In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out at the seventh round of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship at Spring Creek.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – First: 
The track was quite a bit different from previous years. I felt like it favored Chase’s technique – that muscle, bulldog kind of style, whereas I kind of have to time it. It was another good day. Qualifying was good, and in the first moto, Chase was pushing and I had to go hard to keep him behind. In the second moto, he got the start on me, and we were battling for the first few turns. He ended up losing traction in a turn and I was able to capitalize on that. It was another good weekend.

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) – Second: 
In the first moto, I fell on the first lap but had a really good charge to get onto the back of Jett, and we went to battle. The second-moto start was almost perfect—a drag race between Jett and me. I got in the lead and then got on the gas a little too hard and slid out, so Jett got around me. After the finish line, he made a mistake and I thought he was going to crash, and then I ended up crashing two corners later. From there, it was pretty much over. I fell three times today, which is not ideal, but I think that’s just from trying to up the pace. My riding is getting better, and I’m not going to quit – I’m going to throw everything at it. The rest of these tracks are kind of my style, and I’m looking forward to some more battles.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third: 
It was a difficult day at Millville. I was surprised that I was struggling with the bike. We were getting better the last few rounds, and this week during testing at the farm, the bike was good. So yeah, I don’t know with this track. It was very hard-packed and slippery, and I was just struggling a lot with myself and the bike. It was a bummer. We lost some energy to try and improve, and a bad start in moto one was not very helpful. In the second moto, I got a better start, and I just did what I could. Third overall was the best I could do today, but for sure, it’s not enough.

Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Fifth: 
Our starts are great on the KX450SR. The rougher the track the harder it is for me. I’m not where I want to be, but I am proud of myself for how far we’ve come. I’m excited for the rest of the season and see if we can click off some more podiums.

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 10th: 
It felt great to get on the podium in moto one. The moto two incident was a huge bummer, but I have to make sure my health is my main priority. I’m happy with the progress we have made in these few short weeks and I’m looking forward to the last few rounds.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) – Fourth: 
4-4 today in Millville, similar on paper to the last few weeks, although we’re making good progress. Closed the gap to the lead riders this weekend, so I’m happy with the small gains we’ve made! We were better throughout the week too, so we’ll just keep our heads down and work hard. I need to work on my opening lap pace, because later in the moto I’m strong, but just need to improve on a bit of that sprint speed to get into position quicker early on.

Freddie Noren (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – Ninth: 
In the first moto, I started poorly. I still need to figure out my starts – there’s no sugarcoating it, my starts have been really bad. I put on a charge right off the bat and got up to about 14th in the first few laps. From there I stayed patient and consistent, then put the hammer down and collected a few more spots before the checkered. I passed another rider on the second-to-last lap, that put me tenth. In the second moto, same thing, just an awful start. Again I put on a charge right off the bat and quickly got up to about 11th. Eventually, I got up to ninth and caught the rider in eighth but by that time I’d been eating so much roost and I had nothing left in the tank, so I finished ninth on the day. Overall, it was a pretty good weekend for me and the team.

Kyle Chisolm (Twisted Tea Suzuki) – 12th: 
In the first moto I had a decent start. I was running around the top ten for most of the moto. I had some dirt in my goggles and pulled all of my tear-offs off at once, so that was a struggle. And I had a couple of bad laps and lost my rhythm, tightened up, and lost a few positions there toward the end. In the second moto, I made some passes and rode better throughout the moto. I ended up eleventh, and not too far from the top seventh and eighth place guys. So overall this weekend I was closer to the top ten, that’s where I want to be. The team did a great job and I’m looking forward to Washougal.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – First:
It was a good day. In the second moto, I was tired at the end, and I think I had four lappers in front of me. They’ve got their own stuff going on, as I do, and I made a last-minute decision to miss them and washed the front into the face of the wall jump. It wasn’t ideal and took me a bit to get up because I was winded. I didn’t know Jo was right there and kind of heard him in the last section and thought, ‘Crap, I have to dig again!’ It was close, but all in all, a pretty good day.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Second:
It was a good day. I had kind of a mediocre first moto, and I wasn’t too pumped on that. My intensity was off, and I just felt pretty flat, but I came out swinging for the second moto. I got a pretty good start in the top five and made my way to second. I was managing the gap to Hunter, and then he made a mistake. I was close enough to capitalize and then brought it home from there. It was good to end the day off with a win, and it was good points on the day. We’ve just got to keep the momentum rolling from here.

Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 11th: 
Qualifying was pretty good. I got a good flow with the track and an idea of what I wanted to do in the motos. My first moto didn’t go that great. I think I came out 20th, and I got back to 14th. Then in the second moto, I came out about 15th, and Haiden was right in front of me, and I paced off of him for that moto. I ran with him for about 15 minutes, and we got into the top 10. I got to ninth for a little bit, but (Austin) Forkner got me in the end. It was a good way to finish my pro trial before Loretta’s, getting a top 10 in that final moto, so I’m pretty happy with that.

Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Seventh: 
Today was a little bit of a struggle for me, but we’re just going to learn from it. It’s my rookie season, and not every race is going to be perfect, so we are trying to finish each round strong and learn. It was my first time at this track, and we learned a lot today, with bike setup and just learning new tracks in general. Now it’s time to go back to the farm and start the recovery process, and try to get freshened up for next weekend so that I can get back on the box because it’s not fun being off of it.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fifth: 
It was a decent day for me. I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the day. It was my first time at Millville, so there was a lot to learn. I was pretty happy with the second moto. I got a good start. A few of those guys just had a little more pace than me, but I gave it my all and dug deep. I’ll take the positives from the day. I’m really looking forward to next weekend. It’s my home race, so I’m stoked for that.

Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Third: 
I’m happy to bring another podium to my Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team this season. I’m really happy with my starts, my riding is getting better and my KX250 is dialed. We’re going to put in work during the week and I’m excited to see how we progress.

Austin Forkner (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – ninth: 
It felt good to be back. I lacked early race intensity but felt strong in the second half of the motos. My fitness is great and I’m ready to keep improving for the rest of the season.

Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 14th: 
I felt really good coming into the weekend, but my results didn’t show. We had great starts and we’re getting closer each round. I’m ready to put in work for Washougal.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 16th: 
It was a tough weekend for me. I felt amazing on my KX250, and I always love Millville. First moto I crashed off the start and charged hard the whole race. Moto two I had a third-place start and went down on the first lap. Starting last in both motos made the day tough but I never gave up. We are regrouping this week and looking forward to Washougal.

Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Eighth: 
We were competitive today and my pace was good, but bad starts and that first turn pile-up were costly for us. The weekend was better for us though, we are making steps forward, and it is a matter of putting it all together now – I’m confident that we can get some strong results in these final four rounds of the outdoor season.

Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – Sixth: 
I started the day well with qualifying P4 in the class – this track was really cool. In moto one, I battled hard with [Haiden] Deegan all moto, though made a small mistake and went down, then finished in sixth. Second moto, I didn’t start great, so I charged my way up to fifth place there. The speed was good today, just the starts made it really challenging as you need to pull good starts in this class for a chance at the podium. Washougal is up next, the track looks really nice also, so I can’t wait to be there.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fourth: 
It was just another grind of a weekend. I feel like my riding has been really good. The first moto was decent, pretty solid. In the second moto, I got hung up on the start. I ended up going down about halfway. I got another fourth overall, but I just need to try and turn it around a bit in these second motos. We have one more race, and then a bit of a break that I’m looking forward to. I’ll try to get some points back next weekend, then a break coming up.

Talon Hawkins (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – 13th: 
Today was another step in the right direction. It was cool to be coming back here to this race… it’s a good track. It’s tough, though, very tiring and taxing on the body. I ended up with a 13th overall. I’m happy with my second moto performance. I just need to improve on the first moto. I’m looking forward to getting back to work. We’re heading back home to Cali, my hometown, and put some more work in.

Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – 10th: 
Today was a ‘whatever’ day for me. I felt good on the bike, so that was good. I didn’t get the best start in moto one, but my riding was decent. I feel like if I’d had a better start, I would have had a much better day. In moto two I had a weird incident and did something kind of funky to my arm…which gave me a weird feeling. So that was survival. For now, the plan is to get some normalcy back. Kind of figure out what’s going on, and what happened, and try to be more under control and ready to go for next time if this happens. All-in-all, I survived the day.

Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – 12th: 
For the first race back at Millville I had some fun. I’m finally out here racing with the boys and the first moto was quiet but solid with a ninth. The second moto started a little better. That uphill triple is big. I tried it one time, cased it, and came to a stop. After that, I got to the top of the hill, tucked the front end, and fell. But after that, I got up and felt like I was riding really good. I caught back up to the pack that passed me. But overall, for the first race back it was a fun one. I get to go to Washougal next week, which is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit, so I’m excited for that one.

Caden Braswell (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – 17th: 
Out here at Spring Creek it was a beautiful day. God gave us some great weather this weekend. We had an awesome track, and the team did a great job. We had two bikes (on track) this weekend, which was awesome. It was nice to have a teammate. These were not the results I was wanting, but we’ll come out swinging in Washougal.

Dilan Schwartz (BarX Suzuki) – 15th: 
In the first moto I was caught up in the first turn crash. I had to come from last place but was able to come back to 16th. In the second moto, I had a mid-pack start and made my way up to 13th. My riding was a lot better this weekend, I just need some better starts.