There is no doubt when a young rider wins his first main event there is something special. Be it Jorge Prado in Europe, or Chase Sexton in America, you get a feeling the youngsters are taking over and while Jeffrey Herlings and Cooper Webb don't seem to be going anywhere soon, I always get a little excited when a 22 year old starts to show his potential.

Last weekend HRC rider Sexton took that next step, and I really have a feeling he can now win a bunch of main events and maybe even battle Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb for this championship.

While a young gun won the 450 main, it was the performance of Christian Craig in his third place finish in the 250 main that probably made everyone give this veteran racer his dues. A crash in the first corner of the main saw him last and looking like a goon riders with his his helmet peak and this his charge through the field was awe inspiring. Not a big fan of the regional 250 championship as it feels like there isn't enough depth for two classes, but you have to always respect when somebody goes deep and makes a championship winning performance, because that ride by Craig could just be that.

More rider comments later today.

Chase Sexton: Tonight, was the night and it is a dream come true tonight for me. Last year I hit the ground a lot and it came back to haunt me a lot. I wasn’t very confident, and you seem to hit the ground more when you are not confident. This year A1 I crashed and last weekend I didn’t crash, but I did stall it. I didn’t make the mistakes I made prior. Last weekend wasn’t a good result, and I wasn’t happy, but I was happy I made it through without making those dumb mistakes. This weekend I felt really good. I wasn’t fastest in practice, but I felt I had good race craft and I was squirting it out of the corners. I was staying low and that is what it comes down to. I had horrible practice starts and a horrible heat race start, and I told myself, I got to get out front in the main, because I felt this track was more difficult to pass on than last weekend. I just needed a good start. I didn’t change a lot in training, and I felt time in Santa Barbara, which I felt matured me and I felt more experienced this year. I will keep getting that way, I am still only 22.

Eli Tomac: It was a solid night. We have been improving every weekend, and we put ourselves in the game tonight with that start. It’s so nice when your work during the week pays off. I executed a good start in the main and was riding well; I was just consistent tonight and felt solid everywhere. It’s really cool how we’ve been improving every week, and now we’re on the podium and leave with the red plate. We are going to keep improving, keep getting better, and with a little bit of fine-tuning, we’ll be there. Consistency is going to be key this season, and we’re going to try and keep it going.

Dylan Ferrandis: To finish on the box is great, so it was a good night for sure. We had some ups and downs, though. The practice was really good. I felt great on the bike and almost had the fastest lap, but in the heat race I got a bad start and didn’t finish up front, so I had a bad gate pick for the main event. I still managed to get a decent start, which was a lot of help, then I just charged my best to the front. I’m happy to get my first podium of the season, and to be on the box with my teammate is really cool. I think all the work that we did with the team and on the bike is paying off. We know what we need to work on, and if we can improve a little bit where our weaknesses are, I think we have a shot at the win at the next race.

Cooper Webb: "It was a struggle today, to say the least. Practice didn't go great and we fought hard in that Main Event giving it everything we had. We're only one point out so I can't complain about that, but we'll get to work this week. I wasn't feeling great last week and I didn't perform very well. We've got some work to do on the motorcycle and myself, so we'll fight until the very end.

Hunter Lawrence: “San Diego was cool and another good night with a really good race on our hands. I was really happy with how everything was going and then unfortunately it got tough, trying to navigate with all the lappers. Obviously, they're in their own race and I'm also trying to fight for a win, so it's a tough situation to be in. I probably could have navigated a little better, but all in all we're still happy. We’re fit and strong, and our speed and fitness are great in the mains. I was able to unfortunately crash but pull back four-and-a-half seconds, so that shows I'm in a great place. I’m really looking forward to next weekend. The bike has been great. The team has been really helping me during the day, and we've been working together so well. Everything is coming together.

Ken Roczen: “My day was rough; the track was different. We've been on super-soft dirt, and then we come here and it's gravelly and hard-packed. I was kind of chasing my bike setting, so we tried a bunch of stuff that I had previously tried; every practice, I was riding something different. We made the right choice for the main event, and I felt good on the bike. I was able to charge forward and everything was running smoothly until [Jason] Anderson took me down. I had no idea he was even there, but that was probably my worst run through the whoops. I got sideways and went wide, and he just didn't turn and just took my front wheel. My grip was all peeled off. Afterwards I couldn't get that flow back anymore and kind of just hung around in seventh the whole time. It is what it is. Back in the day with those results, I would’ve been 30 points behind, but I'm seven points behind right now. It's crazy – exciting even for a racer; there's still a lot that could happen.

Aaron Plessinger: It was kind of a tough day – I just couldn't really get into a flow on the track. I had an outside gate pick in the main and I made the best of it. I came around maybe 10th or so, and just kind of clicked off lap after lap and then I passed some people and worked my way up to sixth. As bad as I thought it was, sixth is still a pretty good result for points, so we’ll go back this week and do our homework and come out swinging at A2.

Marvin Musquin: We got better throughout the day, which was good, and I put myself into a good position for the heat race. I had a good ride in the heat race, I charged up to Cooper and got close to him for second. In the main, I had a great gate pick and I pulled the holeshot, which was amazing. I got passed by Chase [Sexton] and lost rhythm and everybody behind started passing me to the inside, that was a unique track with those 90 degrees turns. After that, I started racing backwards and thinking behind instead of forward and unfortunately it killed me.

Jason Anderson: Man, I was feeling really good on my KX450SR out there today. I really think I had the speed to battle for the lead, but these things happen. The track was tricky tonight, lots of tight corners and a long whoop section that caused a lot of problems, but I think these difficult types of tracks kind of fit my style and I’m happy I got a chance to showcase that tonight. There are still some small things I want to clean up before next weekend, so it’s back to work on Monday.

Adam Cianciarulo: Obviously not how I wanted my weekend to go but I’m trying to remain positive. I was feeling good early in the day and even set the fastest lap in qualifying for a moment. However, my start in the heat set me back in the pack and put me in some very close battles which forced a lot of strain on my body so I went back to the truck to talk to the team. We’re still focusing long term and collectively decided it was best to take more time to heal.

Michael Mosiman: It’s a huge blessing to get the win and even what that means for the points now. It feels awesome to re-pay all the good people who have believed in me for so long – and to prove them right – feels really good. It’s been a long time coming and it’s a long journey, I’m just stoked to be able to pull it off. I can’t thank my team enough!

Justin Barcia: San Diego is a wrap and honestly, for a bad day, it was a good day. I got an average start in the main but I was riding good and then I ended up having a crash. I had to re-group and put a charge all the way back up to eighth. Ninth definitely wasn’t where I wanted to finish but I salvaged it. I felt like I rode really well, just came up a bit short of where I wanted to be. All-in-all, I’m looking forward to getting back to Anaheim, a place that treats me well, and I’m ready to get back on the podium!

Jo Shimoda: Overall, I think today was a good result. We qualified in fifth, finished fourth in the heat race and were trending upwards all day. I think without the first turn crash in the main I could have finished on the podium. My goal is to compete for wins, but we fought hard today and came away with a season-best finish. Thank you to everyone on the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team for the support. I’m going to work on a few things this week and be ready to go for Anaheim 2.

Christian Craig: It was a crazy night, a crazy ride, for sure. There’s nothing worse than laying on the ground in the first turn. I’m not really sure exactly what happened. I came together with another rider, and I clipped someone’s back tire and went for a ride. After that, I just put my head down and kept reading the board. I saw P5, P4, and then I saw third in sight, and I knew it was possible. So yeah, 22nd to third, I’ll take it. We minimized the damage tonight from a first turn crash, dug deep from Lap 1 to the checkered flag, and got it done. You never want to do it like that. You always want it to be easy like the first two, but that’s not how supercross goes. It’s a crazy sport, and anything can happen, so you’ve just got to try and make the most out of it.

Malcolm Stewart: The night was great! Another P5 and moving in the right direction. We had a nice little battle going – I think it was Ferrandis, Cooper and myself. The box is right there – a little bit better of a start and we would've been in there but we're moving in the right direction and I'm really stoked on the way I've been riding. I can't thank the whole team enough, everyone's been putting the effort in. It's all about being consistent and just learning each and every race.

Dean Wilson: On paper my night doesn't look very good but I actually felt good with my riding. I actually got a pretty good start in the main but my clutch broke on the first lap and I stalled it. It took a minute to get the bike going and I was kind of riding without a clutch for the whole race. A little bit frustrating because I felt really good physically and I felt like I could have done the whole Main Event at a good pace but it is what it is and we'll come back next weekend.

Jalek Swoll: I know where I should be, so seventh-place kind of stings but it’s my first week back so I'll take it. I’ll get some laps in this week and work on getting my starts back and I'll honestly be just fine. I feel like I'm in a good spot speed-wise, so I feel really confident going into next week and I know I'm going to turn it up.

Nate Thrasher: It was a tough night in San Diego. I felt good throughout qualifying, but a few costly mistakes made for a long night! We made some progress on our starts, but I’m not satisfied. I’m going to continue to put in the work to be where I want to be.