Suzuki’s Ken Roczen put his RM-Z450 on the Podium for a Fifth Time this Season
The Supercross track inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas appeared excellent from the stadium seats, but that look was deceiving. The course contained slick areas as well as ruts that grabbed at the bikes’ tires. The second Triple Crown race of the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship pitted the best riders in the world against one another in three 12-minute plus one lap Races. The overall event results were determined by the racers’ average finishes.
Race Highlights:
Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki
450 Class
Ken Roczen scored a second-place result for the fourth time this season, tallying up an impressive five podium finishes in the first seven rounds.
Twisted Tea Suzuki Presented by Progressive Insurance
450 Class
Colt Nichols brought home his season-best Triple Crown Race and overall results.
Kyle Chisholm earned his season-best heat race result and moved up in the point standings.
Ken Roczen (94) and his Suzuki RM-Z450 were flying at the Arlington Supercross Triple Crown, taking the first win of the night and standing on the night’s final podium in second place overall.
Ken Roczen (94) started near the front in Race 1 then used incredible speed in the whoops section to take over the top spot. The NBC Broadcast graphic displayed Roczen at the top of the “Whoops Section 7 Fastest Times” as he was bringing in the Race 1 victory. A mid-pack start in Race 2 relegated Roczen to a top-five Race result. He set the pace from the front in Race 3, leading for the majority of it. When the final checkered flag flew, Roczen had amassed enough points for second overall in Arlington; he remains in third place in the title standings.
“Of course, out of three starts there has to be one bad one. That start in Race 2 really hurt my overall,” said Roczen. “I did the best I could today and I’m happy with that. This dirt is probably my least favorite of the year. It looks good, it looks tacky, but it’s not… It was super fun being in that battle at the end, and overall, I’m happy to be on the podium. The championship is long, so we’ll keep getting on the podium and doing the best we can. Hopefully we can close the points gap.”
Colt Nichols (45) posted his season-best Triple Crown Race result in the second Triple Crown Race of 2025.
Colt Nichols (45) continued his steady improvement from the early laps inside AT&T Stadium. Nichols delivered his season-best Triple Crown Race finish in Race 1, then went on to improve upon that in Race 2. A crash in the third Race hampered his overall result; it was especially unfortunate because Nichols was riding inside the top ten in Race 3.
“I qualified with my best qualifying spot of the year and made a lot of steps throughout the day that I was really proud of,” reported Nichols. “I ended up crashing in the last Race. I finally put myself in a good position inside the top 10 and then had a little crash. But that’s okay, it’s part of racing. We will dust it off and come back next weekend.”
Kyle Chisholm (11) won the LCQ and, with that, was able to surpass legend and former Suzuki rider Jeremy McGrath in the record books for total main event starts.
Kyle Chisholm (11) emerged from the first turn of the LCQ inside the top three and from there marched forward to take over the lead. He took the checkered flag and with it moved into the sole spot of eighth on the all-time 450SX Class main event starts when he charged off the line in Race 1. Chisholm posted his season-best Triple Crown Race score in Race 1, but mistakes held him back from topping his best overall finish of the year.
“I had a really good week leading up to this race and then just didn’t execute on Saturday in qualifying. So, I headed to the LCQ, and if you’re going to be in it, you might as well win it, I always say,” reported Chisholm. “In the first Race I worked my way up to 16th, but I wanted more. In Race 2 should have gotten up to about 15th but I got my front wheel over a berm and fell. The berm was really steep, and it took me a while to get going. In Race 3 I was making some good passes, I felt really good, and then on about the second lap had a big crash in the whoops. All in all, I’m happy with my riding; I was going for it, and I just made a couple little mistakes.”
“Ken Roczen rode really well. He won the first Race of the Triple Crown, in the second Race he finished fifth, and in the last one he finished third,” said Larry Brooks, Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance Team Manager. “It was a good weekend. All the riders rode really well. We’re in the midst of a championship hunt. We’re still kind of bummed about the Tampa deal with the lapped rider, because if that hadn’t happened, we would’ve been challenging for the points lead. But that’s okay, we’re just going to move on and keep racing for this championship and see what happens. I’m super proud of Ken Roczen, Colt Nichols, and Kyle Chisholm, they were riding good this weekend. Daytona’s next weekend so it should be really fun.”
The Supercross season heads next to Daytona and what is traditionally a high-speed and unique Supercross track built into the Trioval of the Daytona International Raceway. The Suzuki riders and crews are excited to continue putting a Suzuki on the podium of the world’s most prestigious off-road race series.
Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/Motocross and HEPMotorsports.com for more team news.
