Atlanta AMA SX blow by blow recaps/result/points

2023 AMA Supercross Championship

Round 13 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

250 Heat One

A red clay track inside the open to the air Atlanta Motor Speedway road circuit greeted competitors for the round 13 of the 17 round 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship overnight in Georgia.

Nate Thrasher edged Hunter Lawrence out of top spot in qualifying on what was a long and technical circuit combined with some fast sections that took 250 East competitors around 1min30secs to lap.

Haiden Deegan scored the holeshot ahead of Talon Hawkins, Cullin Park and Hunter Lawrence when the opening 250 Heat got underway. Tom Vialle also got away well and quickly worked his way up to second place and as the race order started to shake out Hunter Lawrence was holding down third.

Hunter Lawrence took Vialle as the race reached the halfway mark then set about chasing down Deegan. The race leader then made life easy for the Aussie though after he fell in the whoop section, slipping to fifth place before getting back up and running. Deegan eventually recovered to finish fourth.

Jo Shimoda returned to competition at Georgia and recovered from an early crash to work his way back up to fifth by the chequered flag.

Once up front Hunter Lawrence pulled away from the field, taking victory over Vialle by 11-seconds.  Hunter also set the fastest lap of the race by almost two-seconds to underline his speed.

Californian teenager Talon Hawkins showing great promise to finish third.

250 Heat One Results

250 Heat Two

Nate Thrasher scored the holeshot ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin. The triumvirate stayed in that order for the entire five laps all the way to the chequered flag.

Max Anstie fourth for Firepower Honda.

250 Heat Two Results

250 Main

Haiden Deegan scored the holeshot ahead of Hunter Lawrence but the Australian moved through to the lead less than 30-seconds into the race. Lawrence then had a big moment in a rhythm section that saw him out of the seat but somehow landed back on the CRF250R before running off the circuit. Hunter rejoined the track in second place as Deegan held sway up front, Jordon Smith also in close company running third.   Tom Vialle went down pretty heavily on the opening lap.

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Lawrence and Deegan battled over the lead and they touched each other up at some points before Hunter managed to make a pass stick and once clear pulled away with apparent ease.

Jordon Smith got the better of Deegan before half-race distance and held that second place all the way to the chequered flag, taking second place eight-seconds behind Hunter Lawrence.

Nate Thrasher challenged Haiden Deegan for third place in the second half of the contest but then went down real hard four laps from the flag.  Deegan scoring a podium finish ahead of Max Anstie.

Hunter Lawrence now leads the 250 East Championship by 45-points over Haiden Deegan heading into the opening East-West showdown next weekend in New Jersey.

250 Main Results

250 Round Points

250 East Championship Points

450 Heat One

Colt Nichols led the field into turn one but then ran in too deep which allowed Adam Cianciarulo, Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb to sweep past him on corner exit.  Cianciarulo the early leader as Webb moved past Roczen to take second place.

Late on the opening lap Cianciarulo went down in the whoops pretty hard while being pressured by Webb, the KTM man taking the lead as Ken Roczen inherited second place and Josh Hill was promoted to third. By the time Cianciarulo was up and running again he was way down in ninth but the Kawasaki man bravely battled back to finish fourth at the flag.

Cooper Webb the victor over Ken Roczen but it was the Suzuki man that set the fastest lap of the race to underline his speed heading to the Main. Josh Hill rounded out the podium.

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two

Eli Tomac got a great run off the line but ran in to turn one way too hot and ended up quite wide, meanwhile Jason Anderon and Justin Barcia had a clean run to lead Justin Hill and Chase Sexton around the opening lap.

By lap two Tomac had passed five riders to move up to fifth but could only make up one more place by the chequered flag.

Up front it was an Anderson and Barcia show with Chase Sexton giving chase and that trio were almost nose to tail all the way to the flag and finished in that order.

450 Heat Two Results

450 Main

Ken Roczen scored the holehost but Chase Sexton wasted no time in peddling his CRF450F past the Suzuki man to take the early lead and from there the 23-year-old was never headed.

Behind the Honda man Ken Roczen, Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia and Cooper Webb were running 2-3-4-5 in the opening laps while Eli Tomac was down in seventh.

Justin Barcia eventually got the better of Roczen to take second place with just over six-minutes left on the shot clock. Barcia then managed to pull away from the German to secure second place while Roczen rounded out the podium ahead of Cooper Webb, who managed to hold off some late challenges from Eli Tomac over the final laps.

Despite his fifth place finish Eli Tomac only lost a single point from his lead over fourth placed Webb, 292 plays 286 with four rounds still remaining.

Sexton’s victory saw him move seven-points closer to Webb. There is now only 11-points separating the two.

Justin Barcia – P2

“Atlanta was a really good day. I’m stoked on the team and myself and my riding. I had the family here and it was awesome. I qualified P5 and had a good heat race. I was riding really well, battling with Jason, and he went off the track. So, I took the heat race win by I believe you say, default. In the main event, I got off to a pretty good start, charged hard, and made some passes, Chase and Kenny were riding really well. I was able to get around Kenny. He pushed me hard the whole race. It was great. I wasn’t able to catch Chase, but I had a really good ride for second. I’m really looking forward to New York next week. It’s my hometown race.”

Cooper Webb – P4

“Atlanta Motor Speedway was an up-and-down day. Qualifying went really well for me, which was fourth, and then I won my heat race with a good start – I felt great! In the Main Event, I just didn’t get a start, had to make some passes, and was a bit far from the lead group, so I didn’t ride my best. I was a bit disappointed with that performance. At the of the day, we’ll go back this week, get better, aim to get back on the podium, and try to win in these coming races.”

Aaron Plessinger – P6

“Atlanta started out pretty good. We got the bike dialed in practice, but there was something off with the feeling of my clutch in the heat – I ended up crashing and not making it directly into the Main Event. I went to the LCQ, won that and had some fun with the extra laps, but that led to me having the outside gate for the start. I had a decent start anyway, charged forward, and pushed hard, so it was a good end to a not-so-great day!”

450 Main Results

450 Round Points

450 Championship Points