The wait is over: Ken Roczen wins Hangtown Classic

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The wait is finally over. Recovering from major injuries in the past two seasons to both arms and a general sense of malaise this year, Ken Roczen won Moto 1 of the Hangtown Classic and finished second in Moto 2 to take the overall victory in the season opener for the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

It was Roczen’s first win since the January 2017 Monster Energy Supercross event at San Diego. Since then, he’s come agonizingly close with second-place finishes on a dozen occasions.

Roczen wanted to win in grand style with both Moto wins, but he lost the lead to Eli Tomac early in Moto 2. Once that happened, he kept the big picture in sight and settled into a comfortable pace – or at least as comfortable as possible on the heavy track. Tomac stretched his advantage in that Moto to more than 20 seconds at the end.

“I think we’ve got more in the tank,” Roczen told NBC after the race. “With these conditions out here, I’m very happy with a second (in Moto 2). I had to back down. I had a couple of big moments and it was just super-sloppy out there.”

The quest for a third consecutive Hangtown victory came up just a little short for Tomac.

“I was able to flow (in the mud),” Tomac said after the race. “I was feeling good. I had some good lines picked out. Ken got by me early on there and I was able to get back in the flow. … I almost came off the bike once or twice – or maybe I did even once, like full side saddle, but overall I’m happy to get that win.”

Tomac won Moto 2, but he was forced to overcome a disappointing first Moto in which he finished fourth. Winning Hangtown has been one of the keys to Tomac’s recent success in the MX championship hunt, but he will take consolation in knowing that he made up a big deficit during the afternoon.

Returning from an injury early in the Supercross season, Jason Anderson (2-5) served notice that he is back and ready to challenge for the MX title with a third-place overall finish.

Zach Osborne (5-3) and new 450SX champion Cooper Webb (3-6) finished fourth and fifth overall.

In Moto 1, the rain was pretty much all that Roczen had to battle. He took the lead on Lap 1 and never looked back as he set the tone for the afternoon. Roczen pulled away to a more than 15-second gap at the end as the battle for second heated up.

At one point in this Moto, Anderson was under attack from Tomac. As soon as Tomac faded from his back bumper, he was reinvigorated and chased down Webb.

Webb did not want to give up the position and the two swapped the spot and bumped a couple of times in the final laps, with Anderson taking the advantage in the final lap.

Webb was forced to settle for third as rain started to change the track conditions.

“It got difficult when the rain came down,” Webb said on NBC Sports Gold after Moto 1. “It got super slippery. I kind of struggled there at the end, made a lot of mistakes and let Jason catch me. I was able to get him back, made another mistake and allowed him to get by me.”

Webb’s difficulty was heightened in the second Moto with his sixth-place finish.

For a brief moment, it appeared Webb would pick up where he left off in Supercross. He earned the holeshot in Moto 1, but immediately fell back as Roczen sliced past to take a more than one-second lead on Lap 1.

Tomac’s trouble in the first race started early. He got a terrible start and was seventh on Lap 1, advanced two spots on Lap 2 and climbed to 4th on Lap 3. But he was 13.3 seconds behind the leader at the time and noticeably out of rhythm. When Tomac unsuccessfully tried to pass Anderson on Lap 8 the die was cast. He finished just off the podium in fourth.

Osborne held on for fifth.

450 Moto 1 Results
450 Moto 2 Results
450 Overall Results
Points Standings

With heavy rain muddying the track, Adam Cianciarulo won the second Moto and took the overall victory for Round 1 of the 250MX season. It was just the boost he needed after crashing in the final round of the Supercross season and losing the 250SX West championship in a heartbreaking finish.

“For kids out there that see us – and we go through such peaks and valleys – the most important shot is the next one,” Cianciarulo said on NBC after winning the overall. “You got to get back up and fight.”

The winner of Moto 1, Justin Cooper, had trouble on the start of the second Moto and fell back as far as fifth. He gained a position back to finish fourth in the Moto and was second overall.

Colt Nichols earned the hole shot in Moto 2, but lost the lead quickly to Cianciarulo. He finished third in the Moto, which combined with a fifth in Moto 1 for third overall.

Dylan Ferrandis (3-5) finished fourth with Chase Sexton (4-6) rounding out the top five.

Several leaders from Moto 1 had trouble in Moto 2. Michael Mosiman (who finished seventh in Moto 1) and Sexton (fourth) both went down on Lap 2. RJ Hampshire (sixth) went down on Lap 3. Hampshire finished sixth overall with Mosiman seventh.

Alex Martin had the feel-good ride of Moto 2. After finishing outside the points in Moto 1 (23rd), he grabbed the second-place finish in the second and would not let go. He was 16.4 seconds behind Cianciarulo.

In Moto 1, Cooper jumped out to an early lead and rode to his second career Moto win – making it look easy all the way. A battle for the lead developed momentarily at the 22-minute mark, but as soon as Cianciarulo caught the leader, Cooper hit the afterburner and rode into the sunset with a 1.89-second advantage at the checkers.

Cianciarulo could not ride easy, however. On the final lap, he was being chased down by the riders heatedly deciding who would finish third.

Ferrandis – the 250SX West champion – got off to a slow start and was outside the top five for the first six laps in the first race. He moved up to fourth with three minutes remaining on the clock and was grabbed third as the pair came within sight of the flag stand, passing 250SX East champion Sexton in the very last corner.

Nichols rounded out the top five in Moto 1.

Derek Drake made his Pro Motocross debut. He was deep in the field on Lap 1. But he steadily worked his way up from 19th, slicing through the field and cracking the top 10 with the clock running down and three laps remaining. Drake earned the position by passing fellow rookie Ty Masterpool.

Hunter Lawrence might well have had the gutsiest performance of the Moto. He went down on Lap 7 while battling for sixth and got tagged by another rider – whose foot peg ripped a hole in the seat of his pants. He slipped past Masterpool on the final lap to finish 11th. Lawrence finished 12th in Moto 2 and 11th overall

Masterpool wound up 12th in Moto 1 and 14th in Moto 2 for a 14th overall.

Mitchell Falk went down on Lap 2 and walked off the course holding an apparently injured shoulder.

250 Moto 1 Results
250 Moto 2 Results
250 Overall Results
Points Standings

Points Leaders

450MX
Ken Roczen (47 points) (1 win)
Eli Tomac (43)
Jason Anderson (38)
Zach Osborne (36)
Cooper Webb (35)

250MX
Adam Cianciarulo (47 points) (1 win)
Justin Cooper (43)
Colt Nichols (36)
Dylan Ferrandis (36)
Chase Sexton (33)

Overall Top 5s

450MX
Ken Roczen: 1
Eli Tomac: 1
Jason Anderson: 1
Zack Osborne: 1
Cooper Webb: 1

250MX
Adam Cianciarulo: 1
Justin Cooper: 1
Colt Nichols: 1
Dylan Ferrandis: 1
Chase Sexton: 1

Moto Wins

450MX
Ken Roczen (Hangtown I)
Eli Tomac (Hangtown II)

250MX
Justin Cooper (Hangtown I)
Adam Cianciarulo (Hangtown II)

Next race: Fox Raceway at Pala, Pala California, May 25

Season passes can be purchased at NBC Sports Gold.

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Tony Kanaan at peace with IndyCar career end: ‘I’ll always be an Indianapolis 500 winner’

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INDIANAPOLIS – Few drivers in Indy 500 history have been as popular as Tony Kanaan.

Throughout his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that began with his first Indy 500 in 2002, the fans loved his aggressiveness on the track and his engaging personality with the fans.

The Brazilian always got the loudest cheers from the fans during driver introductions before the Indy 500.

Sunday’s 107th Indianapolis 500 would be his last time to walk up the steps for driver introductions. Kanaan announced earlier this year that it would be his final race of his IndyCar career, but not the final race as a race driver.

He will continue to compete in stock cars in Brazil and in Tony Stewart’s summer series known as the “Superstar Racing Experience” – an IROC-type series that competes at legendary short tracks around the country beginning in June.

Kanaan was the extra driver at Arrow McLaren for this year’s Indy 500 joining NTT IndyCar Series regulars Pato O’Ward of Mexico, Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden, and Alexander Rossi of northern California.

He had a sporty ride, the No. 66 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet that paid homage to McLaren’s first Indianapolis 500 victory by the late Mark Donohue for Team Penske in 1972.

Because Kanaan has meant so much to the Indianapolis 500 and the NTT IndyCar Series, the 2013 Indy 500 winner was honored before the start of the race with a special video.

It featured Kanaan sitting in the Grandstand A seats writing a love letter to the fans of this great event. Kanaan narrated the video, reciting the words in the letter and it finished with the driver putting it in an envelope and leaving it at the Yard of Bricks.

Lauren Kanaan with daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Bruce Martin Photo).

Many in the huge crowd of 330,000 fans watched the video on the large screens around the speedway. On the starting grid, Kanaan’s wife, Lauren, who bears a striking resemblance to actress Kate Beckinsale, watched with their four children.

Kanaan’s wife is an Indiana girl who was a high school basketball star in Cambridge City, Indiana.

Kanaan proposed to Lauren in 2010, and after a three-year engagement, they were married in 2013 – the year he won his only Indianapolis 500.

She has been Kanaan’s rock, and this was a moment for the family to share.

After receiving an ovation and the accolades from the crowd, Kanaan walked to his car on the starting grid and exchanged hugs with people who were important in his career.

One of those was Takuma Sato’s engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing, Eric Cowdin.

Tony Kanaan shares a moment with former engineer Eric Cowdin (Bruce Martin Photo).

Kanaan and Cowdin shared a longtime relationship dating all the way back to the Andretti Green Racing days when Kanaan was a series champion in 2004. This combination stayed together when Kanaan moved to KV Racing in 2011, then Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014-2018 followed by two years at AJ Foyt Racing.

Kanaan returned to run the four oval races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 in the No. 48 Honda that was shared with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

In 2022, Johnson ran the full IndyCar Series schedule, and Kanaan drove the No. 1 American Legion entry to a third-place finish in his only IndyCar race of the season.

Kanaan knew that 2023 would be his last Indy 500 and properly prepared himself mentally and emotionally for his long goodbye.

But one could sense the heartfelt love, gratitude, and most of all respect for this tenacious driver in the moments leading up to the start of the race.

Tony Kanaan gets emotional during an interview after the Indy 500 (Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“The emotions are just there,” Kanaan said. “I cried 400 times. This guy came to hug me, and I made Rocket (IndyCar Technical Director Kevin Blanch) cry. I mean, that is something.

“Yeah, it was emotional.”

Kanaan started ninth and finished 18th in a race that was very clean for the first two thirds of the race before ending in disjointed fashion with three red flags to stop the race over the final 15 laps.

“Yellows breed yellows and when you are talking about the Indianapolis 500 and a field that is so tough to pass, that happens,” Kanaan said. “It’s the Indy 500. Come on. We’ve got to leave it out there.

“Every red flag, everybody goes, I’m going to pass everybody. It’s tough to pass. It’s the toughest field, the tightest field we ever had here. It was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen.

“I wouldn’t want it any different. We left it all out there. Everybody that was out left it out.”

At one point in the second half of the race, Kanaan passed Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin by driving through the grass on the backstretch.

“That was OK, right?” Kanaan said. “That is one thing I have not done in 22 years here. Even (team owner) Sam Schmidt came to me and said, ‘That was a good one.’

“That was a farewell move.”

On the final lap, it was Kanaan battling his boyhood friend from Brazil, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, for a mid-pack finish.

“Helio and I battling for 15th and 16th on the last lap like we’re going for the lead,” Kanaan said. “It was like, who’s playing pranks with us.

“We both went side by side on the backstretch after the checker and we saluted with each other, and I just told him actually I dropped a tear because of that, and he said, ‘I did, too.’

“We went side by side like twice. A lot of memories came to my mind, and I even said how ironic it is that we started it together and I get to battle him on the last lap of my last race.

Tony Kanaan is embraced by his wife, Lauren, after finishing 16th in the 107th Indianapolis 500 ((Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar/ USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“It’s pretty neat. It’s a pretty cool story. He’s a great friend. My reference, a guy that I love and hate a lot throughout my career, and like he just told me — I was coming up here and he just said, who am I going to look on the time sheet when I come into the pits now, because we always said that it didn’t matter if I was — if I was 22nd and he was 23rd, my day was okay. And vice versa.

“It was a good day for me, man. What can I say? We cried on the grid.

“Not the result that we wanted. I went really aggressive on the downforce to start the race. It was wrong. Then I added downforce towards the end of the race, and it was wrong. It was just one of those days.”

After the race was over, Kanaan drove his No. 66 Honda back to the Arrow McLaren pit area and climbed out of the car to cheers of the fans that could see him. Others were focused on Josef Newgarden’s wild celebration after the Team Penske driver had won his first Indianapolis 500.

There were no tears, though, only smiles from Kanaan who closes an IndyCar career with 389 starts, 17 wins including the 2013 Indianapolis 500, 79 podiums, 13 poles, and 4,077 laps led in a 26-year career.

Kanaan came, he raced, and he raced hard.

“That’s what we did, we raced as hard as we could,” Kanaan told NBC Sports.com. “It wasn’t enough.

“The win was the only thing that mattered. If we were second or 16th, we were going to celebrate regardless.

“In a way, being 16th will stop people wondering if I’m going to come back.

“I’m ready to go. I’m ready to enjoy the time with my family, with my team and doing other things as well.”

Kanaan’s face will forever be part of the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the Indianapolis 500.

“I won one and that is there, and it will always be there,” Kanaan said. “It was an awesome day.

“The way this crowd made me feel was unbelievable. I don’t regret a bit.”

Tony Kanaan hugs his son Max before the Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar/USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

Kanaan actually announced the 2020 Indianapolis 500 would be TK’s last ride because he wanted to say goodbye to the fans.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit, the Indianapolis 500 was moved from Memorial Day Weekend to August 23 and because of COVID restrictions, fans were not allowed to attend the Indianapolis 500.

Three years later, Kanaan was finally able to say goodbye to this fans that were part of the largest crowd to see the Indianapolis 500 since the sold-out gathering for 350,000 that attended the 100th running in 2016.

“That’s it, that’s what I wanted, and I got what I wanted,” Kanaan said. “This moment was so special; I don’t want to ever spoil it again.

Tony Kanaan kisses his daughter Nina before the 107th Indy 500 (Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY Sports Images Network).

“We’ve been building and growing this series as much as we can. I’m really glad and proud that I was able to be part of building something big and this year’s race was one of the biggest ones.”

Kanaan walked off pit lane and rejoined his family. He will always be part of the glorious history of the Indianapolis 500 and fans will be talking about Tony Kanaan years from now, not by what he did, but the way he did it.

“This is what it is all about,” Kanaan said on pit lane. “Having kids, be a good person. Even if you don’t win, it’s fine if you don’t, as long as you make a difference.

“Hopefully, I made a difference in this sport.

“I will always be an IndyCar driver. I will always be an Indy 500 winner and I will always make people aware of IndyCar in the way it deserves.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500 

(Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY Sports Images Network)