Cycle News Staff | April 29, 2023
Howdy from Nashville! It’s an early morning here from Nissan Stadium for round 15 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series. After last weekend’s crazy weather, things were much more promising for today’s race. Chase Sexton and Hunter Lawrence claimed their respective wins in the Music City.
MAIN EVENT
450SX
Chase Sexton came from way back to take the win here in Nashville. After starting outside the top three, the number-23 put in a series of sprint laps to catch the early leader, Eli Tomac. Sexton easily made his way past Tomac and set sail for the second half of the race. He’s still in contention for the title and every win means valuable points. Sexton took over second in points and is now 18 back from Tomac.
Chase Sexton ran down Eli Tomac to take the 450SX win. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Eli Tomac grabbed the early holeshot and opened up a three second lead after executing a number of near-perfect opening laps. He led the first 11 laps of the race before being overtaken by Chase Sexton and eventually finishing second. With Cooper Webb not racing tonight, Tomac is clearly in championship conservation mode and is happy to take home a second place. He’s now 18 points up on Chase Sexton who now sits second.
Roczen salvaged third and moves to fourth in points.
Ken Roczen took third. He didn’t get a great start but worked his way through the field and capitalized on the mistakes of others. Roczen stayed smooth saying he was having “flashbacks to 2017” and kept it on two wheels for another podium finish. With Roczen’s main points rival, Justin Barcia, crashing and not finishing the race, the 94 is now 13 points up on Barcia and just 24 back from Webb in third.
450SX Podium
Tough night for Cooper Webb as he crashed out in his heat race.
Justin Barcia won his heat race but later crashed out of the main event.
450SX Final Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
23 Laps |
| 2. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
+14.513 |
| 3. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
+29.756 |
| 4. |
Colt Nichols |
(Hon) |
+34.374 |
| 5. |
Justin Hill |
(KTM) |
+39.895 |
| 6. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
+49.423 |
| 7. |
Dean Wilson |
(Hon) |
+1:00.081 |
| 8. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
22 Laps |
| 9. |
Kyle Chisholm |
(Suz) |
+08.088 |
| 10. |
Josh Hill |
(KTM) |
+15.470 |
250SX East
The title was within reach for Hunter Lawrence as long as he finished 20th or better in the 250SX main event. He nearly hit the start gate but somehow managed to still grab the holeshot. One turn later, Jordon Smith ran him high and overtook the top spot. Lawrence followed closely until a mistake from Smith handed the lead back to the 96. It was smooth sailing from there on out as Lawrence held second place at bay. He went on to claim the win and with it, his first career Supercross championship.
Hunter Lawrence took the win and the title. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Jo Shimoda ran third early on but moved his way into second after Smith’s off-track excursion. The Kawasaki rider put in a string of good laps but just wasn’t close enough to get Lawrence up front. He also held off Smith as he worked his way back from a mistake. This is only Shimoda’s third race back, so a second is certainly respectable for the Japanese native.
Jo Shimoda held on for second.
Smith rounded out the podium in third. He made an aggressive pass in turn two and took the lead from Lawrence early on. Smith led the early stages of the race but made a crucial mistake in the sand section and went off track. This dropped him to third where he eventually finished.
250 Podium
250SX East Final Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
17 Laps |
| 2. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
+03.857 |
| 3. |
Jordon Smith |
(Yam) |
+05.305 |
| 4. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
+06.909 |
| 5. |
Max Anstie |
(Hon) |
+24.811 |
| 6. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Yam) |
+34.133 |
| 7. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
+41.675 |
| 8. |
Chris Blose |
(Kaw) |
+47.344 |
| 9. |
Henry Miller |
(Hon) |
16 Laps |
| 10. |
Cullin Park |
(Hon) |
+04.586 |
QUALIFYING
450SX
Chase Sexton set the time to beat in the 450SX qualifying sessions. Although he was fastest, the top four riders were all within one second. Adam Cianciarulo grabbed second and last week’s winner, Justin Barcia was third, about one-thousandth of a second off AC’s time. Tomac logged fourth with Webb back in eighth.
Sexton topped the 450 times. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Adam Cianciarulo is back this weekend. He was second in qualifying.
Last week’s winner Justin Barcia clocked third.
Ken Roczen with some sauce. He rounded out the top five.
450SX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
52.580 |
| 2. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
52.889 |
| 3. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
52.890 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
52.918 |
| 5. |
Ken Roczen |
(Suz) |
53.052 |
| 6. |
Justin Hill |
(KTM) |
53.477 |
| 7. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
53.490 |
| 8. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
54.261 |
| 9. |
Benny Bloss |
(Yam) |
54.279 |
| 10. |
Colt Nichols |
(Hon) |
54.568 |
250SX
It’s go time for Hunter Lawrence tonight as he can wrap up the 250SX East Coast championship with a finish of 20th or better. This seems like a shoe-in as far his worst result this year is a third. The 96 set the fastest time of the day with a 52.4 and was the only 250 rider in the 52-second range. Jordon Smith and Jo Shimoda were second and third, about nine tenths off Lawrence’s time. Last week’s winner, Max Anstie was fifth.
Hunter Lawrence was the fastest 250 rider by nearly a second. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Jordon Smith grabbed second.
Jo Shimoda took the third fastest qualifying spot.
250SX East Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
52.407 |
| 2. |
Jordon Smith |
(Yam) |
53.325 |
| 3. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
53.407 |
| 4. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
53.576 |
| 5. |
Max Anstie |
(Hon) |
53.670 |
| 6. |
Chris Blose |
(Kaw) |
53.976 |
| 7. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Yam) |
54.492 |
| 8. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
54.897 |
| 9. |
Jace Owen |
(Hon) |
55.138 |
| 10. |
Cullin Park |
(Hon) |
55.383 |
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