2023 Atlanta Supercross | Race Report & Results

2023 ATLANTA SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The Monster Energy Supercross Championship continued its end of season run with a trip to Georgia for the 2023 Atlanta Supercross. An oversized layout took up the infield at Atlanta Motor Speedway and challenged riders in the 250 East Coast Region and 450 Class through an eventful day of practice, Heat Races, and Main Events.

250 Heat One

The gate was down for the first race of the afternoon and Haiden Deegan was off to the early lead. Tom Vialle trailed in second place with Hunter Lawrence behind. Jo Shimoda went down in the third corner after sliding-out and regrouped deep in the pack. Youngster Talon Hawkins sat in fourth place at the end of the first lap.

Cullin Park made a mistake and fell from fifth place to eighth on the second lap. Up front, Hunter Lawrence chased down Vialle and made the pass after a better run through the second set of whoops. While leading, Haiden Deegan hit false neutral and went down. Haiden remounted in fifth place but gave the race lead to Hunter Lawrence. 

Meanwhile, Jo Shimoda had passed into sixth place after his first lap incident. On the final lap, Jo caught up to Haiden Deegan but ran out of time to make a pass. Hunter Lawrence collected the heat race win ahead of Tom Vialle, Talon Hawkins, and the rest of the field. 

250 Heat Two

As the second 250SX heat race left the gate, Nate Thrasher was off to the early lead with Jeremy Martin trailing. Jordon Smith made a quick pass on Martin to take over second place. Max Anstie trailed the top-3 in fourth place and had Chris Blose behind. Henry Miller was making advances inside the top-10, as he passed Jeremy Hand for seventh place.

The top-10 remained in their same positions throughout the entirety of the heat race. Nate Thrasher took the heat race victory just ahead of Jordon Smith. 

250 LCQ

The 250SX LCQ was off and Coty Schock was off to the early lead with Josiah Natzke trailing. Hardy Munoz made a quick pass on Natzke and took over second place on the opening lap. Cullin Park then advanced into third place and pulled alongside Munoz before making the pass for second. 

Gage Linville also made the pass on Hardy Munoz to pick up third place. A lap later, Aj Catanzaro passed Munoz and took over the final transfer position. While leading, Coty Schock got sloppy in the whoops and nearly went down, which allowed Cullin Park to catch him. On the final lap, Hardy Munoz re-passed Catanzaro and then passed Linville, but went down in the whoops and gave it up. Coty Schock took the LCQ win. 

250 Main Event

The gate for the 250SX Main Event was down and Haiden Deegan was off to the early lead with Hunter Lawrence alongside. Hunter Lawrence then pushed Haiden wide in the second corner to take the race lead. Tom Vialle was down hard off the start after colliding with a few other riders. On the opening lap, Hunter Lawrence nearly went down after casing a rhythm and then bouncing off track. Haiden Deegan was able to repass for the race lead before Hunter re-entered the race track. 

Jordon Smith and Nate Thrasher lurked behind the leaders in third and fourth place. Hunter Lawrence took Haiden wide again over the tunnel jump, but Haiden took the main-line away and held onto the position this time. A few moments later, Hunter Lawrence took a wide line around a right-hander to make the pass for the lead and secure the position. 

Jo Shimoda sat in sixth place and was pressuring Max Anstie for fifth. Meanwhile, Jordon Smith was pressuring Deegan for second place. After trailing for a few laps, Jordon made a quick pass on his rookie teammate and looked ahead for the race leader. Jeremy Martin went down in a rhythm section while running in 7th place, ending his race.

After a few attempts, Jo Shimoda made the pass on Anstie and secured fifth place. Nate Thrasher was now pressuring Haiden Deegan for third place, but Haiden upped his pace for the time being. Laps later, Nate Thrasher went down hard in the first set of whoops and looked to be injured. Hunter Lawrence crossed the checkered flag to collect another victory and extend his points lead.

450 Heat One

The first 450SX race of the afternoon was off as Adam Cianciarulo was off to the early lead with Ken Roczen alongside. Roczen then dove inside before the tunnel-jump in an attempt to pass for the lead, but that move allowed Cooper Webb to pass Ken in the following corner. Cooper Webb then began pressuring Adam Cianciarulo for the lead.

While leading, Adam Cianciarulo lost his footing in the whoops and went down hard. Despite smacking his head on the handlebars, Adam was quick to remount. Cooper Webb then took over the race lead and already held a nice cushion over Roczen. Josh Hill sat in third place at the beginning of the heat and led Colt Nichols.

After remounting in 12th place, Adam Cianciarulo was making passes inside the top-10. Cianciarulo caught up to Benny Bloss, who was having his own battle with Dean Wilson for fifth. Cianciarulo made a sneaky pass on Bloss and switched his focus to Wilson. On the final lap, Cianciarulo passed both Wilson and Nichols to finish in fourth place. Cooper Webb took the heat race victory over Ken Roczen.

450 Heat Two

As riders left the gate for the second 450SX heat race, Justin Barcia was off to the early lead after taking Eli Tomac wide in the first corner. Jason Anderson made a quick pass on Barcia to take over the lead in the second section. Jason Anderson went off track after drifting wide over a double but re-entered shortly after in the race lead.

Justin Barcia continued to trail Anderson, while Chase Sexton sat in third place. Eli Tomac had already passed into fifth place after being pushed wide in the first corner. Eli Tomac pulled alongside Justin Hill through the whoops and then beat him to the next corner to take over fourth place. 

Justin Barcia continued to pressure Anderson and search for a line to make the pass, while Chase Sexton lurked behind the duo. On the final lap, Barcia dove inside of Anderson a few times, but Jason blocked off the line and held onto the lead. Jason Anderson crossed the checkered flag and collected the heat race win.

450 LCQ

The gate for the 450SX LCQ was down and Joan Cros was off to the early lead. Aaron Plessinger got ran wide in the second corner, but he managed to stay on the track and secure second place. Aaron Plessinger then sprinted past Cros a few corners later and took the lead in the LCQ. 

Chase Marquier then passed Cros for second place, but Joan passed him right back in the next corner. Though, Marquier secured second place just a lap later. John Short then dove inside of Cros before the second set of whoops and took both himself and Cros down, ending their hopes of making it into the main event. 

Cade Clason passed a few guys to enter second place. Aaron Plessinger did his best to avoid the drama and crossed the finish line to collect the LCQ win. With two laps to go, Jared Lesher passed Chase Marquier to pick up the final transfer position. 

450 Main Event

The gate was down and the 450SX Main Event was off. Ken Roczen led the field into the first turn with Chase Sexton alongside. Sexton cut inside in the second corner and jumped off the tunnel-jump in the race lead. Jason Anderson sat in third place, while Eli Tomac sat back in 9th place. 

Justin Barcia was challenging Anderson for third place and ultimately made the pass on the third lap. Eli Tomac was up to sixth place after a pass on Adam Cianciarulo. While, Cooper Webb was in pursuit of Anderson for fourth place. Cooper Webb looked inside a few times and made the pass on Anderson after railing an outside bank entering the sand. Eli Tomac also made the pass on Anderson before the end of that lap. 

Eli Tomac now moved up to pressure Cooper Webb for fourth place. Meanwhile, Chase Sexton continued to lead and had built a 3-second cushion over Ken Roczen. Justin Barcia had reeled in Roczen and was pressuring for second place. Justin Barcia pulled alongside in the whoops and then used an inside rut to complete the pass on Roczen for second place. 

Eli Tomac continued to work on Cooper Webb, but Aaron Plessinger was reeling-in the duo. After dropping back to 8th place, Jason Anderson pulled out of the race and rode back to the truck. Just as Plessinger caught up to the rear tire of Tomac, he made a mistake and cased an on-off. 

Chase Sexton crossed the checkered flag and claimed the victory in Atlanta. Cooper Webb sprinted away from Eli Tomac in the final laps and took a point off of Eli’s championship lead.