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2023 Oakland Supercross | Kickstart Recap & Gallery

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2023 OAKLAND SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

If that really was the last visit to the RingCentral Coliseum, then the 2023 Oakland Supercross sent it out with a bang. The iconic, albeit aging venue has hosted the Monster Energy Supercross Championship since 2011, a decade-plus stint that saw back-to-back wins by Ryan Villopoto, the last-turn run-in between Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson’s wild wins, and now, Eli Tomac’s cemented status among the all-time greats.

It’s no secret that the area surrounding the stadium isn’t the greatest, but much of that’s forgotten about when you step onto to the property and get a whiff of the race gas. The race is the one time of year that Northern California fans can see the spectacle for themselves, and they’ll ride the BART to Coliseum station, tailgate in the parking lot before-during-after, and pace through the pits to see everything they can.

The same excitement is shared by the venue’s workers, who tell us they look forward to the race every year and get a rush from the bar-to-bar battles, even if they don’t really know who is on the track. They got a front-row seat to January’s aborted attempt to build a track out of mud (their stories of equipment getting stuck, rain dumping every day, and the power going out made it clear that postponement was the best decision), which made them even more eager for a second chance to race and work in February. 

Saturday’s afternoon schedule made a red-eye flight home possible, and as the plane climbed away from SFO, I looked down on the Nimitz Freeway and saw the Black Hole lit up for the post-race load out, which went well past midnight.



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Michael Antonovich

Michael Antonovich has a wealth of experience with over 10 years of moto-journalism under his belt. A lifelong racing enthusiast and rider, Anton is the Editor of Swapmoto Live and lives to be at the race track.

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