2023 Houston Supercross | Race Report & Results

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250 Heat One

The first race of the 250SX East Coast championship was off and Hunter Lawrence was off to the early lead with Hardy Munoz trailing. Chris Blose and Nate Thrasher made quick passes on Munoz during the opening lap to advance. Nate Thrasher then made the pass for second place on Blose before the finish line. Just moments later, Chance Hymas also passed Blose after he made a slight mistake. 

On the other-hand, Marshall Weltin was off to a rough start and crossed the finish line in last place on the opening lap. Michael Mosiman was making a charge towards the front after a bad start, as he passed Hardy for fifth place. Just a few laps after picking up fifth, Mosiman was challenging Blose for fourth. Michael ultimately made the pass after scrubbing the finish line and bolting by the fill-in rider. 

Hunter Lawrence continued to lead the heat race and now had a three second lead on Nate Thrasher. On the final lap, Jace Owen passed rookie Gage Linville through the whoops to secure the final transfer position. Hunter Lawrence took the heat race win and started both his night and season off on a good note. 

250 Heat Two

The second 250SX heat race was off, as Jordon Smith led the field out of the first corner. Tom Vialle shuffled into second place after a great jump off the gate, but was quickly passed by Max Anstie on the opening lap. Jeremy Martin sat in fourth place, but had Haiden Keegan challenging. Haiden jumped to the inside of Jeremy and took over fourth place before going after Vialle. 

Deegan went on to pressure Vialle for third place and search for a way past the Red Bull KTM rider. A few positions behind, Coty Schock connected mid-air with his teammate over the finish line and then slammed into the over-under bridge, ending his heat.

Back up front, Max Anstie was challenging Jordon Smith for the race lead. Jordon Smith made a slight mistake in the sand that allowed Anstie to close-in even more, but Max played it nice in the following corner and continued to lurk behind. Jordon Smith grabbed the checkered flag just ahead of Anstie to collect the heat race win. 

250 LCQ

The 250SX last chance qualifier was off and Josiah Natzke was off to the early lead with Jeremy Hand and Jack Chambers trailing. Jack Chambers dove inside of Jeremy Hand before the whoops to make the pass, but then lost the position through the whoops. Aj Catanzaro held onto the final transfer position early-on. 

Coty Schock went down after connecting with another rider, but was quick to remount and had climbed back up to sixth place within a lap. Up front, Josiah Natzke appeared to have a mechanical issue, as he let the field by and pulled off after leading. That misfortune gave Jeremy Hand the race lead. 

Coty Schock and Jack Chambers were now battling over the final transfer position, after Chambers was shuffled back to fourth. Jack then ran into the back of Brock Papi and went down, giving Coty the final transfer spot. Jeremy Hand took the LCQ victory, just ahead of Catanzaro, Papi, and Schock. 

250 Main Event

Hunter Lawrence was off to the early lead in the 250SX Main Event, but Tom Vialle snuck up the inside before the finish line and took the race lead. Hunter jumped off track after the sand section, nearly going down before rejoining the track in third place. Chance Hymas sat in second place after a great start. 

Hunter Lawrence then jumped past his teammate, Chance Hymas, and into second place. Max Anstie trailed in fourth place, just outside of the battles at the front. Hunter Lawrence then made the pass on Vialle to take the race lead in Houston. 

Max Anstie advanced into third place, while Chance Hymas was shuffled back to sixth place. Nate Thrasher took Hymas wide to take sixth, just before Haiden Deegan cut inside before the whoops to shuffle Hymas back to 8th. 

Back up front, Max Anstie had caught Vialle but Jordon Smith was challenging from behind. Though, Max Anstie was the first to advance after a great run through the whoops. Jordon Smith then went down in the sand and lost all the time he had gained on Vialle. Jeremy Martin also made the pass on Smith before he remounted. Meanwhile, Nate Thrasher made a mistake and was now marked in 11th place. 

Minutes later, Jordon Smith had reeled-in Jeremy Martin and ultimately looked inside going into the sand to take over fourth place. In the following section, Tom Vialle went down in the corner and dropped back to fifth place, giving Smith third place position. Haiden Deegan and Michael Mosiman also made passes on Vialle, as Tom appeared to have bent his handlebars. 

Hunter Lawrence crossed the checkered flag to take the Main Event victory and the points-lead in the 250SX East Coast region. Max Anstie finished in second place after an impressive first round, while Jordon Smith and Haiden Deegan followed. Jeremy Martin made a mistake in the whoops on the final lap and struggled to restart his bike after stalling, dropping him to fifth place. 

450 Heat One

The first 450SX heat of the night was off, as Cooper Webb led the field out of the first corner. Jason Anderson sat in second place with Aaron Plessinger just behind. Dylan Ferrandis jumped alongside Plessinger, but Aaron had the inside line in the following corner. Up front, Jason Anderson dove inside Webb before the finish line to take the race lead. 

Jason Anderson then made a few mistakes, bunching-up Webb and Plessinger to make it a three rider battle for the lead. Plessinger then looked inside of Cooper, where he ultimately made the pass over the tunnel jump a section later to take over second. A few positions behind, Justin Cooper and Joey Savatgy battled over sixth place, where Joey ultimately advanced. 

Jason Anderson took the heat race victory over Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb, and the rest of the field. 

450 Heat Two

Eli Tomac led the final heat race of the night out of the first corner and held the early race lead. Team Honda HRC teammates Colt Nichols and Chase Sexton trailed in second and third. Sexton made a quick pass on Nichols in the sand to take over second place, while Adam Cianciarulo lurked in fourth. 

After just a lap, Chase Sexton was stalking Tomac and pressuring for the lead. Sexton rocketed through the whoops on lap two and passed Eli Tomac for the race lead. A few positions behind, Justin Barcia was pressuring Cianciarulo and ultimately made the pass in the sand to advance into fourth place. 

Grant Harlan went down in the rhythm lane before the finish, ending his heat race. Colt Nichols continued to sit in third place, but Barcia was closing-in. Up front, Chase Sexton continued to lead and had built himself a 7-second lead over Eli Tomac. Chase Sexton took the heat race win after a dominate ride. 

450 LCQ

Josh Cartwright led the field of the 450SX last chance qualifier out of the first turn and held the early lead. Chase Marquier and Freddie Noren battled over second place on the opening lap, but Noren ultimately made the pass. Kevin Moranz moved into third place, just before Alex Ray made multiple passes and landed in the final transfer position.

Moments after securing the final transfer position, Alex Ray went off track after the sand and dropped back to 8th place. Justin Starling made a pass on Noren for third place. Meanwhile, Josh Cartwright continued to lead the LCQ. 

Justin Starling jumped past Moranz for second place with two laps to go. In the final turn Kyle Chisholm went for the pass on Noren and ended up taking both of them out. Alex then jumped off track again, giving the final transfer position to John Short. 

450 Main Event

Eli Tomac took the early lead in Houston after snagging the 450SX Main Event holeshot. Aaron Plessinger was in second place and Jason Anderson trailed him as they exited the second corner. Chase Sexton made some quick early passes on lap one, landing him in fourth place by the end of the lap. 

Cooper Webb shuffled into fifth place on the opening lap, while Christian Craig was marked in 21st place after a first turn crash. Up front, Aaron Plessinger was still pressuring Eli Tomac for the race lead, and the pair had Anderson and Sexton lurking. A red flag then stopped the Main Event for Dylan Ferrandis, who was down at the end of the whoops after running into the back of Ken Roczen.

Restart

After Dylan Ferrandis received the medical attention that he needed, the 450SX field lined up for a staggered restart. Eli Tomac was off and the Main Event in Houston was back underway. Jason Anderson jumped to the inside of Plessinger before the finish line to take over second place. Aaron Plessinger attempted to fight back, but Chase Sexton carried momentum through the whoops and took the preferred line to pass into third place. 

Eli Tomac continued to lead and was now building up a gap on the rest of the field. Chase Sexton made the pass on Jason Anderson through the whoops to take over second place and now set his sights on Tomac and the lead. A few spots behind, Adam Cianciarulo got sloppy in the whoops and jumped off track. 

Justin Barcia was now pressuring Aaron Plessinger for fourth place, but Aaron fended off the initial attacks. Back up front, Sexton continued to pressure Tomac and battle for the race lead. After a few laps of trailing, Sexton looked to back it off for a couple laps and allow Tomac to open his lead back up. 

With a few minutes on the clock, Sexton blew out a right-handed rut and nearly went down. Further back in the field, Justin Cooper was closing in on Ken Roczen while holding off Joey Savatgy for 8th place. On the final lap, Justin Cooper made the pass on Roczen through the sand section. Eli Tomac took the checkered flag to grab the Main Event win in Houston.