eam Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen, Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac all entered this second season knowing that, once again, the AMA Supercross crown had slipped through their fingers and gone to an underdog of sorts. Last year it was the unlikely Jason Anderson who turned the tables on the three preseason favorites; this time it was Cooper Webb. And so, with supercross winding down and Webb comfortably ahead in points, all three seemed to pivot early to motocross to get ready for that promised second chance.

For Team Honda’s Roczen, it’s been more than a minute since he tasted victory. His well-chronicled injuries of the last two years—not to mention those of his teammate Cole Seely—made for a long drought between wins in either series. As a matter of fact, not since Tomac’s days as a Red Rider, in May of 2015, has anyone won a 450 national on a CRF450R (and, more puzzlingly, the bike hasn’t won an AMA title since Ricky Carmichael in 2004). Roczen has been riding with a more cautious approach lately, and as a result let a couple of seemingly sure supercross wins slip away. But he and Honda are sticking together—they agreed to a three-year extension just before the Vegas SX, likely meaning he’ll finish his professional career on red. That vote of confidence seemed to bode well for him.

Despite the ominous storm clouds that began gathering over Hangtown in the days before the race, Roczen showed up with a bright smile, exuding the same confidence that his fellow (and reigning) two-time 450 Class MX Champion Eli Tomac was displaying under the Kawasaki tent. And when the starting gate dropped on the first moto just before the clouds opened up, Kenny rode like that kid again, carving through the pack quickly and taking off with a lead he would never relinquish.

“It’s kind of just race instinct, and it felt like 2016, I never felt like . . . just the gate dropped, I was comfortable, and I just went,” Roczen said at day’s end, having followed up that first-moto win with a muddy runner-up ride to secure a long-overdue overall win. “Now today I wasn’t too comfortable. Things could have been better, but every time we went out, we did the best we could. I could have been bitching about the bike and then just ridden around. But we didn’t.

Behind Tomac and Roczen and Musquin, the rest of the field was trying to find its place. New SX #1 Webb signaled before the series even started, while transitioning quickly to outdoors, that “reality sets in quick!”—and he was right. The Husky team, its ranks decimated in supercross as Anderson, Osborne, and Dean Wilson all got knocked out, had at least Jason and Zach back and picking up speed. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing, however, was still hobbled: Justin Barcia was out there with fill-in Dean Ferris while Aaron Plessinger continued to recover from a heel injury. And KTM rider Blake Baggett was already out of it after Pala, his early season undone by crashes and misfortune. After just 4 of 24 motos, it seemed obvious to all that this 450 Class title would almost certainly come to the big three of Tomac, Roczen, and Musquin.

or Adam Cianciarulo, the fresh start could not come soon enough. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider threw away what was likely his last shot at a 250SX crown with an unforced error at the Las Vegas finale, handing the #1 plate that should have adorned Mitch Payton’s trailer door to Monster Energy/Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis. But the classy, media-savvy kid immediately owned up to his mistake with a live TV interview at a moment when many would have crawled up into their team rig and hid. In doing so, he showed both his moxie and a willingness to put the past behind him almost immediately. After all, Hangtown and the start of our second season was just 14 days away.

The two beneficiaries of Cianciarulo’s fumble and his teammate Austin Forkner’s season-ending crash—Ferrandis and GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton, respectively—appeared to have all the momentum heading into Hangtown. In fact, many had them down as preseason motocross favorites, based on Ferrandis’ pure speed and experience and Sexton’s fitness and youthful exuberance. Both would be fast in the opening rounds, but both also had their share of adversity; as with Webb, reality started setting in pretty quick.

For MXGP transfers Thomas Covington and Hunter Lawrence, both MX2 Grand Prix winners, it was the true start to their AMA careers. Covington had made a pained attempt at learning supercross before wisely parking his #112 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna after failing to even qualify a couple of times. GEICO Honda’s Lawrence didn’t even make it that far, sitting out the winter series completely. Both went to Hangtown seemingly fresh, and with heavy rain in the forecast, it seemed like they would thrive in their Lucas Oil Pro Motocross debuts. Instead, Covington’s struggles continued.

No, scratch that—they got even worse. He was so far off the pace, he was lapped in both motos and never scored a point. Lawrence, on the other hand, looked competitive, but a crash in the first moto left him with a footpeg gash from teammate RJ Hampshire in his backside, and he failed to crack the top ten in either moto.