Nashville Supercross Crowns a 250SX East Champion

Nashville, TN — April 29, 2023

Nashville hosts Round 15 of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series with only two events left after today’s event. In the 250SX East Division, Hunter Lawrence is running away from the competition. While Eli Tomac still leads the 450SX class, he would like to stretch his advantage over Cooper Webb(-11) and Chase Sexton(-21), with Denver and Salt Lake City still to go in the next two weeks.

With heavy rain last week in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Justin Barcia earned his first 450SX win in almost two years. Tomac padded his points lead slightly with a solid second-place finish.

Max Anstie pulled out a surprise win in the East/West Showdown with the Lawrence brothers, Jett and Hunter, finishing second and third.

Skies are gray in Nashville, and a brief light shower wetted the track during prep work. Creating the perfect conditions and with no more inclement weather in the forecast, fans are packing the stadium.

250SX East Heats

Jordan Smith(58), Haiden Deegan(238), and Chris Blose(57) fired out of the starting gate, intent on leaving the remainder of the field in the dust. Lapped traffic allowed Deegan to close on the leader, but they finished the way they started, with the checkered flag going to Smith.

Max Antsie(63) and Caden Braswell(243) both beat Hunter Lawrence(96) to the holeshot timing line. But, it did not take long for the points leader to move past both riders. Antsie kept Lawrence in sight but could not reduce the interval between them. Braswell faded, and Jeremy Martin(6) moved up to take the third spot.

450SX Heats

Eli Tomac(1) and Cooper Webb(2) were both in the first heat for the 450SX class. The championship could well have been decided by the time the pair reach the third corner on the initial lap of the race.

Tomac pulled out to a slight advantage around the first corner, and Webb edged ahead after rounding the second turn. Through the whoops, they were dead even, and as they rounded the third corner to head back down the starting straightaway, Webb went down. There was no contact between the pair. However, Adam Cianciarulo(9), just behind the two riders, hit the helmet of Webb with his front wheel.

Tomac motored on, and Webb had to be assisted off the track by the Alpine Medical Crew.

Tomac blew away the field as Cianciarulo and Justin Hill(46) crossed the line in the second and third positions.

In Heat Two, Ken Roczen(94) and Justin Barcia(51) continue their personal battle as they quickly separate from the pack. Jason Anderson(21) ran third, with Chase Sexton(23) back in fourth.

Anderson crashed hard and could not rejoin the moto. Sexton narrowed the interval between himself and the leaders as they worked through the lappers. Barcia caught Roczen and made the pass for the lead at the midway point of the race.

Sexton joined the battle and worked his way around Roczen as well. Setting his sites on the leader, they raced to the checkered flag with Barcia holding the advantage.

Cooper Webb was transported to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries. Jason Anderson was able to make it to the starting gate for the 450SX Last Chance Qualifier. A comfortable win in the LCQ sent him to the main event.

250SX East Main Event

Hunter Lawrence earned the holeshot, but it was Jordan Smith who ran him high in the second corner and took the lead. Lawrence settled into second, and Joe Shimoda ran third, all equal intervals apart.

Haiden Deegan got off to a slow start but worked his way into fifth and a battle with Jeremy Martin. Just past the 10-minute mark, Smith came out of a corner and wobbled badly. He did not go down but veered off track, allowing Lawrence to take over the top spot.

Deegan worked his way around Martin, much to the delight of the huge crowd on hand. With under five minutes to go in the timed portion of the moto, it was Lawrence, Shimoda, Smith, and Deegan. Nobody was making a charge to move up a position.

Working through the lappers was mainly uneventful. Deegan had a close call with a downed rider in the whoops. Smith made a late run through the whoops in an attempt to catch Shimoda. But, everyone held their positions across the finish. Lawrence clinched the 250SX East Championship with the victory.

250SX East Main Event Results

250 SX East Standings

450SX Main Event

Eli Tomac beat everyone to the first turn and put the field in a huge deficit by the end of the first lap. Adam Cianciarulo crashed in the first corner and faced the daunting challenge of having to run through the entire pack of riders to earn a decent finishing spot.

With Tomac out front by over two seconds, Chase Sexton, Justin Hill, Justin Barcia, and Ken Roczen rounded out the top five. Just before the halfway point of the race, Barcia crashed hard in the whoops and had to be assisted off the track by the medical crew.

Working through the lappers, Sexton was able to catch and pass Tomac for the lead. Roczen rode his way into the third position but was far out of any shot at the lead pair.

Clear of traffic, Sexton was able to increase the advantage over Tomac. Riding smart and steady, the three leaders held their positions to the finish.

Jason Anderson came out of the LCQ to finish sixth, and Cianciarulo worked his way from last to eighth at the checkered flag.

With Webb not getting a point, Sexton moves up to second in the standings and trails Tomac by 18. When Tomac was asked how he would ride out the next two weeks, he replied. “Ride smart and manage the points gap. Two podiums would be ideal.” With two podium finishes Tomac will defend his 450SX Championship.

450SX Main Event Results

450SX Standings

View more photos from The Lasco Press live coverage of Nashville’s AMA Supercross on the Author’s Facebook page.