KEN ROCZEN | GRIT-215 | 450SX

KEN ROCZEN | GRIT-215 | SX 450

Excelling throughout countless events thus far this year, Suzuki's Ken Roczen would prove that he possessed an extremely high output of speed at races like Indianapolis; where he took advantage of a demanding circuit and would soar to victory lane as the checkered flag waved. The number ninety-four would envision he and his machine accruing that level of success at Glendale as well, where his qualification efforts where replicated for the first main event of the evening. Roczen's start would be excellent, seeking to move around Colt Nichols and into third as quickly as possible; which was obtained rather swiftly. Now into podium territory, only a few minutes would transpire before Justin Barcia would force his way into the equation. Roczen would do his best to keep the number fifty-one behind him, but it was to no avail; as the GasGas rider pushed Ken to the outside in the right-handed berm after the finish-line, which allowed Justin to move forward. Now fourth, he and Chase Sexton would then rival one another for the remaining duration, as the Suzuki rider kept the number twenty-three behind...until the very last corner! At that point, Sexton had moved to the inside and forced his way by, with little room for Roczen to retaliate as they approached the finish-line takeoff! Residing fifth, he would look to settle the score in the following round. Roczen's steadfast sense of speed and velocity was apparent as the green flag was thrown, holding strong in third despite an absolute of storm of world-class riders all around him. Ken would maintain a veteran-like composure while following just behind Eli Tomac who was in second, keeping Jason Anderson behind him and avoiding the charging of Cooper Webb who was hoping to surge forward from fifth. Yet it was Roczen who actually rose to an even higher level as they neared the checkered flag, nearly passing Tomac in the final stages all the while keeping the number twenty-one beyond his rear fender...to clench third as the final flag waved. For the last segment of racing, Ken's initial position on the racetrack appeared to be just inside the top-ten while he pursued both, Adam Cianciarulo and Cooper Webb. He would follow the red-plate holder around the Kawasaki rider and proceed to trail the North Carolina native for the duration of the thirteen-minute quest, weaving passed down riders and fellow members of the opposition, respectively. He then overtook Colt Nichols after methodically pivoting his Suzuki around the multiple one-eighty degree corners this track offered, putting Aaron Plessinger in the cross-hairs with around six and a half minutes remaining on the clock. This would be a near disastrous sequence (in regard to passing the KTM rider) as the ninety-four would divert to the inside of the whoop section while seeing Jason Anderson crash to the ground just ahead! Luckily the instinct of the German competitor would take over, as he both, passed Aaron Plessinger and Jason Anderson which promoted him to fifth. But Roczen wasn't satisfied at that point in time and still proceeded to attack Cooper Webb as if they were contending for an overall win, but it would be too little too late in regard to moving around the Suzuki combatant; which listed him in fifth overall, respectively, after claiming fifth in the final stage as well.

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