Blow by blow recap from Glendale AMA Supercross Triple Crown

2023 AMA Supercross Championship

Round 12 – State Farm Stadium – Glendale, Arizona

250 Main One

Cameron McAdoo was missing from the starting gates after injuring his shoulder in a practice crash during the week.

An addition to the gates though was Matt Moss, the Aussie veteran was 20th quickest in qualifying thus had to contest the LCQ, which Moss won to earn his place on the gates for the Mains.

Pierce Brown was second in qualifying but was put on the deck in the first turn after getting caught up in a melee at the race start.

Fastest qualifier Jett Lawrence scored the holeshot in the opening race of the night ahead of a charging Levi Kitchen.  The 22-year-old Star Yamaha man sneaked ahead of Jett late on the opening lap after Jett seemingly opened the door and invited him through, the young Aussie playing it safe and trying to avoid any dust ups that could leave him on the deck.

Half a lap later Jett went back through to the lead and managed to pull a few lengths out.  RJ Hampshire then got on terms with Kitchen and wasted no time in taking that second place before putting his head down to try and chase down Jett.  Then the red flag was produced with just over seven-minutes left on the clock due to Stilez Robertson being injured on track.  Robertson was conscious but in considerable pain and required transporting to the medical centre. As three laps had not been completed the riders were sent back around to the gates for a re-start for the full race distance.

The focus and hints of frustration were clear to read on the face of Jett Lawrence as riders prepared for another start. Levi Kitchen scored the holeshot this time around ahead of Jett Lawrence. Lopes went down at turn one. Vohland and Harrison went down after Vohland was pushed wide and into Harrison by RJ Hampshire a few corners into the race.

Kitchen looked to be more comfortable in this restart and was riding confident out front as Jett Lawrence and RJ Hampshire gave chase, Brown benefitting from the re-start and in fourth place.

Jett Lawrence was biding his time and Kitchen started to feel the pressure after the opening three laps and the Aussie made his move after Kitchen made a couple of small mistakes. Hampshire smelled blood and quickly closed on Kitchen. Hampshire took that second place at the halfway point of the ten-minute plus one-lap race distance.

The top four remained in that order all the way to the chequered flag. Jett Lawrence the victor by two-seconds over RJ Hampshire, who in-turn had eight-seconds on Levi Kitchen. Pierce Brown fourth a further four-seconds down.

Matt Moss had crashed out early at the end of the two-lane rhythm section.

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250 Main One Results

250 Main Two

RJ Hampshire took the early lead in the second bout ahead of Max Vohland, Levi Kitchen and Jett Lawrence.

Jett took more than three-minutes to pass Vohland but by that juncture he was almost six-seconds behind race leader RJ Hampshire, and four-seconds behind second placed Levi Kitchen.

RJ Hampshire went on to take a clear and dominant victory, despite buttoning right off on the final lap.

Jett Lawrence put a charge on over the final two laps to close on Levi Kitchen but ran out of time and had to settle for third place at the flag after putting in the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, a lap more than a second quicker than any other rider managed during the race.

Matt Moss was in 12th place but went down in the final minute of the race and failed to finish.

250 Main Two Results

250 Main Three

After hefty tumbles in the second bout neither Stilez Robertson or Matt Moss fronted the gates for the final bout of the night.

Levi Kitchen got a great start once again and led Lawrence, Yoder and Harrison through the opening turns. RJ Hampshire fifth early on but wasted no time in making progress, up to third place before the end of the opening lap.

Early on lap three Hampshire had a huge moment that somehow he managed to hold on but it proved costly, Hampshire losing touch with Lawrence.

Jett Lawrence then took the lead from Kitchen before stretching away with apparent ease. In a single lap Jett pulled away from Kitchen by more than two-seconds and from thereon his victory never looked under threat. One small mistake on the tough track briefly stunted his flow but the Aussie teenager the victor over Levi Kitchen by four-seconds.

Third place for RJ Hampshire in the final bout was still good enough for the Husky rider to claim second overall for the round ahead of Kitchen.

Jett Lawrence had gone into this round with a 23-point advantage over RJ Hampshire but leaves Arizona with that advantage extended to 26-points. There are now only three rounds remaining for the 250 West competitors, and two of those are East-West showdowns.

Next weekend the 250 competition swaps again to the 250 East Championship before the first East-West challenge plays out in New Jersey on April 22.

250 Main Three Results

250 Round Points

250 West Championship Points

450 Main One

Christian Craig was missing from the gates after crashing during practice. Chase Sexton had been quickest during qualifying but it was Eli Tomac that scored the holeshot ahead of Colt Nichols, Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen.

Webb and Roczen made short work of Nichols to move up to second and third place respectively, striving hard to prevent Tomac from running away with this one.

Justin Barcia then threw his hat in the ring, moving past Cianciarulo, Anderson and Nichols to move up to fourth before then also picking off Roczen to move up to third place with nine-minutes left on the shot clock in this 12-minutes plus one-lap contest. Chase Sexton suffered a poor start but had moved up to sixth place by this juncture.

With two-minutes remaining Sexton was in fifth place and challenging Roczen for fourth. Up front at this point it was still Tomac from Webb, and Barcia in third.

Sexton got Roczen at the final turn to steal that fourth place from the German at the flag. Tomac the winner, Webb second and Barcia third.

450 Main One Results

450 Main Two

Chase Sexton scored the holeshot ahead of Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and Jason Anderson. Cooper Webb and Aaron Plessinger were fifth and sixth on the opening lap while Justin Barcia was again recovering from a poor start by scything his way through the field.

Sexton stalled in mid-air and briefly lost the lead to Tomac a couple of minutes into the race but recovered quickly to take lead right back from the Yamaha man.

Riders looked to be struggling with front end slides on the hard but slippery surface and it was a game of controlled aggression while trying to not make mistakes. The conditions were keeping the leading pack fairly close. At half race distance five-seconds covered the top six, Sexton leading Tomac, Roczen third ahead of Anderson, Webb fifth and Barcia up to sixth. Plessinger had lost touch with that leading pack.

Jason Anderson and Cooper Webb traded blows with four-minutes left on the shot clock. Webb touched Anderson and the Kawasaki man retaliated, Webb came off worse from the clash with his flow stunted, not only losing that fourth place once again but also then getting gazumped by Barcia, who pushed Webb further back to sixth.

With two-minutes left on the clock Sexton enjoyed a four-second lead over Tomac but the defending champion had Roczen, Anderson, Barcia and Webb all close enough to be able to potentially challenge for that second place over the final couple of laps.

Webb got Barcia on the final lap for fifth place. Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen traded places a couple of times late on the final lap but Roczen got that third place. Chase Sexton the clear winner, taking the chequered flag four-seconds ahead of Tomac.

450 Main Two Results

450 Main Three

Colt Nichols scored the holeshot ahead of Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia, Aaron Plessinger and Chase Sexton.  Cooper Webb seventh on lap one, Ken Roczen down in ninth.

Eli Tomac wasted no time taking the lead from Nichols and in no time the early race leader had been shuffled down to eighth place.

As they started lap three it was Tomac from Barcia, Sexton third, Plessinger fourth, Anderson fifth, Webb sixth and Roczen seventh.

Jason Anderson went down hard in the whoops halfway through the race from fourth place and limped from the track. His demise promoted Cooper Webb up to fourth and Roczen up to fifth. At this halfway point Tomac led Barcia by just over a second, Sexton was third around 1.5-seconds further back.

That order didn’t change all the way to the flag. Tomac the victor by 2.3-seconds over Barcia, Sexton third a further three-seconds back. Cooper Webb fourth ahead of Ken Roczen and Aaron Plessinger.

Eli Tomac the overall round winner ahead of Chase Sexton and Justin Barcia rounding out the podium ahead of Cooper Webb.

Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb had gone into this round equal on 248-points apiece, 22-points ahead of third placed Chase Sexton. Tomac will now take a seven-point lead over Webb to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend for the 13th round of the 17-round championship.

450 Main Three Results

450 Round Points

450 Championship Points