Roczen Dominates Race One at Monster Energy AMA Supercross Triple Crown
The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship held the second Triple Crown event of the season at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The three-race format lined up the 450SX Class riders for three separate 12-minute Races. The soft soil and short lap times meant extreme ruts and heavy lap traffic for the racers.
Race Highlights:
- Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear ECSTAR Suzuki
- 450 Class
- Ken Roczen won Race 1 of the second Triple Crown Supercross of the season.
- 450 Class
- Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance
- 450 Class
- Colt Nichols delivered his season-best Triple Crown Race result.
- 450 Class
Ken Roczen (94) crossed the holeshot stripe in seventh place in Race 1 in Indy. Roczen had the pace to make passing lines work and quickly took over second place. On lap four, Roczen and his Suzuki RM-Z450 blitzed the rutted whoop section and took over the lead. Roczen put down an unmatched pace, posting the fastest lap time of the Race, and stretched his lead to over eight seconds before taking the win. In Race 2, a small mistake on the opening lap led to a dramatic collision with another rider that saw Roczen flipped backwards in mid-air. Roczen hit the ground but was quickly up and driving forward through the pack. Roczen reached a top-ten spot before the checkered flag came out. Roczen rounded the first turn of the final Race in sixth place and put in blistering laps to battle into fourth place by lap three. Two laps later another incredible run through the whoops earned Roczen third place, which he held until the finish. The (1-10-3) Race scores gave Roczen fifth place in the event’s overall standings.
“Indianapolis, man, you were gnarly again… It’s just the track, it breaks down so much, the Triple Crown here is really intense,” said Roczen. “We had such an amazing day. I felt pretty comfortable on my motorcycle all day. The first Race was really kind of like a dream ride again. I just felt connected, made some passes happen, and was able to take that one home. I really enjoyed that. You know, sometimes you need those rides. And then everything went south in the second Race; I made a massive mistake that was just unfortunate with bad timing. Right after the start I cross rutted and high sided off the tabletop, and [then] I couldn’t clear it. So [off] the next triple I basically dropped two and a half… As I was bouncing up, [another rider] was right behind me and just rode basically under my bike and put me in a backflip. He got scraped up pretty good and we [both] went down pretty hard. So, not the ideal situation; you definitely see everything kind of flushing down the drain. But once I checked that everything was good, I just went to work and, for the situation, I felt pretty fast and smooth out there …so we just did damage control. It was an opportunity missed. In the last Race, [it was] not the greatest start, and ended up bringing it home at third. So, my riding was really good, we’re definitely taking the positive of that. It’ll be nice going into an off weekend and then we’ll come back strong.”
Colt Nichols (45) delivered his season-best Triple Crown individual Race result inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Colt Nichols (45) was pushed wide in the first turn of Race 1 and immediately went to work. Nichols reached a top-fifteen spot and held it for 12 laps until a crash on the final lap put him on ground. In Race 2, Nichols carded a better start and worked his way just shy of a top-ten position; in the process he posted the second-fasted time of the race through the first rhythm lane (Sector 3). Nichols unfortunately collided with other riders going into the first turn of Race 3. Nichols got going but was only able to complete two laps of the final Race.
“Indy Supercross is done and dusted and honestly it was a pretty horrible day for me,” stated Nichols. “I struggled from the jump today, and I don’t really know why. I wish I had a better explanation for all that was going on. Physically I felt okay, I was just struggling to kind of get a feel I need… and it showed. I was really slow in practice today and didn’t really have much of a flow. [Also], I was just on the ground a lot in the races. Starting terrible and crashing a lot: it was just a really, really rough day. So, [there’s] a lot of homework to do and a lot of stuff I need to figure out to be better. And the team is so awesome. We’ve been working really hard and everyone’s still got such a positive attitude. I feel like they’re riding or dying with me; I want to put up some better results for you guys: for the team, for the fans, everything. So, there’s a lot of work to do but we’ll be back for Birmingham.”
“With Ken Roczen, we had goods and bads,” said Dave Dye, Lead Engine Technician for the Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance team. “It was a Triple Crown tonight, and we won the first Race, had some trouble in the second, then came back strong to finish third in the third Race for a fifth overall. It was great riding. Colt Nichols had a crazy day. We salvaged a 17th with him. We’re looking forward to a weekend off, and then it’s on to Birmingham.”
The team kicked off the 2026 Kickstart for a Cause effort, which is selling raffle tickets for a chance to win Ken Roczen’s Suzuki RM-Z450 race bike. Proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Participants are encouraged to visit the Twisted Tea/H.E.P. Motorsports/Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance pits at upcoming Supercross rounds, or text “SUZUKI” to 99126.
The Supercross season takes one weekend off then resumes with Round 10 on March 21st at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. The Suzuki riders and team members are eager to return to competition to deliver more top performances on their push for the championship.
