Jason Anderson now the hunted in AMA Supercross series

Jason Anderson has one of the guys to beat in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series for the last couple of years.

Now Anderson is the man to beat thanks to his hot start in 2018 in the 450 class.

Just don’t tell Anderson that.

Despite three wins in the first six main events of the season and a commanding 28-point lead heading into Saturday’s night’s stop at AT&T Stadium, the New Mexico native who grew up racing around Texas small towns doesn’t see anything differently than he has any other year.

“I’ve run up front all my career,” said Anderson, who rides for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory team. “I’ve had wins in the last three seasons. It’s not like it’s been different for me to run up front. It’s just as the years have gone on, I’ve been consistently up front more often. The last few years I’ve rarely been outside the top four.”

This year he’s rarely been outside the top of the podium. Anderson, who finished fourth in points in 2017, actually was able to get on a roll last year and win the season finale in Las Vegas.

That run has carried over to 2018 as he won the second event of the season in Houston. He comes to Arlington looking to make it three-straight main event wins after winning the stops in Oakland and San Diego.

Always consistent, even when Anderson hasn’t won he’s been able to pile up the points as he hasn’t finished worse than fourth in any race. That’s the kind of consistently he’s always had, but now he’s more mature about how to contend for race wins instead of just finishing on the podium.

“I always knew I had it in me to do good,” said Anderson, who finished third at the AT&T stop won by Marvin Musquin last year. “It’s all about learning. I’m just trying to figure it out as it comes because this is our first go around at this. Luckily I’ve learned from my mistakes and it’s all starting to come around decent.”

Things have been more than decent for Anderson, who is looking for his first-ever series title. He’ll be the point leader exiting Texas regardless of how he finishes Saturday. He also has a chance to be the new face of the series. Last year’s champion Ryan Dungey retired. One of Anderson’s biggest challengers for the title this year was Ken Roczen. But Roczen was injured last weekend and is having hand surgery and isn’t racing this weekend. The only other two riders to win this year are Musquin (eighth in standings) and Eli Tomac (12th).

But with 11 events still on the series schedule, Anderson knows a lot can happen.

“On any given night, these guys can beat me,” he said. “The biggest thing I want to do is put myself in a good position. There are certain things in being in the front pack for starts and being able to battle and not being too crazy. I really want to be able to take the wins and losses and kind of keep a level head. I think that’s the thing I’m trying to focus on. If I get sixth this weekend, I tried my best and we go on to next weekend and I really feel like I have it in me to battle for wins every weekend.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2018 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Jason Anderson now the hunted in AMA Supercross series."