Jett wins East/West Showdown as Chase Sexton crowned 450 Champ

2023 AMA Supercross Championship

Round 17 – Rice-Eccles Stadium – Salt Lake City, Utah

250 East Heat

Haiden Deegan took a convincing vctory in the opening 250 Heat of the evening over Hunter Lawrence.

The Yamaha man scored the holeshot and was never headed, oozing confidence after the win and eager to make a statement in the East-West showdown.

In contrast it looked like Hunter was playing it safe and was taking zero risk in earning his spot in Main.

Jo Shimoda took third place ahead of Jordon Smith and Chris Blose.

250 East Heat Results

250 West Heat

Levi Kitchen scored the holeshot while Jett Lawrence was fourth when proceedings got underway in the six-minute plus one-lap contest. Between that pair were RJ Hampshire and Carson Mumford.

That order did not change until there was a minute left on the shot clock and rain had started to fall.  Jett made a move past Mumford that nearly got real ugly. Jett’s bike kicking sideways over the whoops as he passed and the teenager showing amazing bike control to keep it upright and complete the pass.

Kitchen the clear winner ahead of Hampshire while Jett Lawrence claimed that third place.

250 West Heat Results

250 East/West Showdown

RJ Hampshire scored the holeshot ahead of Jett Lawrence, Levi Kitchen and Jo Shimoda.  Bad starts for Hunter Lawrence and Haiden Deegan with Hunter also getting caught up with another rider and briefly going down early in the race leaving him plenty of work to do from well outside the top ten.

Up front Hampshire was keeping Jett Lawrence at bay and Levi Kitchen was keeping them both honest in third place over the first few laps.

Jett closed onto the back wheel of Hampshire as the race approached the halfway point and then took the lead with a fairly hard move. At this halfway juncture Hunter Lawrence and Haiden Deegan had just worked their way into the top ten.

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With five-minutes left on the shot clock Jett led Hampshire by five-seconds. Levi Kitchen was still third and Shimoda fourth. Hunter Lawrence had just taken seventh place from Haiden Deegan and that pair were closing in on Max Anstie and Jordon Smith.

Jett Lawrence the dominant victor, taking the chequered flag five-seconds ahead of RJ Hampshire despite slowing down and waving to the crowd on the final lap.

Levi Kitchen rounded out the podium ahead of Jo Shimoda and Jordon Smith.  Hunter Lawrence claiming sixth place after being left back in the pack on the opening lap.

250 Main Results

250 Round Points

250 East Championship Points

250 West Championship Points

250 East/West Championship Points

450 Heat One

Ken Roczen escaped to an early lead on what was now a damp track after racing had started to fall only minutes before the opening 450 Heat.

Dean Wilson was second early on ahead of Kyle Chisholm and that is how the race order remained in what was somewhat of a procession to the chequered flag in the slippery conditions.

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two

Aaron Plessinger took the holeshot and immediately cleared out from Adam Cianciarulo and Chase Sexton.

Sexton didn’t waste too much time getting past Cianciarulo then the champion elect moved forward to challenge Plessinger. His first instance almost ended in tears but the Honda man then regouped and bided his time.

That ended up being the right approach though as with two laps to go Plessinger went straight through the barriers after failing to make a left-hander which handed Sexton the lead.

Plessinger was outside the top ten by the time he was back up and running but got up to ninth by the flag to secure his spot in the Main.

Adam Cianciarulo took second place ahead of Grant Harlan and Justin Starling.

450 Heat Two Results

450 Main

Chase Sexton scored the holeshot and romped away to a convincing victory to underline his new status as Monster Energy AMA Supercross Champion.

The grueling 17-round series eliminated a number of top riders through injury. Already out before this round was Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, Christian Craig, Dylan Ferrandis, Marvin Musqiuin, Colt Nichols, Malcolm Stewart, Cooper Webb and defending champion Eli Tomac all ruled out of contention. Then in tonight’s 450 Main it appeared that on the opening lap Ken Roczen hyperextended his knee and also might be in doubt for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship opener…

With the 450 Championship wrapped up for Honda after the Lawrence brothers claimed the 250 Titles this marks only the third time in Supercross history that a brand has won that trifecta. In 2007 Kawasaki did it with James Stewart, Ben Townley and Ryan Villopoto. The first instance was in 1991 when Honda did it with Jean Michel-Bayle, Brian Swink and Jeremy McGrath.

The premier-class AMA Supercross title though had eluded Honda since Ricky Carmichael earned it 20 years ago. This is the 16th time that Honda has won the title (a record), with past Honda champions including such legends as Donnie Hansen, David Bailey, Johnny O’Mara, Rick Johnson, Jeff Stanton, Jean-Michel Bayle, Jeremy McGrath and Carmichael. This latest title sweep marks the first time that it has been accomplished by one team, and Honda also collected the 2023 AMA Supercross Manufacturers Championship for the third consecutive time.

Sexton collected six main-event wins, qualified on top at 14 of the 17 rounds. The 23-year-old set several season-best marks, including most podium finishes (13), most top-five results (16), most heat-race wins (eight) and most laps led. While his pure speed was impressive all season, he had to work hard to eliminate errors that cost him wins in the early rounds to stay in with a chance at the championship.

A native of La Moille, Illinois, Sexton is a longtime member of the Honda family, having signed with Factory Connection’s amateur squad in 2015. In 2018 he transitioned to that operation’s professional team, with whom he won the 250SX East Region Championship in 2019 and 2020. Sexton moved up to the factory Honda squad midyear, and he was a regular podium finisher during the 2021 season. Last year saw him earn his first AMA Supercross premier-class win, and he was victorious often outdoors, battling Eli Tomac hard throughout the series before finishing a close second in the title chase.

“Wow, 2023 450 Supercross Champion—it doesn’t even feel real yet,” an emotional Sexton said following the race. “It’s what I’ve worked for since I was two-and-a-half years old, when I first got on a dirt bike; since then, this has been the goal. This year was definitely not easy; I was up-and-down in the middle of the season, but I got four of the last six wins—really came on strong at the end, when I needed to. It means so much to me. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people around me—our team, everybody. I’m super, super thankful and happy.”

Competitors have little time to rest before kicking off the AMA Pro Motocross series in Pala, California, on May 27 in what is a brutal schedule for professional AMA SX/MX racers. Then there is the new SuperMotocross contests!

450 Main Results

450 Round Points

450 Championship Points