After years of injuries, setbacks and questions about whether he could ever return to the very top of the sport and win an AMA championship, Ken Roczen finally completed one of the most emotional stories in modern Supercross by clinching the 2026 AMA Supercross title.
The Suzuki rider delivered under immense pressure in the title decider, overcoming both physical pain and the mental strain that had built throughout the season. Speaking after sealing the championship, Roczen admitted he had been visualising the moment for months and was overwhelmed by finally achieving it.
“Absolutely and it feels even better, honestly. I have envisioned this moment all year to the point where I would, even at home, I’d get emotional. I would hide out from the kids a couple of times throughout the day, every day, because I had to, just to kind of do my practice. I had envisioned it so deeply that I would even get emotional during the week, just because I felt all of it before it happened tonight. When you feel those things, I believed in it so hard. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to work out that way, but it made me believe so fricking hard. It was awesome. Even throughout the day, like me and Courtney, had a couple of moments where after opening ceremonies, her and the kids were getting ready to go in the stadium and we hugged it out and just so awesome to be in the position that we were in as high pressure cooker situation. Just being in a position to be able to have a shot at this championship. It meant a lot to me, to her, I think to the whole crew. We pushed out a couple of tears here and there throughout the day and it just felt good”.
Roczen explained that once he got into the lead during the main event, the focus became staying composed and avoiding costly mistakes on a difficult racetrack.
“Once I had a good start, I knew it was risky because I knew he was going to try to charge really hard again either right after or later in the main event. So once I passed him, I was like, okay, I have to figure out the track too. Obviously everybody saw, even though I’ve been good on the whoops all year, I wasn’t the greatest in the whoops today. Especially in the, if you want to even call it sand section, it wasn’t really a sand section. It was like sand on top of a shop floor right here, it was so slippery and just so awkward to ride. But it was important for me to not over push and blow myself out early because I just don’t think I had enough to really put in a gap. I was just methodically trying to go fast while staying relaxed on top of it. And it paid off, I know he went down, but all of this is part of it. Man, to be quite honest, not that it really matters, but I fully believe that I had the race win. My side ache towards the end, I tried to really keep my breathing super calm, but I think I did it too much almost to where like I didn’t take enough breath. The track was starting to get beat up and when you do that and you sit down, it kind of jack hammers you a little bit. I was starting to get a super, super heavy side ache under my right rib cage to the point where I couldn’t inhale anymore. I had like four laps to go and I’m like, oh crap and that’s why I let everybody past because I just I knew Hunter was way back. You know, I didn’t have enough to finish this off right now. The rest is really history, and honestly, I haven’t had a minute to sit down and kind of go through everything yet, but holy crap”.
The title marks the culmination of a long rebuilding process since joining Suzuki, something Roczen admitted looked very different in the early days compared to where he now stands as champion.
“That day (first day with the team) as a person, as a racer, I’m so far away from that now than I was then because I wasn’t at my best. It was just a major shit show, you know? And like I said, at that point in those following two years, I was just trying to grasp onto something to be halfway good again and thinking how are we getting on the podium? I got on the bike super late anyways so going into the 2023 season, I had no testing under my belt. I was in the season riding to my fricking butt and my hands were bleeding but here we are though, it all paid off. We just did one bit at a time and it’s just been such a journey now to look, I mean, we have all of this in the bag, but once I started the first year in 2023, I came back pretty good. I had some podiums and whatnot, but wasn’t anywhere near championship material, me personally, right? So the work continued and it started this off season or I should say last off season too. I was starting to ride really well and it hasn’t been proven because, you know, we were doing these overseas races and things are just different. I feel like that’s when I really started to hit my stride and nobody realized it yet. There’s always talk about me fading and all of that crap that I can do good one weekend and then maybe not the greatest the following weekend. Then the media just changes their mind from like, oh my God, he’s got it and then all of a sudden like, oh, I don’t think he’s going to go anymore, you know? So there’s just so much over these last few years that have happened and it’s taken some serious and more mental work than physical work, to be honest, to get to this point”.
The emotional toll of fighting for an AMA Supercross championship again was another recurring theme in Roczen’s reflections.
“It’s been a tough day. Not going to lie. I don’t know, as I’ve gotten older, I feel like I struggle more or I should say I have to do more mental work. Even yesterday, even this whole week, I just, it was tough and I didn’t even care. I mean, I care a lot, but I don’t care as much. So I’m like, man, even when I woke up, I wasn’t sleeping that great, even in Denver last weekend. You have this adrenaline rush from 6.30 in the morning that I got up. From then on, you have way too much time to think about stuff. I just wanted to go to, I was almost the most calm during the race time. I had too much time to think about stuff and everything throughout the day. It also wasn’t a for sure thing because I struggled all day. I had to do some serious work internally to just think that no matter what happens or is what it is, life goes on and it was tough. I haven’t been in a championship position in forever never mind bring this close. The last championship I won in 2016, I wrapped it up a weekend early so I had literally zero worries and this was a whole different story. I’m glad it’s over and I’m tired”.
Despite easing off in the closing laps, Roczen said the focus was always on managing the race smartly rather than taking unnecessary risks.
“Like I said, after I did the pass, I tried to methodically go about the whole race. It’s not just to do a pass and lead for a couple of laps because we have to do twenty minutes plus one. Once Hunter went down, I saw where he was at. I kept going, kept going, kept going and kept going. The only reason I let off towards the end is because I got a major side ache so the team told me when Hunter was down. You know, the craziest part about the whole track was the whoops and I wasn’t great with them all day. It was almost a little bit of a gamble, every lap go go through them. I didn’t know whether to jump or skim but I skimmed them pretty much almost the whole time. It was just about not throwing this away, don’t stall it in the whoops or doing something stupid like that. But I mean, here we are”.
Roczen also compared the achievement to his first MX2 world title back in 2011, but admitted this championship carries far more emotional weight because of everything he has endured during his career.
“In 2011 I won my first title (MX2 World Championship). I don’t know if I can compare that. I mean, I was a completely different human just because I was pretty much still a child and it was so long ago. It’s hard for me to remember the feeling 100% like you do in this very moment, you know? I mean, we have videos and everything, but I feel like such a different person than I was then, but any title in that very moment is just so extremely special. The world championship title that I did win was in Germany. The fans in Germany and everything was right for that moment as well so all of them are amazing. But I mean this is by far my absolute favourite title just because it has been such an incredibly long road of ups and downs”.
After so many years spent battling injuries and rebuilding his confidence, Roczen said his focus throughout the season was purely on the task in front of him rather than the bigger narrative surrounding his comeback story.
“Just being in this championship hunt, I seriously, truly haven’t thought about that since 2017 with all the injuries because I’m so in the moment. But of course it’s there and you know, it’s amazing, but I think it’s more other people that think about the whole story because I have my focus so hard on the task at hand that. It wasn’t in my head, nor do I care or whatever. But now that everything is done, what an amazing story, but I just had to focus on the championship and everything else and that was not one bit in my mind, nor did I want to use it as an excuse or anything like that. That actually goes for the last few years – I just haven’t thought about it”.
Roczen also opened up on how age and experience have changed the way he approaches racing and preparation.
“What I figured out the most is that I don’t always feel like a 20 year old, super energetic, crazy super athlete. I think it’s really dealing with what’s given to me on that given day and being aware of that, that’s changing as well with your emotional state. That’s really ultimately been the toughest throughout the whole season, because even when I won, I didn’t wake up feeling like I’m superhuman. You know what I mean? It’s really working with what I got and still making something out of it”.
The atmosphere inside the stadium during the title showdown also left a huge impression on Roczen, who described the support from the fans as unlike anything he had experienced before.
“The crowd was going wild the whole main. Every single lap in that main event felt like it was the last lap. It was pretty insane from the fans. God, there’s so much to think about and settle in. I guess most of the time, even if the crowd goes somewhat crazy, as a racer, you don’t notice it unless it’s really, really, really loud. And it was just insane. Every single lap felt like a championship last lap. So it was pretty cool. You know, I got a lot of that so it is pretty sweet. I’m speechless, not even just here, but over most of the whole season, but especially towards the later stages, once things started changing a little bit and the gap got smaller and smaller and people were like, oh crap, like this could really happen. It’s like everything just got boosted to another level. I’ve never felt anything like it and nobody can take that from me”.
For Roczen, the 2026 AMA Supercross title is more than just another championship. It is the reward for years of perseverance, mental battles and refusing to give up through some of the toughest moments of his career. After one of the sport’s longest and most emotional roads back to the top, Roczen finally has the championship that many thought might never come again.
