2023 Daytona Supercross | Race Report & Results

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2023 DAYTONA SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

Riders faced every challenge imaginable during the 2023 Daytona Supercross, from a rough and technical track, to muggy Florida weather with rain during the Main Events, and a gate full of competitors at the eighth round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship. Hunter Lawrence added another W to the stat line and more points to his advantage in the 250 East Coast Region while Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, and Chase Sexton continued their season-long duel for supremacy in the 450 Class with a bar-to-bar battle that Tomac won, his seventh victory at the speedway.

250 Heat One

The gate was down for the first heat race of the evening and Tom Vialle was off to the early lead. Nate Thrasher trailed Vialle as they exited the first corner, but he quickly searched for a line past the RedBull KTM racer. Thrasher pulled alongside in the whoops, but Vialle closed the line as they entered the split-section. Meanwhile, Coty Schock sat in third place with Jack Chambers behind. 

Jack Chambers was shuffled back to sixth place after the opening lap, as both Mosiman and Deegan advanced into fourth and fifth place. On the second lap, Nate Thrasher passed Tom Vialle and took over the race lead after a great run through the whoops. Michael Mosiman then jumped inside of Schock before the whoops to take over third place, just moments before Deegan also passed the privateer. 

Chris Blose made the pass on Jack Chambers for sixth place and bettered his gate-pick. Just a few moments later, Blose also passed Schock to advance into fifth. With just a few laps to go, Mosiman went down in an inside rut, which allowed Deegan to take over third place. Nate Thrasher took the heat race win ahead of Tom Vialle after an impressive ride. 

250 Heat Two

As the second 250SX heat rounded the first corner, Jordon Smith became the race leader with Hardy Munoz in tail. Hunter Lawrence made a quick pass on Hardy to pick up second place and put a rider between himself and Chance Hymas. Chance then passed Munoz to advance into third place, as Jeremy Martin also shuffled Hardy back. 

While Hunter Lawrence lurked behind Smith, Chance Hymas kept the lead duo in sight. After casing two jumps in-a-row, Jordon Smith allowed Hunter Lawrence to close-in. Hunter then pulled alongside through the whoops and secured the race lead as they exited the split-lane section. 

Meanwhile, Max Anstie was making advances inside the top-10, as he picked up sixth place with a lap to go. Hunter Lawrence took the checkered flag and claimed the heat race win. 

250 LCQ

Josiah Natzke held the lead early in the 250SX LCQ, while Caden Braswell advanced into second place after making a few passes on the opening lap. Talon Hawkins passed Brock Papi for third place on the opening lap before giving chase to Braswell. After a few laps, Talon Hawkins pulled alongside and past Braswell to take over second place. 

Meanwhile, Devin Simonson sat 8-seconds behind the lead group but held on to the final transfer position. Natzke took the 250 LCQ win just ahead of Hawkins.

250 Main Event

The gate for the 250SX Main Event was down and Nate Thrasher was off to the early lead with Tom Vialle and Max Anstie in tail. Tom Vialle dove inside in the second corner to take over the lead. Hunter Lawrence then went in hot on Nate Thrasher as they entered the sand, taking Thrasher down and picking up second place. 

Before the end of the first lap, Hunter Lawrence made the pass on Vialle and took the race lead. Max Anstie trailed the lead duo and sat  just ahead of Jeremy Martin. While running in second place, Tom Vialle cased the triple after the whoops and jumped through the bars and into the dirt. Vialle remounted and then rode into the pits before withdrawing from the race. 

Haiden Deegan made the pass on Jeremy Martin for third place. Jeremy tried to respond but bobbled, which allowed Jordon Smith to advance into fourth. Back in the pack, Chance Hymas nearly went down in the whoops while battling with Thrasher for ninth place. Half a lap later, Nate drifted to the right and landed on a tuff-block before being sent into the dirt for the second time. Nate Thrasher remounted in 20th place. 

Michael Mosiman went down and was slow to remount, as Talon Hawkins was in the pits after having a crash of his own. Following his crash, Michael Mosiman withdrew from the remainder of the main event and rode back to the pits. Back up front, Max Anstie remained in second place and held a comfortable cushion over Deegan in third. 

Hunter Lawrence crossed the checkered flag to secure his eighth career supercross victory and extend his points lead. 

450 Heat One

The first 450SX heat race was off, as Eli Tomac led the field into the second corner. Ken Roczen made a quick pass into second place and immediately latched on to Eli. Justin Barcia advanced into third place before the end of the first lap and had Justin Cooper in tail. Justin Cooper made some passes inside the top-10 and found himself in sixth place. 

Aaron Plessinger made the pass on Justin Cooper after a faster run through the whoops and took over fourth place. Eli Tomac continued to lead and had now built-up a two second cushion on Roczen. Eli took the checkered flag and claimed the heat race win over Ken Roczen and the rest of the field. 

450 Heat Two

Rj Hampshire led 450SX heat two into the second corner with teammate Christian Craig in tail. Cooper Webb sat in third place, just ahead of Jason Anderson and Chase Sexton. On lap two, Cooper Webb sprinted inside of Craig to take over second place. Jason Anderson then pulled alongside Craig and cut down in the corner following to take third place. 

Cooper Webb began to reel-in Rj Hampshire and challenge for the race lead. Chase Sexton made the pass on Craig and then dove inside of Anderson to take third place. Sexton was the fastest rider on track but made a few mistakes, including one through the whoops, that held him back. 

Rj Hampshire took the checkered flag just ahead of Cooper Webb and snagged his first 450SX heat race win. 

450 LCQ

Logan Karnow took the 450SX LCQ field into the second corner, as he held the early race lead. Chase Marquier held down second place with Kevin Moranz and John Short in tail. John Short made the pass on Moranz to pick up third place with just over a minute left on the clock. 

Chase Marquier then made the pass on Karnow for the race lead, just before Kevin Moranz had a big crash after casing an attempted quad. Kevin’s crash gave the final transfer position to Joshua Cartwright. John Short also made a pass on Karnow and advanced into second place. Chase Marquier took the win in the 450 LCQ. 

450 Main Event

As the 450SX Main Event left the gate, Eli Tomac was off to the early lead but Cooper Webb bolted around Eli and stole the lead in the second corner. The third championship contender Chase Sexton lurked behind Tomac in third place. As Cooper Webb built-up an early cushion, Chase Sexton began to pressure Eli Tomac for second place. 

On the second lap, Chase Sexton made a mistake in the sand and lost time to Tomac. Justin Barcia sat in fourth place and had Jason Anderson breathing down his neck. A few positions behind, Aaron Plessinger was pressuring Rj Hampshire for sixth place. Back up front, Eli Tomac was slowly closing-in on Cooper Webb. 

Eli Tomac took the inside line in the sand to momentarily take the lead, but Cooper Webb came right back by after carrying more momentum from the outside. Then the two connected in the following corner, causing Eli Tomac to bobble and nearly go down. Just over a lap later, Cooper Webb made a mistake after the finish line and messed up the entire rhythm lane. That mistake allowed Eli Tomac to jump by and take over the race lead.

Chase Sexton was now close to Webb after the mistake, and Webb went from fighting for the lead to fighting for second. Sexton then made a mistake just outside of the tunnel, which allowed Justin Barcia to close. Sexton then jumped right and hit Justin Barcia, forcing Barcia off track. Less than a lap later, Sexton made another mistake and Justin jumped into the back of Chase. Though, Chase managed to ride away from the incident, while Justin went down and had to remount. 

Cooper Webb kept Eli Tomac within two-seconds for the remainder of the race. Despite Webb closing-in at times, Eli Tomac managed to keep the number-2 KTM behind him and take the win at Daytona.