Follow the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship with direct updates from today’s 15th round of the season at Nissan Stadium in Nashville through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250SX qualifying one:
Jo Shimoda’s return to competition with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki took another step as timed laps got underway in Nashville. The Japanese rider led the 250SX East division in the first qualifying session with a 54.092s best lap around the Nissan Stadium track. Expected to finalize his first Supercross title today, Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) set the second-fastest lap, just 0.098s in arrears of Shimoda. Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin added a pair of Yamaha YZ250F machines from Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing and Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha to positions three and four. At the same time, last week’s winner Max Anstie (Fire Power Honda) completed the top five. Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Chris Blose (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Jace Owen (Phoenix Racing Honda), Coty Schock (Phoenix Racing Honda), and AJ Catanzaro completed the top 10. Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle notably only went fast enough for 13th in this session after a heavy crash in a rhythm section.

450SX qualifying one:
Most every usual suspect in the premier class surfaced atop the timesheet in the first timed session in Nashville, led by championship points leader Eli Tomac of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing. On a track affected by rain, Tomac set a 53.478s time, challenged most closely by a 53.732s revolution by Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC). Last week’s winner in the muddy East Rutherford contest, Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), was third fastest, 0.342s off Tomac’s pace. Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) landed fourth ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki teammates Jason Anderson and Adam Cianciarulo in fifth and sixth. As the first rider more than 1s slower than Tomac, Webb placed seventh. Justin Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports), Colt Nichols (Team Honda HRC), and Shane McElrath (Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance) comprised the remainder of the top 10.

250SX qualifying two:
Lawrence showed strength in the second qualifying round by lapping a considerable 0.918s quicker than any of his competition aboard his Honda CRF250R. Smith improved one position from Q1 to place second in this session, followed by Shimoda, Deegan, and Anstie in the top five. Blose, Martin, Vialle, Owen, and Cullin Park (Phoenix Racing Honda) filled the bottom half of the top 10.

450SX qualifying two:
Roczen owned the fastest lap at halfway before Barcia improved to the first lap time quicker than 53s at the event: a 52.890s. After that, Sexton raised the bar to 52.580s — putting a significant margin of 0.31s between himself and the GasGas rider. Sexton attempted one more fast lap before time ran out but didn’t improve his time. Cianciarulo went 0.001s faster than Barcia to take over second, while Sexton’s effort stood firm at the top. After Barcia in third, Tomac and Roczen were fourth and fifth, while Hill, Anderson, Webb, Benny Bloss, and Nichols completed the top 10. Anderson showed limited speed after a crash at the end of the whoops in the early going of this session.

250SX heat one:
A battle that was exhilarating at points between Smith and Deegan went the way of Smith at the day’s first checkered flag. Deegan secured second, just 1.606s back from his teammate. Blose, Luke Neese, Brock Papi, Vialle, Jeremy Hand, Park, and Jace Kessler finished in the remaining top-nine positions to transfer directly to the main event. However, a crash involving Marshal Weltin (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) and Michael Hicks (Ti-Lube Honda Racing) mired them at the bottom of the results sheet and, thus, on the starting lineup for the LCQ.

250SX heat two:
Passing Anstie soon after a second-place start, Lawrence reached the checkers first by a margin of 2.093s to move one step closer to securing his first Supercross title. Anstie held on for second ahead of Martin and Shimoda, among whom a battle was brewing, before Shimoda had an easy fall in the track’s elevated turn. Phoenix Racing Honda riders occupied positions five through seven with Owen, Caden Braswell, and Schock. Catanzaro and Josiah Natzke (Partzilla PRMX Racing) finished eighth and ninth. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Talon Hawkins exited the race early and officially finished 20th and last.

450SX heat one:
Though no points were paid, the first premier-class race of the night had an extreme championship impact. An easy fall for Webb after swiping the lead from Tomac after the opening two turns took a turn for the worse when he was right in the path of Cianciarulo, who struck him heavily in his upper back, neck, and head. Webb struggled to leave the track with the help of the Alpinestars medical team, and cameras were present as he prepared to leave the track and head to the hospital for further evaluation. Justin Hill rode to third in the heat race, ahead of Nichols, Kyle Chisholm (Twisted Tea Suzuki Progressive Insurance), Grant Harlan (Rock River Yamaha), Cade Clason (Partzilla PRMX Racing), Kevin Moranz, and Tristan Lane in transfer positions. Devin Simonson and Fredrik Noren were the first to miss out in 10th and 11th.

450SX heat two:
The night’s closest racing to this point occurred in the concluding heat race. Sexton interjected in an existing battle at the front between Barcia and Roczen, with Roczen settling for third and Barcia coming out on top, 1.134s up the track from Sexton at the end. Dean Wilson (Fire Power Honda) finished fourth ahead of Josh Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports), McElrath, Justin Starling, Logan Karnow, and Max Miller (Rides Unlimited KTM). Joshua Cartwright held the final transfer position with Miller behind, approaching the last corner, but he slowed up in an effort to avoid a take-out attempt by Miller and ultimately lost the position. Crashes for Anderson and Bloss had them well out of transfer positions.

250SX LCQ:
After his last-place heat race finish, Hawkins took his factory-prepared Husqvarna FC 250 to the front and the win in the first LCQ of the 2023 Nashville Supercross. Ti-Lube Honda Racing teammates Henry Miller and Hicks secured gates in the main event in second and third, along with Garrett Hoffman, who finished fourth.

450SX LCQ:
Anderson returned to the track after his heat race crash and rode to a comfortable victory in the event’s final qualifying race. Chase Marquier, Cartwright, and Simonson added their names to the main event starting lineup, while Noren came up short in fifth. Joan Cros (Maddparts.com Kawasaki) also missed out by finishing sixth after previously running in a transfer position, while Bloss and Webb didn’t make the start after their major crashes earlier.

250SX main event:
A mistake while leading for Smith sent the Yamaha rider off the track and promoted Lawrence to the lead, simplifying his race and the conclusion of his run to his first Supercross championship. The Honda rider was never challenged from then on, ultimately winning the race by 3.857s over Shimoda and finalizing his title as the 2023 250SX East champion. Smith was 1.448s back from Shimoda at the checkers, while his teammate Deegan was an almost equal distance behind as he finished one spot off the podium. Anstie came home fifth ahead of Martin, Vialle, Blose, Miller, and Park in the top 10.

450SX main event:
A solid start for Tomac saw the points leader control the race early before a surging Sexton swiped the lead and ran away with the win. Sexton’s margin of victory was 14.513s. Contrary to Tomac’s, an unideal start for Roczen forced the Suzuki rider to move forward to reach the podium, in which he was successful. Roczen rounded out the podium, more than 15s back from Tomac. Sexton’s Honda stablemate Nichols scored his best finish of the year with a fourth, beating Justin Hill to the checkers by 5.521s. Anderson recovered from two significant crashes throughout the day to finish sixth, leading Wilson, Cianciarulo, Chisholm, and Josh Hill to complete the top 10. A shock malfunction for McElrath ended his race early, while crashes also took Barcia and Harlan out before the end. Barcia appeared to have sustained a broken collarbone but updates about his condition and that of Webb from his incident earlier in the day are still to come.