The second round of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship is complete, with Jason Anderson scoring his maiden victory onboard the Monster Energy Kawasaki in 450SX and Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) making it two from two in 250SX West. Both riders were available to the media following the race for this Debrief interview feature.

Image: Octopi Media.

450SX

Forty-seven races since the last win… That’s quite some time. I have to imagine that was a big one crossing the finish line?

Yeah, man, it’s been a while. I even had some close ones – I almost won that race in Salt Lake City. The last time I won, I felt like I was on top of the world, being able to win that championship and stuff. Being able to come back – I’m 28 years old – I’m getting older, so being able to know that I still got it and able to still win, it feels amazing… 47 races was a long amount of races to go without a win! Especially with all that work being put in, but we did it, now I just want more.

Like you just said, it’s been so long since all of this. At what point in the off-season did you feel like, ‘I can get a win in my first try, in my first year with this new team’?

To be honest, I always feel like I really had the talent and the speed to win, I just haven’t been putting it together. This year, realistically last year, I only had two third places and only a handful of top fives. Honestly, if you look at it, it seemed like I was kind of on a decline. For me, I always believed in my talent and things like that, so no matter what I just kept believing and just trying every day. Trying and trying and trying… it happened. Don’t give up, I guess.

How long did that main event feel? Aaron [Plessinger] was putting pressure on at times and you had to get around your teammate. Since you hadn’t won in a while, did you feel that pressure? Did it feel like it was taking forever to finally get there?

To be honest, I didn’t even know AP was behind me for the longest time! I was racing and I was kind of gauging off Justin [Barcia] for my pace and everything like that. Then I looked up to see how much more time was left in the moto, I saw AP and I looked back, I was like, ‘damn, he’s really close to me, I got to get going!’ so, kind of maybe a little bit of a brain fart that could have been, but we held it together.

You had quite a big accident this afternoon, so just take us through that. Are you feeling alright? The replay looks pretty scary.

Yeah, I freaking hit the super-kicker, that tuff-block and looped out! I rolled out of it pretty agile, I guess you could say, just a couple scratches, we’re good.

Your speed was really good last week and obviously you won this week. Did you expect to adapt to the Kawasaki’s aluminum frame this quickly to get a race win? Obviously, now I’m sure you feel like you can contend for this title.

To be honest, with the Kawi, I really have days where I’m still trying to figure it out. I rode obviously the steel frame for so many years that I kind of knew what it did good and what it did bad, but riding this bike, I’m still learning it day in and day out. To be honest, I feel really comfortable on it, I felt good in the off-season. Obviously, I had my bad days where you didn’t feel that good. My good days were really, really good. Just working with the team and stuff like that, we really progressed every day. Just the dynamic and the way they go about improving from day to day with the team is what I like. They brought me in and we work together really well, so it’s been awesome. I feel like it’s not a surprise to me, but I’m glad that it’s actually coming as good as it is and happening.

Let’s talk intensity for a minute here. Just in your body language on the motorcycle as well as even between, it just seems like there’s a lot more intensity in your racing as well as actions during training and stuff like that. What has opened that up for you?

Honestly, I feel really comfortable on the bike. For me, I always feel like that beginning of the race has been really tough for me, getting starts and being out there and putting out that intensity to get out front. I think that’s something that obviously I’ve been trying to address just personally to get better, but I think it’s working. Just going to try and keep up the intensity, but also just make smart moves. It’s tough to have the balance of both, but that’s part of the game.

This looked like it was a track that was difficult to be aggressive on. What were some of the most difficult portions of the track to be aggressive with?

I got most of my aggression out in the first couple of practices [laughs], so I kind of had to calm down just to not make a trip to the Alpinestars Medical Unit… I figured it out and didn’t really change much, just kind of calmed down. That’s about it!

On the podium, you brought up your grandmother and your grandfather. Obviously, they’re a very personal issue. Your personality is not something we get a lot of insight into because you do kind of keep to yourself when you can. Talk to us a little bit more about the emotions of being back on the top step of the podium and what racing means to you still.

For me, racing is my number one thing. I’ve done it since I was so little… It’s been obviously a family thing. My grandparents, if it wasn’t for them, they were the ones that took me everywhere. For me, it’s really something that I could possibly feel like I’d be lost if I didn’t have it. Even through tough times or whatever, I love it. That is what it is. Fail or succeed, I just want to keep trying and I want to keep racing. As much as I don’t let people into my life and stuff like that, I freaking love being in the paddock. As much as I dodge all you media guys and don’t want to do interviews with you, I still love racing dirt bikes and that’s how it is.

We know you switched teams and you seemed happy with that. Did you have an option to stay where you were, did they want you back, or did you just say ‘nah, I just need to try something different’? How did it come about that you were even in the market for a ride? 

I pass [laughs]…

We’ve seen you’re doing a lot more testing. How different was the bike set-up tonight compared to Anaheim? Was there a lot of changes made during the week? Things just looked a lot different for you today.

One clicker on the pre-load on my shock and that was it… New set of handlebars for the main event [laughs].

Can you just describe to us a little bit how challenging it was to figure out the long whoops section in the main event? The rut in the middle got gnarly and I saw at one point you switched up and went down the right side and blitzed, I think two laps in a row, and then went back to the rut. How was that balance, trying to figure out which one worked best for you?

I was even telling AP that, that I tried to switch it up a couple times, because that rut’s really hard. It’s a balance-beam going through that thing! I was trying to do something that gave me a little bit more freedom to where I wasn’t just tense riding through it, but I did it one time going around a lapper and then I thought I’d try it again. I was like, ‘no, I’ll stick to the rut, I’ll just go patient through it’. It was tough, though.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Christian, just take me through the day a little bit. In qualifying, a little bit frustrated, came back… It seemed like after that, pretty locked in there were no issues from that moment on. Just take me through at least what happened during the day and how it carried on into the night.

As much as I want to just have fun out there, you automatically put pressure on yourself to do what I did last week. With such a good day at A1, you want to repeat that, so putting pressure on myself and then I rode like crap in qualifying – I was riding a little tight. By the end of it, I just kind of relaxed and put in my laps at the end of qualifying and finally felt good. I think after those first few practice sessions, I shook off some cobwebs and just like tightness. Just trying to loosen up and find that flow. After that, had a good heat race and then backed it up with a solid start – I worked a lot on starts this week. I think my riding is in a good spot, my fitness is in a good spot, so it’s just fine-tuning little things. It’s not going to be like this every week, I know it’s going to be a battle, but tonight was one of those nights where things were clicking, I was able to put in my laps and just ride away with it.

You’re making everything look really easy at the minute, carrying a lot of flow and momentum. Do you feel you’ve still another level to go if you’re challenged more? Second part of that is, would you consider riding the 450 on the opposite coast? Because your form looks that good. It would be interesting to see you on a 450 as well.

I’d love to, but the position I’m in, obviously it’s risk, so I don’t see that happening with the 450, even though I did ask in the pre-season. That was a question for the team, try to get a couple of those rounds, but I don’t see that happening. The past few weeks I’ve been able to manage the race, kind of know where I’m a little bit faster and do that. I know there’s going to be weeks where I’m going to be fighting harder… That’s where I do think my fitness is strong to where I do have some in the tank where I’m going to be able to push until the end and dig deep. That was all the motos in the off-season, doing motos with Justin Cooper and trying to do that stuff, so it all kind of translates to race day – this feels like another practice day with the boys. Just feeling comfortable, clicking off my laps and managing the race. Luckily, I’ve been able to do that so far.

I don’t know if you know this, but you won last week by 5.6 [seconds] and this week you won by 5.6. Tell us about that consistency? You start the season 1-1, I know the last few years you’ve had just something happen, so how do you just put all those years behind you and just focus on trying to get this big win at the end of the season?

I didn’t know about the gaps, but that’s pretty funny. I don’t worry about gaps, I knew where Hunter [Lawrence] or Seth [Hammaker] were the entire time – I look at them in other rhythms and I kind of pace myself off that. If I know I need to push, I’ll push. If not, I’ll just do my laps and worry about myself, so that’s pretty funny. Other than that, it’s just riding like I know how to. I think finally it’s starting to come out, after years. A lot of years of crashing and injuries, I’m just very grateful to be in this position I am in now. I had a taste of it last year and then I got to watch my teammate win, both teammates actually win the championship, so I got to see it first-hand. I know what it’s going to take, I know the program that I’m on, they know winning. Just looking forward to San Diego next weekend!

Is that experience do you feel like going to give you that extra edge and advantage over the other two this year? You share the same podium right now and those two guys sat next to you last weekend, also.

Yeah and it could change at any time. Racing is such an unknown, you don’t know who is going to turn it up that night. Hunter was fast last weekend at the end of the race, so I knew he was going to be fast at the end of this race – I had to break away early and get that lead. It was very manageable, but I know there’s going to be days where it’s going to come harder and there’s going to be some battles. I’m ready for that, though.

I know it was a bucket-list to win at Anaheim last time, but San Diego is coming up. Would that be a special one for you as well?

Of course. I think all of them are, they’re all special. But San Diego, I grew up 20 minutes from there, Lakeside, so that will be a big one for me. That will be a lot of fans and family out there and I’m looking forward to it. Those and the Anaheims are really special to me.

When you’re on a roll like this, what’s the mid-week program consist of? Is there still any form of development, testing, that sort of thing, or is it purely just coming down to your training and obviously on-bike training as well?

All the big work was put in on the off-season, so now it’s just maintaining. I’ll go watch the race tomorrow and pick out some things that I can work on during the week. I just keep it simple… It’s nothing crazy. Like I said, I feel like I’m in a good spot. I don’t need to focus on anything too much, it’s just do my laps, put in my work, believe in my program, and let the rest play out.

Does the bike stay the same, then? No major changes or anything like that?

No. Actually, at A1, I haven’t touched my bike once with even little clickers and today between practices I did a shock clicker. I don’t even know what it was – I’m not very good with testing. I just go off feel, that was it. After that, I felt good. I’m pretty simple with that stuff, I can adapt. If the bike isn’t the best, I’ll adapt to it and make it work. A lot of riders kind of just shut down if they’re not liking the bike or something like that. Luckily, I kind of have that in my bag, but I’m in a good spot with the bike, for sure.

A couple days ago you released a Tweet sort of explaining why you’re still in the 250 class. I’m just wondering the motivational factors for having to do this. Is this something that social media brings? Secondly, if you can go out there and win this championship, next year do you defend or does that change that as well?

No, that doesn’t change – I’m going to go to 450 either way. That was just kind of explaining my career. I’m one of the most hated guys on social media lately… I don’t know why – I’m one of the nicest guys out there, but everyone has their favorite rider and everyone likes to talk, so I just put a little Tweet out there. Just my career, I’ve been hurt more than I’ve raced and it’s unfortunate. No-one has had a career like me and I hope nobody does. I’ve been in the hospital a lot, I’ve dealt with some big injuries, I’ve had to step away from racing. I get to enjoy this now, I’ll smile every time I’m racing when I’m on the line. I know these days are limited and you don’t get a lot of them… I like to tell everyone around me, enjoy it while you can. Even the bad days, if they don’t work out your best, enjoy it because you’ll look back one day. It’s just being grateful.