Jason Anderson picked the perfect place to gamble – and win big – Saturday night.
Anderson thrilled the nearly 40,000 fans in Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium, winning the 2018 Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship by a mere nine points.
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team star -- in just his fourth full season on the Supercross circuit -- rode his bike to a fifth-place finish in the season’s 17th event, but it was enough to capture both his and his team’s first career Supercross titles.
“We’ve put our whole lives into this, been riding dirt bikes for so long, to win this championship between me and my team, it’s the most surreal moment of my life up to this point,” Anderson said on the podium. “Man, I’m so happy. I was tested this year ... I’m just beyond words.”
Even though Anderson had held the lead in the 450SX point standings since the second race of the season, Saturday’s final outcome was still razor-thin, as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin finished the race in second place, and the overall season just nine points behind Anderson.
All told, Anderson, who was trained by four-time 450SX champ Ryan Dungey, earned four wins and 11 podium finishes and a top-four finish in 14 of 17 races.
He now has nearly six months off before preparing for the Monster Energy Cup in October.
Also Saturday night, Aaron Plessinger and Zach Osborne won the Western and Eastern Regional 250SX Championship, respectively.