish 5th.

Jo Shimoda, 1st place: "I’m pretty stoked. My goal was to start the season good, and this is the best way to do it. I feel really, really stoked."

Julien Beaumer, 2nd place: "Last year, boot camp was tough because I started late with the training side of things. This year, we were in a much better space mentally and physically for boot camp, and it’s been awesome working with Davi (Millsaps). We’ve worked hard, and it’s paid off."

Jordon Smith, 3rd place: "I got off to a good start but got shuffled back after getting pushed out. I had a tough block incident that caused me to lose a couple of spots, but once I got going, I could see the guys in front of me. My fitness has been really good, and I knew I was strong toward the end of the moto. I just kept putting in solid laps and made smart decisions toward the end."

450SX Main Event

In the opening 450SX Main Event of the season, Spain’s Jorge Prado, now riding for Monster Energy Kawasaki, grabbed the holeshot. However, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac quickly took over before crashing on the opening lap, handing the lead back to Prado. Defending Monster Energy Supercross Champion Jett Lawrence of Honda HRC got tangled in a tough block off the start and began dead last. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson powered past Prado for the lead, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton in 3rd, soon moving into 2nd. ECSTAR Progressive Suzuki’s Ken Roczen overtook Prado to claim 3rd, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper rounded out the early top five.

Jett went down again after the whoops and remained deep in the pack. Sexton made his move on Anderson to take the lead, with Roczen following suit, passing Anderson after the Supercross triple for 2nd. Behind them, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence and Cooper Webb advanced into the top five as Justin Cooper slipped back a few spots. Meanwhile, Tomac steadily climbed through the field, overtaking Prado and Team Tedder’s Justin Hill to reach 6th, while Rockstar Energy GasGas’s Justin Barcia moved into 5th.

With five laps to go, Webb closed in on Anderson for the final podium spot, while Tomac caught Barcia. On the final lap, Tomac made a decisive pass on Barcia to secure 5th, though Webb fell just short of catching Anderson. Sexton cruised to his first Anaheim 1 victory despite briefly stalling the bike at the halfway point. Roczen took 2nd, and Anderson held strong in 3rd.

Chase Sexton, 1st place: "I feel like I'm still kind of processing it. It obviously feels good, and it's cool winning Anaheim 1—it's a pretty hyped race. I've come close before, getting beaten by Ken and Jason here, so it was nice to come out on top. To be honest, I just had fun riding today. The track was really busy, which kind of plays into my favor."

Ken Roczen, 2nd place: "I’ve won Anaheim 1 quite a bit, and it kind of led nowhere, so to me it just didn’t really mean much besides adding another one. I was stoked because the last couple of weeks have been rough—we all got sick, and I didn’t ride much. Before I got sick, I knew I was feeling really good, so it was about getting back to 100%."

Jason Anderson, 3rd place: "A lot of the stuff we did to the motorcycle this offseason was pretty in-depth. We changed our motor completely, which was a big adjustment. Tonight, it was cool to see that work pay off. I think we’ve made progress, especially with starts, and having a bike that gets good starts puts me in a better position to get solid results."