Jurriën timber
Eli Tomac saw his chances for a third Supercross title evaporate in this home state of Colorado this weekend. A decimated field reached Denver for the 16th round of the 2023 Supercross season. Justin Barcia, Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson had already been added to the injured list, joining Aaron Plessinger, Marvin Musquin, Malcolm Stewart, Dylan Ferrandis, Christian Craig, Justin Cooper and a number of other riders. Before the end of the night, Tomac’s name would be added to that list. He was leading the main event when he shorted a jump and ruptured his Achilles tendon. That left Chase Sexton as the winner of the Denver Supercross as well as the default winner of the 2023 Supercross championship–even though one round remains. As for Jett Lawrence, his quest for the 250 West Championship was finally realized. RJ Hampshire won the race over Levi Kitchen, but Lawrence’s third place was good enough to take the title. For extended coverage of the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season, click here.
450 HEAT 1
Kyle Chisholm got the holeshot with fellow Suzuki rider Ken Roczen right next to him. Within a lap, Roczen was in front. Adam Cianciarulo further demoted Chisholm and set out after Roczen. They quickly pulled away from everyone. Justin Hill was in fourth until the closing laps, when he caught and passed Chisholm for third. On the last lap, Roczen finally managed to pull away from Cianciarulo by a second or two.
1 Ken Roczen
2 Adam Cianciarulo
3 Justin Hill
4 Kyle Chisholm
5 Justin Starling
6 Grant Harlan
7 Anthony Rodriguez
8 Michael Hicks
9 Logan Karnow
10 Lane Shaw
11 Cheyenne Harmon
12 Richard Taylor
13 Tj Albright
14 Curren Thurman
15 Mason Kerr
16 Deegan Hepp
17 Bobby Piazza
18 Deven Raper
19 Fredrik Noren
20 Chase Marquier
450 HEAT 2
Eli Tomac got a great start with the Honda teammates of Colt Nichols and Chase Sexton tucked in right behind. Chase passed Nichols quickly and within two more laps, he was past Tomac as well. They stayed very close throughout the race, and Tomac got close enough to get the partisan Colorado crowd on its feet as the white flag came out. Chase held on for the win with Nichols over 10 seconds back in third. Shane McElrath and Dean Wilson battled it out for fourth and fifth.
1 Chase Sexton
2 Eli Tomac
3 Colt Nichols
4 Shane McElrath
5 Dean Wilson
6 Josh Hill
7 Kevin Moranz
8 Joshua Cartwright
9 Cade Clason
10 Devin Simonson
11 Tristan Lane
12 Preston Taylor
13 Jared Lesher
14 Joan Cros
15 Chris Howell
16 Austin Cozadd
17 Robert Hailey
18 Colby Copp
19 Joshua Greco
20 Luke Neese
450 MAIN EVENT
Shane McElrath got the holeshot with Eli Tomac right behind him. Chase Sexton was around sixth and Ken Roczen was in last after a first turn crash. Before long, Tomac was in the lead. Adam Cianciarulo soon moved into second but it was clear that Sexton was moving up fast. The anticipated Sexton vs Tomac battle, however, would not materialize. On the fourth lap, Tomac’s left foot visibly flexed beyond its natural range of motion and he pulled off the track in pain. He rode straight to the Alpine Stars medical facility. Cianciarulo inherited the lead, which he held for three laps. Sexton took over and cruised in for what appeared to be an easy win. Cianciarulo held on to second until the very last lap, when Roczen caught and passed him. The win gave Sexton a 7-point lead in the championship standings. Only Eli has a mathematical chance of taking the championship away from Sexton now. It’s clear, though, that Tomac will not be riding the final round in Salt Lake City.
1 Chase Sexton
2 Ken Roczen
3 Adam Cianciarulo
4 Justin Hill
5 Shane McElrath
6 Dean Wilson
7 Josh Hill
8 Kyle Chisholm
9 Grant Harlan
10 Justin Starling
11 Anthony Rodriguez
12 Joshua Cartwright
13 Cade Clason
14 Fredrik Noren
15 Michael Hicks
16 Devin Simonson
17 Tristan Lane
18 Logan Karnow
19 Lane Shaw
20 Kevin Moranz
21 Colt Nichols
22 Eli Tomac
450 STANDINGS
1 Chase Sexton 346
2 Eli Tomac 339
3 Cooper Webb 304
4 Ken Roczen 303
5 Justin Barcia 267
6 Jason Anderson 242
7 Aaron Plessinger 213
8 Adam Cianciarulo 191
9 Justin Hill 191
10 Dean Wilson 182
11 Christian Craig 150
12 Colt Nichols 141
13 Shane McElrath 135
14 Josh Hill 132
15 Kyle Chisholm 103
16 Benny Bloss 91
17 Joey Savatgy 85
18 Kevin Moranz 84
19 Grant Harlan 81
20 Justin Starling 79
250 HEAT 1
250 heat one was a wire to wire win for Levi Kitchen. RJ Hampshire was there the whole time, but never made a serious attempt at passing Kitchen. Behind those two, Max Vohland had to come through the pack to capture third. Privateers Derek Kelley and Robbie Wageman did their best to make things difficult for Vohland and eventually finished fourth and fifth.
1 Levi Kitchen
2 RJ Hampshire
3 Max Vohland
4 Derek Kelley
5 Robbie Wageman
6 Cole Thompson
7 Jerry Robin
8 Mitchell Harrison
9 Dominique Thury
10 Brandon Ray
11 RJ Wageman
12 Christopher Prebula
13 Mcclellan Hile
14 Blaine Silveira
15 Alexander Nagy
16 Chad Saultz
17 Chance Blackburn
18 Tre Fierro
19 Ryan Carlson
250 HEAT 2
Jett Lawrence made things difficult for himself by hitting the ground with several other riders right after the first turn. Up front, Carson Mumford, Michell Oldenburg and Enzo Lopes had an epic battle for the lead that lasted the whole race. They all had the lead at one time or another, but it was Lopes who was up front when it mattered. Lawrence managed to catch up to fourth.
1 Enzo Lopes
2 Mitchell Oldenburg
3 Carson Mumford
4 Jett Lawrence
5 Dilan Schwartz
6 Derek Drake
7 Max Miller
8 Austin Politelli
9 Luke Kalaitzian
10 Geran Stapleton
11 Maxwell Sanford
12 Kaeden Amerine
13 Addison Emory
14 Hunter Schlosser
15 Nicholas Nisbet
16 Todd Bannister
17 Kameron Barboa
18 Luis Macias
19 Hunter Yoder
250 MAIN EVENT
Max Vohland got the start with Levi Kitchen in hot pursuit. Jett Lawrence was pinched in the first turn and was around 13th place. Kitchen took the lead by lap three, and RJ Hampshire moved into second. The two of them prepared for a battle, but Hampshire missed a shift, came up short and bounced off the track. He re-entered the track without losing any places, but had to work his way back up to Kitchen. In the meantime, Lawrence had caught up to a distant third, but then settled into championship mode and stayed there for the rest of the race. At the end of the race, the battle for the lead got hot again. Hampshire had the most momentum and took the lead with two laps to go. It was his first win of the season, but the celebration was all about Jett, who clinched the title with his third-place finish.
1 RJ Hampshire
2 Levi Kitchen
3 Jett Lawrence
4 Enzo Lopes
5 Mitchell Oldenburg
6 Max Vohland
7 Derek Kelley
8 Carson Mumford
9 Cole Thompson
10 Robbie Wageman
11 Dilan Schwartz
12 Derek Drake
13 Mitchell Harrison
14 Max Miller
15 Hunter Yoder
16 Austin Politelli
17 Geran Stapleton
18 Dominique Thury
19 Kaeden Amerine
20 Brandon Ray
21 Jerry Robin
22 Luke Kalaitzian
250 WEST STANDINGS
1 Jett Lawrence 197
2 Rj Hampshire 163
3 Enzo Lopes 137
4 Levi Kitchen 135
5 Max Vohland 121
6 Mitchell Oldenburg 117
7 Cameron Mcadoo 101
8 Pierce Brown 98
9 Cole Thompson 87
10 Derek Kelley 86
11 Robbie Wageman 71
12 Carson Mumford 59
13 Stilez Robertson 55
14 Hunter Yoder 55
15 Derek Drake 52
16 Dylan Walsh 49
17 Phillip Nicoletti 44
18 Mitchell Harrison 42
19 Dilan Schwartz 41
20 Anthony Rodriguez 40
450 QUALIFYING
1 Chase Sexton 43.968
2 Ken Roczen 44.378
3 Eli Tomac 44.603
4 Adam Cianciarulo 44.714
5 Dean Wilson 44.882
6 Justin Hill 44.942
7 Colt Nichols 45.390
8 Kyle Chisholm 45.741
9 Josh Hill 45.958
10 Anthony Rodriguez 46.167
11 Shane McElrath 46.500
12 Justin Starling 46.504
13 Cade Clason 46.859
14 Grant Harlan 47.167
15 Joshua Cartwright 47.170
16 Fredrik Noren 47.294
17 Kevin Moranz 47.519
18 Michael Hicks 47.771
19 Preston Taylor 48.171
20 Cheyenne Harmon 48.283
21 Luke Neese 48.527
22 Lane Shaw 48.623
23 Tristan Lane 48.743
24 Chase Marquier 48.799
25 Devin Simonson 48.927
26 Richard Taylor 49.087
27 Chris Howell 49.100
28 Mason Kerr 49.266
29 Jared Lesher 49.324
30 Logan Karnow 49.404
31 Joan Cros 49.898
32 Deven Raper 50.245
33 Joshua Greco 50.291
34 Tj Albright 50.871
35 Austin Cozadd 51.280
36 Bobby Piazza 51.333
37 Colby Copp 51.427
38 Deegan Hepp 51.844
39 Robert Hailey 51.852
40 Curren Thurman 52.234
41 Mitchell Gifford 52.823
42 Konnor Visger 53.850
43 David Pulley Jr 54.374
250 WEST QUALIFYING
1 Jett Lawrence 43.893
2 RJ Hampshire 44.730
3 Enzo Lopes 44.860
4 Max Vohland 45.639
5 Mitchell Oldenburg 45.693
6 Levi Kitchen 45.766
7 Carson Mumford 46.274
8 Derek Kelley 46.381
9 Hunter Yoder 46.541
10 Cole Thompson 46.570
11 Dilan Schwartz 46.656
12 Robbie Wageman 46.979
13 Austin Politelli 46.990
14 Mitchell Harrison 47.080
15 Max Miller 47.333
16 Jerry Robin 47.396
17 Derek Drake 47.431
18 Dominique Thury 47.455
19 Hunter Schlosser 48.016
20 Brandon Ray 48.541
21 Kaeden Amerine 48.810
22 RJ Wageman 48.823
23 Luke Kalaitzian 49.142
24 Blaine Silveira 49.286
25 Geran Stapleton 49.417
26 Christopher Prebula 49.428
27 Maxwell Sanford 50.665
28 Mcclellan Hile 50.697
29 Nicholas Nisbet 51.463
30 Alexander Nagy 51.597
31 Addison Emory 51.600
32 Tre Fierro 51.802
33 Todd Bannister 52.662
34 Chance Blackburn 52.716
35 Kameron Barboa 53.751
36 Chad Saultz 54.279
37 Luis Macias 54.407
38 Ryan Carlson 57.424