A big, big day for KTM, Eli Tomac and Jorge Pradi, and a veteran British rider in Max Anstie. Here is what a bunch of riders said about their opening round of the 2026 AMA supercross championship.

Eli Tomac: "This one feels good! Leading from the get-go like that is tough, because you need to really maintain focus the whole time, but my motorcycle was the best it was all day in the Main Event after a slight adjustment from the Heat Race. We went in the right direction, and this is the perfect way to start a new season and with my new team in Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. After a big off-season with both myself and the team testing and developing all over the place, it means a lot to achieve this early success together."

Haiden Deegan: I really made a mistake at the start and I should have found a better rut. Tonight wasn't the night. Obviously I wanted to win, but I am not tripping and I am healthy. I just brain fogged on my start. To be honest, I was just brain fogged and I threw stuff out the door. I know where I am at, I am in perfect shape and I need to put it together in the races. I am known for slow starts in the series, but we will keep building. I think the track was technical and there were so many options and you had to be on tonight and we were off.

Cooper Webb: "A1 — P7. I've had better and worse nights. Got the lead early ... Tough year of injuries, but plenty of positives to take away from it all! This sport will certainly test you. Sending prayers to Bam and Malc after the chaos last night. I’ve also apologized to AP for my bonehead move in the heat. He’s a good friend and I’d never do that intentionally.

Jorge Prado: "This is really ahead of my expectations – the goal for this weekend was to just get through each session and do the best that I can. I had a great preparation leading into this year, but I am still so new to Supercross. Getting the Heat Race win was awesome, but I am really happy with my Main Event and to be on the podium. I rode within my limits, and still don't have a lot of words to describe my feelings right now, but all I can say is that hard work always pays off! It's great to start the season this way, so now we'll keep learning and look forward to a new opportunity next week."

Jason Anderson: I'm kind of speechless. It's been a long road just to get back to this. I haven't raced since High Point. I honestly thought my career was over. The pieces are coming together and I'm figuring it out. It's the first round and we came away with a really good result".

Aaron Plessinger: "Obviously, this wasn't the Anaheim 1 that I wanted. It started well, but I hit the ground with Coop [Cooper Webb] in the Heat Race, which was unfortunate, but it happens. Good to get the Round 1 jitters out, and I had a few good starts today actually, which was nice. We have a good direction, my setup is in the ballpark, and I came from dead-last in the Main Event to 10th place, which I thought was a good way to rebound. It was a decent ending to a tough start, and now we'll go back and do some homework for next weekend."

Max Anstie: “I’m just blown away. I remember coming here when I was 7 years old watching Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart race around here. To actually win tonight, that’s something special. Anaheim has a place in my heart. I always dreamed of being here and now I’m here. I’m 32 years old and this is the best night of my career thus far. It’s only Round 1. I know I’ve still got nine more [races] to go, and I know after last year what can happen. I’ll refocus tomorrow and go back to work for this championship.”

Chance Hymas: “I’m kind of speechless. It’s been a long road just to get back to this. I haven’t raced since High Point [during the Pro Motocross Championship]. I honestly thought my career was over. I dug deep and I’ve got some really good people in my corner. The pieces are coming together and I’m figuring it out. It’s the first round and we came away with a really good result.”

Justin Barcia: “What’s up guys? I hope everyone is well. Just wanted to get back to everyone. Scary night yesterday. It was tough practice sessions, qualifier went better and then the main event wasn’t good. Unfortunately, someone rolled the triple, I was already committed and I’m pretty sure that’s about all I remember from there – a tough one. I am happy to say I was able to walk out of the hospital under my own power. I got extremely lucky. God was looking after me yesterday. It was a really scary one, it really shows you one minute everything can be going good and the next minute it can be gone like that. I’m extremely beat up”.

Dylan Ferrandis: “It was a good day overall. I feel comfortable and very confident with the bike and the team. We made a small change between practices, and it helped in the direction. I had a strong heat race and finishThe main issue was that I started before the red flag. It was unfortunate that my teammate crashed, triggering a red flag, so I had a second chance for a start. The second start was great, right around top 5 or 6, which was good for the first race on this bike. I was able to push and be fast, but I struggled a little bit in the second half of the moto and lost some position. We know what we need to improve, and I know what I need to improve on myself. I think for the first race, it's not bad for this first manufacturer's race.”

Austin Forkner: "My riding was good in the Main Event. It was just a little too much of a rollercoaster. I was figuring out when to push and when to conserve energy. There are many aspects of racing that you run into in the longer 450SX main event. We will make some adjustments this week, but we are close and it was a solid debut in the premier class for me and the team."

Ken Roczen: “We had an amazing race. Eli and I were just yo-yo-ing within one second. I would catch him a little bit then I’d make a little mistake, and he’d gain a little bit. It was just tough. It was a very tricky and very busy track that I expected to be softer than it was. You had to be really patient on the throttle. Overall, I’m very excited with this second place and I hope we have many more of those coming.”

Chase Sexton: “The day started off well with earning fastest qualifier. I felt really comfortable on the track and felt like I had the speed to contend up front. Unfortunately, I had a couple of mistakes during the heat race and main event that forced me to work my way through the field. It’s only the first round, and we have a good base to build off. We’ve got some work to do, but I know we’re capable of improving and putting up better results next week.”

Garrett Marchbanks: “Today was a tough one for me and not how I expected or would have liked for it to go. I felt good during qualifying, and I had good speed throughout sections of the track. Poor starts and mistakes on my part led to me being out of the mix. I know what the team and I are capable of and we will show it next weekend. This will be a learning experience for me and we’ll move forward.”

Ryder DiFrancesco: “Today was good. All day, I just wanted to be on the board in each practice, then the Heat Race was just okay. In the Main Event, we got the holeshot, and then I just tried not to look back from there – I wanted to lead as many laps as I could, and tonight was a big learning step. We’d like to lead more laps next weekend, continue to build, and try to land on the podium like this each weekend to give us a good shot at the title. This cements the work we’ve done in the off-season – I’m ready for more, now.”

R J Hampshire: “A1 was a challenge all day. I started out alright and was building throughout the day, but then in the Heat Race I unfortunately got tagged and went down. We aimed for an entry into the Main Event from there, which we were able to, and I was in a decent spot after the race restart once we got going in the Main. By the third or fourth lap in, I had a big one in the whoops, so that made for a tough night in the end. The main thing for Round 1 was building experience, getting some data for the bike to further develop a Supercross setting for me, and I think we’ll be much better from next weekend onwards.”

Levi Kitchen: “It felt good to start the season with the fastest qualifying time. The speed is there, and the bike felt great all day. The main event didn’t go how we wanted off the gate, but salvaging a sixth after being that far back is something to build on. It’s a long season, and this is just the beginning.”

Cameron McAdoo: “It felt great to be back behind the gate and racing again. The heat race and the start of the main showed what we’re capable of, and I felt comfortable up front. I had another rider cross jump me, which led me to crash, and I had to go into the mechanics area for a while. I went back out and salvaged as much of the race as I could, but tonight wasn’t our night. We’ll come back next week prepared and ready to fight.