That’s a wrap on the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship! To steal a joke of mine off Twitter, it seems like it was only 19 weeks ago we were at Anaheim for the kickoff.
What a series it was. Just wow. Thank God we didn’t have a round 18 because we were losing one factory rider per race it seemed near the end. Plessinger, Webb, Barcia and Anderson in Nashville, Tomac in Denver, and this week it was Ken Roczen who dabbed a knee wrong and pulled out of the main event. Someone throw the towel in already! Just nutty, really.
We had two riders, just two, start and finish every main event. Not sure I’ve seen that before. Chase Sexton and Justin Hill and that’s it. Pretty remarkable, really. The 450SX class was the walking wounded out there and it showed, with a number of privateer islanders getting career best finishes this year.
Salt Lake City SX didn’t have a ton to talk about, really. There was rain and enough of it that it made the track slick and treacherous for the guys who didn’t stick to the main line. While I’m at it, I know the Utah Sports Commission people pay Feld Motor Sports a lot of money to have the final round of the series in Utah, and I guess that’s awesome for the people there, but can Feld take a little bit of a discount and have it be the second or third last round of the year? Like, we’ve run into weather quite a few times. It’s not a big stadium so the track and dirt usually aren’t that good and yeah, we all really liked Vegas as a finale, right? I get it, the Vegas stadium is not very nice either, but can we go somewhere where the track can be a good one, where there’s a roof or a very low chance of weather, and then we can all go out afterward?
Thank you for listening to my latest Race Tech Rant.
Okay, back to the regular scheduled column. So, we didn’t see much passing, out there. The track was small and pretty basic—this finale won’t go down as anywhere near an all-timer. Hey man, they can’t all be Picasso’s and this season was not that, especially the last month or so.
So, it wasn’t a classic, but there was a 250SX showdown that went on. That also wasn’t great, although a Lawrence brother won it, which shouldn’t shock anyone. There wasn’t that much to write home about in that race either, unless you want to talk about how I thought Haiden Deegan could pull it off, but he got a garbage start. Levi Kitchen won his heat and made the podium again—he’s a title threat next year. J-Mart was ripping but went down early, Jordon Smith was also ripping in practice and got a top five, the entire Red Bull KTM 250SX team had to go to the LCQ, and only one made the main (that’s not good ICYWW), and I’m sure there was more, but I was half asleep.
Anyway, let’s take a look at the 450SX top twenty in points and recap their season. That should be fun, yeah?
1 | 23 | Chase Sexton | 372 points
You just never, ever know, right? Sexton won the last three races with ease and walked home to his first 450SX title. He was the fastest rider all year long (that doesn’t always get you the title) and he told us on the PulpMX Show that he and the team did find some changes on the bike with offset clamps and races that made him feel more comfortable on the bike after his bizarre crashes. Also, I’m SO HAPPY that no one is going to talk about the Ricky Carmichael curse at Honda anymore. Thank you, Chase, for ending that talk. Watching Sexton ride a dirt bike is also pretty, pretty, nice.
2 | 1 | Eli Tomac | 339 points
Just gutted for Tomac. He lost his third SX title in Denver and I’m not sure we’ll see him back. He was great early on, had a couple of issues and then was raising his game where it needed to be when the injury struck. Coming into Seattle he was on the ropes a bit but took advantage of Sexton’s mistake to get a huge win. His Anaheim season opener was next level also. Having talked to riders like Dave Ginolfi, who also tore his Achilles tendon, I’m leaning more toward, he could be back in 2024 if he wanted to, as in, he would be healthy but not sure he’d want to.
3 | 2 | Cooper Webb | 304 points
A good comeback season for Webb, who was back at Baker’s Factory and happier with the bike. A lot of insiders really thought he was going to get a third title with those two wins in the middle of the season but strangely, he suddenly couldn’t get it done, which hurt his “clutch” rep a bit that he had earned over his two other title years. Still, you got a sense that he wasn’t 100 percent in-step with KTM all year and we’ll see him back at Yamaha for 2024. A good season for him for sure, but not a great one by his standards.
4 | 94 | Ken Roczen | 304 points
I think Roczen’s win at Indy was maybe the highlight of the series for me. That was pretty cool. Roczen wasn’t happy with his factory Honda, and one would think getting onto an outdated Suzuki with just one month before A1 would be nothing but a problem, and make no mistake, there were some issues with clutches and things, but all in all, from what I hear, Roczen barely touched his bike the second half of the year. Let’s hope his knee is okay, which he seems to think it will be. All in all, I think this was a hell-of-a-successful year for Roczen and the team, right?
5 | 51 | Justin Barcia | 267 points
Barcia really came on in the second half of the year and even won a race! Pretty unexpected but I think somehow, Bam is a bit underrated. He rarely gets hurt (everyone got hurt this year so I’m not counting it), he’s almost always in the top five in points, he gives us lots of excitement out there, and he’s good for the series. He even stayed away from BAM BAM’ING anyone…Chase Sexton in San Diego and NY might disagree but hey, whatever. Great year for Barcia for sure.
6 | 21 | Jason Anderson | 242 points
Wow. This wasn’t good. Anderson could never get it going early on with crashes and mistakes holding him back. That seemed to frustrate him, and he wouldn’t be able to put it behind him, either. Then he, like everyone else, got hurt. He did win one of the triple crown races though, which should be something, right? Well, we’d never know because NO ONE keeps track of those, I guess. He’s going to re-sign with Kawasaki for next year and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here. Does his one-good-year/one-not-so-good-year streak continue?
7 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger | 236 points
Again, the Detroit crash was so heartbreaking for AP and his team. HE WAS GOING TO WIN IT. Then he got hurt but did end up with maybe the easiest second of his life in SLC, so there’s that. Look, there’s nothing wrong with just being a 5-10 guy in 450SX. All these guys were champions, just like AP was in the small bike class, and if you look at his popularity, personality, and then results, who wouldn’t want AP on his team? Detroit was going to be SO COOL and then the motocross gods wouldn’t let us have nice things.
8 | 46 | Justin Hill | 212 points
Again, I’ve said this a bunch this year. Hill took TWO years off, came back as a privateer, and podiums? Yeah, wow, that’s impressive. He caught, passed, and dropped Adam Cianciarulo to get that podium as well, which had to feel pretty good. I don’t know man, if you had told me before the season that Chase Sexton and Justin Hill would be the only two riders to start and finish every main event this year, I would’ve said you were completely crazy, but here we are. A sure sign the apocalypse is coming! Great season!
9 | 9 | Adam Cianciarulo | 210 points
AC did miss three races, but for the most part, he made it through a 405SX season. Like, he raced the final round and finished top ten in the points. And he made that podium! AC’s raw speed from a few years ago hasn’t been there this year but he’s also been able to stay on two wheels more. His arm is still bugging him, he went for stem cell treatments after Denver, and it’ll be interesting to see if that helps. I think if you’re Kawasaki, you’re happy with Cianciarulo’s SX season, right? Also, he hates this, but maybe he’s just a better outdoor guy now?
10 | 15 | Dean Wilson | 200 points
All season long Dean-O’s been a bit frustrated at his results. Whether it was his starts or his riding, it’s been a bit of a tough slog for the vet. He also opened up about his panic attacks he’s been having. This is also the first full year for him off factory machines, so I’m sure that took some adjustment. He’s a great interview, is very comfortable in his skin, and in the end, he got his top five at the last round. The sports’ better with Wilson in it and I think he had a good year, despite some real on and off-track distractions. He’s a good lad, that Wilson boy. Hope we see him again in 2024.
11 | 12 | Shane McElrath | 151 points
Shane’s season was one of real disappointment, as he struggled with the Suzuki early on (his fifth different bike in a year!) and straight up missed the main at Anaheim 1. But he ground it out, got better as the year went on (even with so many injuries with other riders, his riding was better), and there’s hope here for him. He’s going to RWR on a Yamaha 250 for WSX, so not sure if the HEP guys will have him back or not, but he just needs to settle in and ride the same damn bike for a while, in my opinion.
12 | 28 | Christian Craig | 150 points
Well, he wasn’t a 450SX rookie (according to himself), and CC struggled early on with some bike issues. He stayed back to test after A2 and was starting to get better when he went down in the whoops. Yes, he did. Anyway, some good, some bad for Craig on the Husqvarna, and if I was going to grade him, I’d give him an incomplete.
13 | 751 | Josh Hill | 149 points
Hill tried to race last year and put his hip out for the second time. Early on this year it didn’t look good, either. This wasn’t a case of the other riders’ injuries helping him out, both he and his brother stiffened up the chassis on their KTM’s and they both started getting better. Josh was in the running for my LCQ Challenge race because he had missed so many mains, but after the bike change, he was never out of the main and rode much better than we’ve seen in years. Dakota Tedder, team manager of the year? If he can get cell service on whatever island he’s on during the weeks, I’d say yes.
14 | 45 | Colt Nichols | 141 points
Nichols’ year was up and down on the factory bike. He certainly performed at times, but two different injuries hurt him and prevented him from establishing a week-in-and-week-out routine. Early on he couldn’t practice much, then he hurt himself at Daytona, sat out, came back, got a fourth, and then couldn’t race the finale after getting hurt in Denver. I don’t know, some highs, some lows, and all in all, after missing an entire season in 2022, I don’t think we know yet if Colt can be a top-five 450 guy.
15 | 11 | Kyle Chisholm | 112 points
Did Chiz chiz? I don’t know, it’s difficult to say for sure. He didn’t at the beginning, for sure. He had some scary crashes during the week that slowed him on the weekends. But then Chiz discovered a fork setting, took the week off, and came out looking like Chiz again. His second go-round on the HEP team was not as good as the first, but there were circumstances holding him back. Still, as “bad” as he was, he was still better than the privateer islanders in the second half of the season and you like to see that.
16 | 80 | Kevin Moranz | 96 points
Moranz had a great season. We’ve seen his starting skill all season long and he continued to amaze. Even sometimes from the outside gate he would get a good one against factory dudes. He’s 100 percent, without a doubt, the biggest pain in the ass to lap according to many, if not most, of the factory riders, which helps him gobble up an extra point or two here and there throughout the season.
17| 60 | Justin Starling | 94 points
Starling started slow, hurt his knee, and seemed to just ride in the mains without putting a lot of effort in. He wasn’t practicing much, if at all, during the week, as he drove most of the series. So yeah, it wasn’t great. Then he started getting better and (maybe) trying harder as the factory injuries mounted. He put in a late charge to get into the top twenty. Starling’s really talented, and when it’s muddy or the track is technical, his skill shows. When he has to go balls-out and be DGAF, he’s not as adept at that.
18 | 78 | Grant Harlan | 94 points
Harlan went from not being able to make 250SX east mains last year to making Anaheim 1 on a 2022 YZ450. Then he just kept it going from there, impressing all of us. He had a few rough weekends but in the mains he was in, he would get so many guys late using his fitness! Then he put his shoulder out in Nashville and we all figured he was done. Nope! He came back and was just as good. A really impressive rookie 450SX season for the pride of Hawaii. Who knew?
19 | 44 | Benny Bloss | 91 points
Bloss was just figuring out the consistency and going fast thing when he crashed and broke his collarbone in Nashville. Benny’s really fast, we’ve seen that over the years, and in the second half of the year he seemed to be more consistent. He’s as privateer as it gets over there with Harlan, and they made a good team. Unfortunately for Bloss, he’ll probably be privateering it again in 2024 if he races.
20 | 17 | Joey Savatgy | 85 points
Joe Dawg races, like, six races and gets 20th in the points, which is good for 10K in series-ending money from Feld guys. Joey was privateering it with RWR on a Kawasaki and it seemed that he was just getting happy with his bike when the plug was pulled on him by the team. He was also a bit hurt. If he had stayed healthy and his team went to all the all races, I could see Savatgy getting a podium. He was riding well!
Thanks for reading, let’s all be safe out there for the time off and bring it to the great outdoors!