Ken Roczen kept his composure after losing 3 seconds in heavy traffic near the end of Round 9 in Indianapolis, holding off a determined charge by Justin Barcia to win his first Monster Energy Supercross since taking the checkers first in the opening round of 2022 in Anaheim.
Riders lined up to congratulate Roczen as he bowed to his bike. “This is the OG, punk rock style from back in the day,” Roczen told NBC Sports’ Will Christien while he held up the kickstarter from his Suzuki, which is the only bike in the field that does not use an electric starter. “This was such an amazing race.
I can’t even talk right now. I had to grit it out to the end. The track was brutal and Justin was coming. “I got screwed a little bit by lappers, but I just kept saying ‘one more lap, one more lap’ and we got it done.” In a dramatic turn of events, the points lead changed hands with Eli Tomac struggling most of the night and Chase Sexton crashing as he attempted to pass Roczen for the lead.
Cooper Webb was the only top three challenger to finish on the podium, but even with his strong run, the position was in question until the end.