The first race of the Western Divisional 250SMX Class was historic as England’s Max Anstie became the oldest winner in the history of the smaller displacement at 32 years, 8 months, and 16 days of age. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider brought confidence into the Main Event after winning his Heat Race and took advantage of a start inside the top five to quickly move into the top three. Anstie continued to move forward and took his time to take second place from Honda HRC Progressive’s Chance Hymas before tracking down Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco for the race lead with a little more than seven minutes and one lap to go. Once out front, Anstie was able to sprint away from the field to capture his fourth career SMX victory by a margin of 7.5 seconds.

Hymas was able to make a late pass on DiFrancesco to earn a runner-up finish in his first start since suffering a torn ACL last June, while DiFrancesco parlayed the Main Event holeshot into the first podium result of his career in his 13th Supercross start.

After a dominant Heat Race performance, defending Western Divisional 250SMX Champion Haiden Deegan was never a factor in the Main Event. The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider started outside the top 10 but made an impressive climb through the field to narrowly miss out on the podium in fourth.

Anstie now holds a three-point lead over Hymas in the Western Divisional 250SMX Class, while DiFrancesco sits five points out of the lead and Deegan seven points behind his teammate.

Max Anstie – 1st Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class

“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 – 2nd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class

“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.”

Ryder DiFrancesco – 3rd Place – Western Divisional 250SMX Class

“I got out front and thought I was going to give it all I got and win this thing or pull it into a third. I dream about this, especially at A1. I grew up coming here. I laid it all out there tonight.”