2023 East Rutherford Supercross | Race Report & Results

2023 EAST RUTHERFORD SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The 2023 East Rutherford Supercross had all the elements that make for an exciting day at the track, as the fourteenth round of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship included the first of two East-West Showdowns for the 250 Class, another match-up for the 450 Class, and a technical track that drastically changed when heavy rains fell between the Heat Races and Main Events. 

250 East Heat

The gate was down and the 250SX East heat race was off, as Haiden Deegan led the field out of the first corner. Haiden then shut the door on Hunter Lawrence in the following corner, which allowed Jo Shimoda to advance into second place. Jo Shimoda then made the pass on Deegan on the second lap to take over the race lead. 

Hunter Lawrence then passed Haiden, but the rookie wasn’t rolling over, as he looked inside a few times. Tom Vialle shuffled into fourth place after passing Chris Blose. Jordon Smith was making moves as well, as he passed Blose and took over fifth place. Up front, Hunter Lawrence trailed Shimoda and was pressuring for the lead. 

Jordon Smith made the pass on Vialle for fourth place, as the battle for the lead continued. Jo Shimoda held off Hunter and managed to open his lead back up again before collecting the heat race win.

250 West Heat

As the 250SX West Coast division exited the first corner, Rj Hampshire was off to the early lead with Maximus Vohland in tail. Carson Mumford sat behind Hunter Yoder, who had another great start and ran in third. Pierce Brown then made a quick pass on Mumford to take over fourth place. Meanwhile, Jett Lawrence ran in seventh place after a mid-pack start. 

Hunter Yoder then made a mistake while running inside the top-5 and dropped back to 16th place. That gave Pierce Brown third place, as Jett Lawrence advanced into fourth place after a pass on Mumford. Enzo Lopes then passed Mumford for fifth place. Jett Lawrence then began to pressure Pierce Brown for third place, while Rj Hampshire continued to lead the heat race. 

Jett Lawrence took an alternative rhythm and nearly jumped to the inside of Brown, but Pierce took the line away and held onto the spot. However, Jett completed the pass a few moments later after a better run through the whoops. Jett then made the pass on Maximus Vohland for second place a lap later. Rj Hampshire crossed the checkered flag and took the heat race victory just ahead of Jett Lawrence. 

250 LCQ

The 250 last chance qualifier was off and Luke Neese was off to the early lead with Coty Schock trailing. Coty made a quick pass to take over the race lead. Hunter Yoder sat in third place after the start and worked to make the pass on Neese for second. While running in the final transfer position, Joshua Varize got taken down but Cullin Park in the corner before the finish line. Joshua Varize then went down again, which brought out the red flag. 

Restart

The race was back underway after the red flag and Coty Schock continued to lead Neese, Yoder, and the rest of the field. Cullin Park made the pass on Yoder after the whoops to pick up third place. Henry Miller then passed Yoder and took the final transfer position, but Hunter fired back a lap later and took fourth back. 

Coty Schock took the LCQ win, while Dilan Schwartz made the pass on both Henry and Yoder in the final corner to move on to the main event. 

250 Main Event

After a weather delay due to thunderstorms in the area, the 250 class was back on the gate and ready for the showdown main event. The gate dropped and Max Anstie led the field into the first corner with Maximus Vohland in tail. Vohland jumped alongside Max in the first rhythm lane, but Anstie shut the door on him. Rj Hampshire ran in third place with the Lawrence brothers behind. 

Jett Lawrence sat just ahead of his brother in fourth place. Rj Hampshire went off the track in the whoops and fell back to fourth place. Rj then took Jett wide after the finish line jump and took third place from his championship rival. Less than a lap later, Jett Lawrence took Rj wide before the whoops to retake third place. 

Pierce Brown made a mistake and was dead last. Up front, Max Anstie continued to lead Maximus Vohland and now held a 6-second cushion. Jett Lawrence had caught Maximus and was now pressuring for second place. However, Rj Hampshire joined the battle as he lurked behind the duo in fourth. Jett then used an inside line in the corner before the whoops to make the pass on Vohland for second place. 

Rj Hampshire cut down on Vohland just a few corners later and picked up third place. Rj then made the pass on Jett, but Jett passed him back and Rj had to ditch his goggles. Haiden Deegan went down while running in 6th place and challenging Hunter Lawrence for position, dropping him back to 8th place. 

With two laps to go, Jordon Smith went down and dropped back to 19th place. Jett Lawrence caught up to the rear wheel of Anstie with two laps to go, but then had to ditch his goggles. Max Anstie crossed the finish line to take his first ever career win. Rj Hampshire dove to the inside of Jett in the final corner and slid into the mud. Jett managed to get back up and collect second place, while Rj Hampshire was stuck in the mud as the rest of the field finished the race. 

450 Heat One

The first 450SX heat of the night was off as Ken Roczen led the field into the first corner with Cooper Webb in tail. Cooper Webb then jumped to the inside before the whoops and took over the race lead. However, Ken Roczen fired back less than a lap later and took the lead back. Meanwhile, Justin Hill advanced into third place after a pass on Noren during the opening lap. 

Ken Roczen then opened up his lead and built a second and a half lead over Webb. Colt Nichols then passed Chisholm to take over fourth place. With three laps to go, Shane McElrath made the pass on Cartwright to take over the final transfer position. Ken Roczen took the heat race win after pulling away from Cooper Webb.

450 Heat Two

As the second 450SX heat race left the gate, Chase Sexton was off to the early lead with Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson in tail. Benny Bloss sat in fourth place and trailed Jason Anderson. Meanwhile, Eli Tomac ran in 7th place at the end of the opening lap. As Chase Sexton worked to run away with the lead, Justin Barcia did his best to latch on to Sexton.

Justin Barcia then went down in the corner at the end of the whoops and remounted in fifth place. Justin Barcia made some quick passes after his crash and secured third place. Benny Bloss then ran in fourth place, but Eli Tomac jumped inside after the finish line jump to take over fourth. 

Chase Sexton crossed the finish line to take the heat race win nearly 10-seconds ahead of Jason Anderson, who finished in second place. 

450 LCQ

The 450 last chance qualifier was off and Devin Simonson was the early race leader. Tristan Lane trailed in second place, as Ronnie Stewart chased him down. Joshua Cartwright went down while running inside the top-10 after jumping into the back of Marquier. Chase Marquier jumped past Ronnie Stewart and took over third place. 

Cade Clason then passed Stewart for the final transfer position. Devin Simonson took the LCQ win after a perfect start to finish performance. 

450 Main Event

The 450 main event was off and Chase Sexton was off to the early lead with Justin Barcia in tail. Ken Roczen advances from third to first after the second corner. Justin Barcia then took Sexton down in the corner before the whoops, and Chase dropped from second place to 8th. Eli Tomac then sat in third place, while Cooper Webb was listed back in seventh. 

Ken Roczen now led Justin Barcia by three seconds, who held a two second lead over Tomac. On the opening lap, Jason Anderson went down in the whoops and fell back to 18th place. Benny Bloss was running in fourth place and held a massive cushion over Cooper Webb. Chase Sexton made the pass on Cooper Webb for fifth place and then jumped past Bloss for fourth. 

After being held up by lappers, Justin Barcia caught up to Roczen and then took Ken wide before the whoops to take over the race lead. Ken Roczen ditched his goggles with 5-minutes left on the clock, but remained in second place. Eli Tomac then caught up to Roczen and began pressuring for second place. Ken Roczen then tipped-over in the whoops, which allowed Tomac to roll into second place. 

With a 17-second lead over Tomac, Justin Barcia cruised to his first main event victory of the year.