ANAHEIM, California: Chase Sexton crashed during qualification and his heat, but saved his best for last at Angel Stadium in Round 3 of the SuperMotocross schedule and scored his first victory of 2026.
With heavy battles behind him, Sexton cruised to his first win of 2026 and snapped Eli Tomac’s two-race winning streak.
Hunter Lawrence kept Sexton honest throughout the race but ultimately settled for his second consecutive runner-up finish.
Tomac was patient for most of the race, but when he passed Lawrence briefly and then lost two position to Lawrence and Jason Anderson, that was no longer an option. In the closing laps, he executed a block pass on the holeshot winner Anderson, but he had already lost too much ground to contend for the victory.
Tomac won his heat earlier in the afternoon, which he hoped would translate into a dominant form at Angel Stadium.
After being pushed wide in the middle stages of the race, Anderson recovered to finish fourth. In post-race availability, he said he had no issues with Tomac’s pass. He would have done the same thing in the same circumstances
Cooper Webb stalled his bike in the closing minutes, but held on for fifth.
Ken Roczen, who entered Round 3 as one of the title contenders, fell during the early stage of the race. He recovered to finish eighth.
In-Race Notes
Anderson got the jump on the field and led Sexton on Lap 1.
Lawrence took second away from Sexton on Lap 2. Sexton might have been sore from two hard crashes earlier in the day.
Tomac patiently moved up to fourth on Lap 3 with Aaron Plessinger, who also had a hard crash in his heat, rounding out the to five.
Roczen had a rocky start and was barely in the top 20 five laps into the Main Event.
Defending champion, Webb, was just outside the top five in sixth during the opening laps.
Sexton was all over Anderson on Lap 6 and took the position.
Lawrence and Tomac caught Anderson after he lost the top spot.
Tomac passed Lawrence on Lap 8 and set his sights on Anderson. Tomac was 2.4 seconds behind the leader.
Webb moved into fifth as he had one of the best starts to a race in 2026.
On Lap 10, Tomac took second from Anderson briefly. They rode side-by-side for the second half of that lap.
But that was enough to break Tomac’s momentum. He fell to fourth.
Lawrence got second on Lap 12.
One lap later, Tomac got to the inside of Anderson and rode him wide. Tomac took the final podium position. Anderson dropped to fifth.
Plessinger retired on Lap 13. He failed to finish for the first time in 2026 after scoring a 10th in A1 and a seventh in San Diego.
