Monster Energy Supercross season has gone east for round four of the 2023 season. NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas hosted Saturday’s racing where a massive crowd witnessed a continuation of the drama in the 450 class as well as the first round of the 250East class. The battle between Eli Tomac and Chase Sexton has no end in sight. This round went to Tomac , even though it looked like Sexton was the faster of the two riders for most of the night. In the 250 class, the undeniable favorite was Hunter Lawrence, but he had a pack of Europeans and rookies gunning for him. For extended coverage of the 2023 Supercross season click here.
450 HEAT ONE
Jason Anderson won the first heat, but had his hands full from start to finish. The KTM duo of Cooper Webb and Aaron Plessinger hounded him throughout the race with Dylan Ferrandis close behind. Plessinger passed Webb halfway through the heat. It stayed tight all the way to the flag with Ken Roczen cruising in to an uneventful fifth.
1 Jason Anderson
2 Aaron Plessinger
3 Cooper Webb
4 Dylan Ferrandis
5 Ken Roczen
6 Joey Savatgy
7 Justin Cooper
8 Benny Bloss
9 Cade Clason
10 Fredrik Noren
11 Cole Thompson
12 John Short
13 Josh Hill
14 Chase Marquier
15 Max Miller
16 Joan Cros
17 Alex Ray
18 Mason Kerr
19 Theodore Pauli
20 Bobby Piazza
450 HEAT TWO
Chase Sexton started the second heat in third behind Eli Tomac and Colt Nichols. He seemed to have no trouble with either of them. He passed Nichols on the first lap and then took the lead away from Tomac shortly afterward. At the end, Sexton was almost 8 seconds ahead.
1 Chase Sexton
2 Eli Tomac
3 Justin Barcia
4 Adam Cianciarulo
5 Colt Nichols
6 Christian Craig
7 Dean Wilson
8 Justin Hill
9 Shane McElrath
10 Justin Starling
11 Joshua Cartwright
12 Kevin Moranz
13 Kyle Chisholm
14 Lane Shaw
15 Logan Karnow
16 Hunter Schlosser
17 Guillaume St-Cyr
18 Scotty Wennerstrom
19 Tristan Lane
20 Grant Harlan
450 MAIN EVENT
Eli Tomac got another holeshot, this time with a very aggressive Aaron Plessinger right on his tail. Jason Anderson was third and Chase Sexton was fourth. Within a few laps, the red flag came out. Dylan Ferrandis had gone down, forcing a staggered restart. Eli Tomac would line up with Plessinger, Anderson and Sexton breathing down his neck. Within the first few turns of the restart, Plessinger dropped two places. Then Sexton passed Anderson and set out after Tomac. For a while, it looked like it was only a matter of time before Sexton would take over. But, with about five laps to go, Tomac seemed to pick up speed. Sexton eventually had to settle for second.
1 Eli Tomac
2 Chase Sexton
3 Jason Anderson
4 Aaron Plessinger
5 Cooper Webb
6 Justin Barcia
7 Justin Cooper
8 Ken Roczen
9 Joey Savatgy
10 Adam Cianciarulo
11 Christian Craig
12 Dean Wilson
13 Colt Nichols
14 Kevin Moranz
15 Shane McElrath
16 Justin Starling
17 Cade Clason
18 John Short
19 Joshua Cartwright
20 Justin Hill
21 Dylan Ferrandis
22 Benny Bloss
250 EAST HEAT ONE
Hunter Lawrence led the first 250 East heat of the season from start to finish. Nate Thrasher remained in second throughout the race, while Michael Mosiman had to come from a mid-pack start to finished fourth behind Chance Hymas.
1 Hunter Lawrence
2 Nate Thrasher
3 Chance Hymas
4 Michael Mosiman
5 Chris Blose
6 Henry Miller
7 Hardy Munoz
8 Devin Simonson
9 Jace Owen
10 Jack Chambers
11 Gage Linville
12 A J Catanzaro
13 Luca Marsalisi
14 Caden Braswell
15 Jesse Flock
16 Ryder Floyd
17 Garrett Hoffman
18 Noah Willbrandt
19 Logan Leitzel
20 Marshal Weltin
250 EAST HEAT TWO
Jordan Smith had to deal with Euros and Rookies in 250 East Heat Two. He was shadowed theoughout the race by Max Anstie on the Firepower Honda and KTM’s MX2 World Champion Tom Vialle in his first American Supercross. Right behind them was Haiden Deegan in his first Pro Supercross. Anstie almost took the lead with two laps to go, but then settled down somewhat in order to protect his position.
1 Jordon Smith
2 Max Anstie
3 Tom Vialle
4 Haiden Deegan
5 Jeremy Martin
6 Cullin Park
7 Talon Hawkins
8 Michael Hicks
9 Luke Neese
10 Jeremy Hand
11 Brock Papi
12 Josiah Natzke
13 Matthew Curler
14 Zack Williams
15 Jonah Geistler
16 Lane Allison
17 Jace Kessler
18 Ayden Shive
19 Preston Kilroy
20 Coty Schock
250 EAST MAIN
Tom Vialle warmed to American Supercross quickly, getting the holeshot in his first main event. Chance Hymas was also looking good in second place, but Hunter Lawrence wasn’t far behind, and he was soon threatening to take the lead. He had one close class that resulted in an off-track excursion, but once he got in front, he had a very uneventful race. At one point, it looked like it would be a no-American podium, with Lawrence (Australia), Vialle (France) and Anstie (GB) in front. Vialle fell in a turn and dropped back, while Jordon Smith was coming on strong. Nate Thrasher and Michael Mosiman also had crashes that made for difficult racing. In the end, Lawrence won over Anstie, Smith and Haiden Deegan.
1 Hunter Lawrence
2 Max Anstie
3 Jordon Smith
4 Haiden Deegan
5 Jeremy Martin
6 Michael Mosiman
7 Tom Vialle
8 Chance Hymas
9 Cullin Park
10 Chris Blose
11 Talon Hawkins
12 Coty Schock
13 Henry Miller
14 Jace Owen
15 Nate Thrasher
16 Hardy Munoz
17 Brock Papi
18 Jeremy Hand
19 Michael Hicks
20 Luke Neese
21 Devin Simonson
22 A J Catanzaro
450 COMBINED QUALIFYING
1 Chase Sexton 50.320
2 Dylan Ferrandis 51.415
3 Eli Tomac 51.431
4 Jason Anderson 51.476
5 Adam Cianciarulo 51.569
6 Joey Savatgy 52.016
7 Christian Craig 52.036
8 Cooper Webb 52.122
9 Justin Barcia 52.225
10 Ken Roczen 52.319
11 Dean Wilson 52.391
12 Aaron Plessinger 52.688
13 Justin Hill 52.694
14 Justin Cooper 53.118
15 Colt Nichols 53.399
16 Benny Bloss 53.616
17 Shane McElrath 53.758
18 Alex Ray 54.110
19 Justin Starling 54.117
20 Cole Thompson 54.354
21 Grant Harlan 54.511
22 Josh Hill 54.710
23 Joshua Cartwright 54.723
24 Fredrik Noren 54.812
25 Kyle Chisholm 54.843
26 Cade Clason 55.232
27 Logan Karnow 55.553
28 John Short 55.834
29 Lane Shaw 55.945
30 Chase Marquier 56.012
31 Kevin Moranz 56.172
32 Max Miller 56.457
33 Tristan Lane 56.661
34 Mason Kerr 56.694
35 Hunter Schlosser 56.792
36 Joan Cros 56.936
37 Scotty Wennerstrom 57.055
38 Jared Lesher 57.495
39 Guillaume St-Cyr 57.675
40 Theodore Pauli 58.031
TOP 40 RIDERS QUALIFY
41 Bobby Piazza 58.129
42 Joshua Greco 58.451
43 Deven Raper 58.600
44 Preston Taylor 58.843
45 Austin Cozadd 59.896
46 Todd Bannister 1:03.624
47 Brandon Marley 1:04.826
250 COMBINED QUALIFYING
1 Max Anstie 52.128
2 Nate Thrasher 52.438
3 Jordon Smith 52.443
4 Hunter Lawrence 52.519
5 Jeremy Martin 52.624
6 Michael Mosiman 53.399
7 Haiden Deegan 53.492
8 Chance Hymas 53.621
9 Tom Vialle 53.647
10 Chris Blose 53.786
11 Cullin Park 54.099
12 Henry Miller 54.185
13 Coty Schock 54.478
14 Jack Chambers 54.813
15 Luke Neese 54.834
16 Jace Owen 54.942
17 Jeremy Hand 55.268
18 Hardy Munoz 55.379
19 Michael Hicks 55.406
20 Marshal Weltin 55.432
21 Talon Hawkins 55.594
22 A J Catanzaro 55.694
23 Preston Kilroy 55.729
24 Caden Braswell 55.821
25 Brock Papi 56.211
26 Devin Simonson 56.381
27 Zack Williams 56.434
28 Gage Linville 57.078
29 Jonah Geistler 57.151
30 Logan Leitzel 57.286
31 Larry Reyes 57.341
32 Luca Marsalisi 57.504
33 Josiah Natzke 57.616
34 Jesse Flock 57.640
35 Jace Kessler 57.717
36 Noah Willbrandt 57.797
37 Ayden Shive 57.912
38 Garrett Hoffman 58.016
39 Matthew Curler 58.023
40 Ryder Floyd 58.033
TOP 40 RIDERS QUALIFY
41 Lane Allison 58.097
42 Cole Bradford 58.176
43 Jack Rogers 58.460
44 Bryton Carroll 58.506
45 Logan Boye 59.256
46 Curren Thurman 59.426
47 Konnor Visger 1:01.039
48 Robert Hailey 1:01.151
49 David Pulley Jr 1:01.384
50 Gerhard Matamoros 1:01.521
51 Jack Beeland 1:02.333
POS. NAME BEST TIME
52 Riley Ripper 1:02.658
53 Blaze Cremaldi 1:02.767
54 Doc Smith 1:03.928
55 Rylan Munson 1:03.960
