Image: Octopi Media.

A fourth-place finish at Nissan Stadium marks the season-best result of Team Honda HRC’s Colt Nichols, the 450SX rookie delivering a smooth and steady main event performance to finish just under five seconds from a podium.

Nichols landed a prized 450 opportunity with Team Honda HRC on a Supercross-only deal for 2023, and has experienced a mixed season so far with flashes of form but was also sidelined from Daytona through to Glendale after a head-knock at the eighth round.

After qualifying 10th fastest in Nashville, the number 45 secured his ticket to the main event with a P4 finish in heat one and was positioned inside the top five after the opening lap of the final. He ultimately made his way past Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing) when he fell and beat Justin Hill (Team Tedder Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports) to the checkers to secure his season-best result.

“Nashville treated me better than the last few weekends have,” Nichols stated. “The day didn’t start off that great; we had a so-so qualifying. The team made some changes, and that seemed to give me more comfort.

“I was able to get a good start in the main event and take advantage of some other guys’ mistakes. I just rode a smooth, steady race and got my best finish of the year. Overall, it was a really good weekend for us, and I’m leaving very happy.”

Prior to Nashville, Nichols best result of the year was P6 at Anaheim’s opening round, as he now looks to finish the final two rounds of his maiden 450SX campaign on a high, commencing with Denver this Saturday.