Features 13 May 2023

Racefeed: 2023 Supercross Rd17 Salt Lake City

Direct updates from round 17 of the season at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Follow the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from today’s 17th round of the season at Rice-Eccles Stadium through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX West qualifying one:
Running 1W on his red number plates after wrapping up the 250SX West championship a week ago, Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) kicked off his last Supercross in the 250 category with the fastest lap in the first timed qualifying session. Denver winner RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) lapped within 0.215s of Lawrence to land second in this session, ahead of Enzo Lopes (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), and Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM) in the top five. Derek Kelley gave his AEO Powersports KTM team representation in the top 10 with the sixth-fastest lap as he led Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop MotoConcepts Honda), Dilan Schwartz (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki), Carson Mumford (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki) in filling the remaining top-10 positions.

250SX East qualifying one:
Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) led the East division of the 250SX class moments after his younger brother did so among the West group. Carrying 1E on his Honda CRF250R, Lawrence was 0.596s clear of Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) on their respective best laps. Jeremy Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) matched his teammate’s result of third from the west group, while Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) completed the top five. Winner of the last 250SX East/West Showdown, Max Anstie (Fire Power Honda) turned in the sixth-fastest lap, putting him ahead of Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM), Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda), Chris Blose (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Talon Hawkins (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) in the top 10.

450SX qualifying one:
With a chart-topping time from 450SX champion elect Chase Sexton, Team Honda HRC swept the first round of timed qualifying at the season-ending Salt Lake City Supercross. Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) had enough speed for second, while Justin Hill and Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports broke through the few remaining factory entries for the third-fastest lap. Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and the returning Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) completed the top five. Josh Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports), Shane McElrath (Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance), Justin Starling, Grant Harlan (Rock River Yamaha), and Cade Clason (Partzilla PRMX Racing) filled the rest of the top 10, with Dean Wilson (Fire Power Honda) notably only 12th.

250SX East qualifying two:
With a 46.572s lap, Hunter Lawrence went 0.836s quicker in the second session to outpace Smith and the rest of the Eastern region by at least 0.021s. Shimoda was third, 0.551s off Lawrence’s pace. Martin and Deegan landed in the fourth and fifth positions, ahead of Anstie, Blose, Vialle, Jace Owen (Phoenix Racing Honda), and Michael Hicks (TiLUBE Honda) in the top 10.

250SX West qualifying two:
Jett Lawrence led the second timed outing for the Western region with a 47.052s revolution of the Rice-Eccles Stadium track. After owning the fastest lap earlier in the session, Hampshire pulled off the track with the second-fastest time, 0.288s in arrears of Lawrence. Kitchen, Lopes, and Oldenburg completed the top five, while Mumford, Vohland, Schwartz, Cole Thompson (Team Solitaire Heartbeat Hot Sauce Yamaha), and Robbie Wageman (BarX Suzuki) comprised the remainder of the top 10.

450SX qualifying two:
Sexton completed a factory Honda sweep of qualifying for the final Supercross of 2023 with a best lap 0.084s faster than that of Roczen. Vastly improving upon his position from the earlier session, Wilson set the third-fastest lap, leading Justin Hill and Cianciarulo in completing the top five. Josh Hill, Plessinger, McElrath, Harlan, and Kyle Chisholm (Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance) filled the second half of the top 10, with Chisholm lapping within 0.92s of Sexton.

250SX East heat:
Deegan led from the gate drop through the checkered flag to win the night’s first race and kick off the completion of his rookie Supercross season. Named the 250SX rookie of the year hours earlier, Deegan beat 250SX East champion Hunter Lawrence to the checkers by 3.269s. Shimoda, Smith, Blose, Martin, Anstie, Hicks, and Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda) finished in the remaining top-nine positions to transfer directly to the Showdown main event later on. Luke Neese, Vialle, Coty Schock (Phoenix Racing Honda), and Hawkins notably missed out and will return for the LCQ.

250SX West heat:
Back on track after being caught and passed by Hampshire a week ago in Denver, Kitchen led all eight laps of the 250SX West heat with Hampshire settling for second, 5.474s behind. Rainfall increased as the checkers neared, with class champion Jett Lawrence crossing the line third. Mumford, Lopes, Oldenburg, Kelley, Wageman, and Schwartz added their names to the starting lineup for the Showdown, with Schwartz notably passing Vohland under the over-under bridge for the final transfer position. Vohlan finished 10th and will head to the LCQ.

450SX heat one:
On an increasingly wet track, Roczen cruised to a victory of more than 12s over Wilson in the first premier class race of the night. Chisholm was 12s further back in third, followed by Josh Hill, Tristan Lane, McElrath, Kevin Moranz, Freddie Noren (MaddParts.com Kawasaki), and Joshua Cartwright in transfer positions.

450SX heat two:
Leading Sexton around a soaked Salt Lake City track, Plessinger came two laps short of winning the night’s concluding heat race. A mistake in the whoops sent Plessinger and his Red Bull KTM over the berm and forced him to charge past Joan Cros (MaddParts.com Kawasaki) for the final transfer position. Plessinger successfully transferred to the main event but lost the heat race win and a favorable gate pick for the main event. Behind the victorious Sexton, Cianciarulo, Harlan, Starling, Justin Hill, Devin Simonson (Partzilla PRMX Racing), Cade Clason (Partzilla PRMX Racing), and Logan Karnow filled positions 2–8 before Plessinger in ninth.

250SX LCQ:
Battling a muddy track, Owen led the way in the night’s first LCQ. Schock and Vialle, who led early, finished second and third, ahead of Harrison who held off Neese and Vohland for the final transfer position. A first-turn crash for Hawkins saw the factory Husqvarna rookie join Vohland as a factory-supported rider who failed to qualify for the season-ending Showdown main event.

450SX LCQ:
Cros and Hunter Schlosser finished within 1s of each other at the conclusion of the 450SX LCQ, with Cros taking the win. Jared Lesher finished third to add his Yamaha YZ250 two-stroke to the main event lineup, along with the Partzilla PRMX Racing Kawasaki KX450 of Chase Marquier. Due to apparent bike issues, Ray did not qualify for the main event in what’s expected to be his final Supercross outing.

250SX East/West Showdown:
Hampshire led early but a charging Jett Lawrence caught and passed the Husqvarna rider, making a bit of contact in the process. Poor starts for Jett’s brother Hunter as well as Deegan mired those two contenders down in the running order as Jett grew his lead out front. Jett won his final race on a 250 by a margin of 4.76s over Hampshire, with these two joined by Kitchen on the year’s final podium. Shimoda and Smith found the last two remaining positions in the top five, while Hunter Lawrence could only move forward to sixth before the checkered flag. A failed pass attempt on Smith for Anstie saw both Smith and Lawrence get away, miring the Fire Power Honda rider in seventh and costing him second in the 250SX East points standings. Deegan, Oldenburg, and Mumford completed the top 10, with Lopes just outside this group in 11th after an early tip over. In his final race as a Pro Circuit Kawasaki fill-in rider, Blose came home 12th. Early trouble for Martin mired the ClubMX Yamaha rider in 19th.

450SX main event:
With Roczen out midway through the opening lap after dabbing his left leg and growing worrisome of a knee injury, Plessinger, Cianciarulo, and Justin Hill were next in line to challenge early leader Sexton for the win. That trio was left to duel for second as Sexton broke away, leading the final premier class main event of the 2023 Supercross season from start to finish and beating Plessinger to the checkered flag by 18.266s. Hill moved past Cianciarulo for the final step of the podium, delivering the first-ever podium result for the Team Tedder organization. Cianciarulo ended his best 450SX season yet with a fourth-place finish inside Rice-Eccles Stadium, while Wilson completed the top five aboard his Fire Power Honda. Josh Hill, McElrath, Starling, Simonson, and Harlan rounded out the top 10.

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