While all of that was happening, Tomac was struggling to get going. After starting outside of the top 10, Tomac passed into seventh when Sexton went down but spent a ton of the race trying to catch Adam Cianciarulo for sixth. In perhaps the weirdest race of the year yet for the points leader, not only did he never catch AC, but he was also caught and passed late by Christian Craig for seventh.

On the other side of the coin, Cooper Webb was right in the thick of the battle out front as he ran second to Roczen after Sexton went down. But even Webb wasn’t as sharp as usual, and he too was caught and passed by Justin Barcia. Barcia and Webb then began to push each other slowly but surely up towards Roczen out front as time was winding down. Then Webb made a big mistake before the whoops losing all touch of the two leaders.

It was down to Roczen versus Barcia in the closing laps, both looking for their first wins of 2023. Barcia found some lines to quickly pull Roczen in but then Roczen responded to the pressure from behind. On the last lap, Roczen made a bobble after the whoops, but Barcia had nowhere to go and came to a complete stop not to hit him. That gave Roczen just enough time to get back on it and complete the last two turns off to pull off the incredible first win for Progressive Ecstar Suzuki and the 21^st of his career.

The emotion poured out of Roczen who was hugged immediately by Barcia and then Aaron Plessinger who finished fourth. Then Roczen dropped his bike and celebrated with the crowd as more riders including Shane McElrath, Kyle Chisholm, Adam Cianciarulo, Jason Anderson, and more came up to hug Kenny. It was an incredible scene of joy and triumph for the 28-year-old German.

“I don’t know what to say!” said Roczen. “As much as I gelled with the bike as soon as I got on it, I still feel like we had a lot of stuff thrown at us in the beginning of the season. I was on so many different setups and it was definitely tough for us, and we had some bad races there. Most importantly, we never gave up. The team and I, we were at the track some times until 7 p.m. sometimes, especially the week before Tampa. We just weren’t letting off until I felt like we could. This night tonight, I’ve dreamed about it for many, many months, and it seemed so far away, especially after these last few races. My starts were not good, and I wasn’t anywhere even near the podium, honestly. To do it tonight, and the way this track was, I just have to let it settle in. I don’t want to let it get to my head. But tonight we’re going to enjoy this one, no doubt about it. This race felt long and short at the same time. I was just trying to hit my mark, and obviously lappers came into play. This was definitely one of the ruttiest tracks I’ve ever ridden. This is just such an accomplishment that I have to let it settle in."

Justin Barcia was left to settle for second at the end of the night, but he was not only ecstatic for his result, but he also was equally as overjoyed to see Roczen win. It just seemed to be a feel-good story all around. For Barcia, it was his second week in a row where he arguably had the speed to win as he’s really coming around into the second half of this season.

“Yeah I wanted to win for sure, that’s the goal," said Barcia. "Today was a good day, had a lot of fun. Bike was good, I was gelling with it. I liked the track, it was gnarly. Emotions after the race, this is why we do all this training and all this fitness…I emptied everything in the tank for this one. Kenny rode a great race, everyone rode a great race. It was intense. I knew from last week I would have a good one, and I had a good week at home. It was just staying smart, staying on two wheels. Would definitely have liked to take the win, but you can’t win ‘em all, and we’ll try again next weekend.”

Third on the night was Cooper Webb who settled down from his mistake before the whoops to hang on for third. Eli Tomac ended up eighth when all was said and done which meant Webb’s third also earned him sole possession of the championship lead by a single point. The championship picture seemed to take a back seat to Roczen’s win tonight, but it can’t be understated how big this change over in the points might be.

"To get the red plate is a great accomplishment, obviously still tight, but good for the overall points battle, but a little disappointed," said Webb. "I felt like I was in the mix and didn’t execute. So, overall, a little disappointed. This track was so tough, it’s definitely risk versus reward. I tried to get close but then a few laps to go We’ll take it and move onto the next.”

Aaron Plessinger finished up what was ultimately a quiet fourth place. He lamented after the race that he felt he had the speed to potentially battle for a win, but he didn’t quite have the start to stay with those front guys and by the time he got to fourth, he didn’t have the pace to catch them either. It was still another solid top five result for AP who seems just inches away from putting it all together to battle for a win.

Jason Anderson rounded out the top five and he too was left to recover from a so-so start to even get back to that spot. By the time he got to fifth, the leaders were gone. Behind him was his teammate Cianciarulo who just held off Christian Craig at the line. It was a good night for both of them though as AC was coming back from injury this week and rode well the whole main event while Craig had top five speed was behind all of those guys at the start, and it took him too long to get into the mix.

And then there’s the story of Eli Tomac’s eighth place. His bad start was erased early as he sliced forward and was putting some heat on the top five guys, but he just stalled out a bit and eventually slipped away from them all. It was a weirdo night for Tomac who watches the red plates disappear from his bike now for the first time all season. But the silver lining perhaps is that he still sits just one point down in this championship as we move into the final eight races of 2023.

In the 250SX class, the story coming into the weekend was about Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence, but not necessarily about his 14-point championship lead over Firepower Honda’s Max Anstie. At Daytona, Lawrence got into Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Nate Thrasher on the first lap of the main event which left Thrasher down on the ground and ultimately likely pushed Thrasher all the way out of title contention.

With Thrasher having little to lose moving forward, the question remained if he would repay the favor to Lawrence at some point this season and would it happen in Indianapolis. Lawrence knew it was a possibility, but Thrasher maintained he was more focused on trying to win again and take those points away instead.

All day long in Indy, Hunter Lawrence looked determined to keep the ball rolling from his win at Daytona a week before as he qualified fastest on the day heading into the night show. When the gates dropped in the main event, it was Lawrence shooting out to the holeshot and early lead.

Thrasher and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Jordon Smith and Haiden Deegan sat 3-4-5 early on behind Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Blose. Within two laps, Thrasher was into second place and the chase was on to see if Thrasher could run down Lawrence for the lead.

The gnarly conditions of the track made staying consistent a premium and both riders made a few small mistakes, but it was Lawrence who minimized the mistakes as the race carried on. Even through lapped traffic, it seemed Lawrence was just a little bit better, and Thrasher just couldn’t quite match his pace in the end. When the checkered flag waved, it was Lawrence leading wire-to-wire to claim his fourth win of the season and open up his championship lead out to 22 points in the process.

"It was my first time racing Indy, and it was kind of an eye opener," said Lawrence. "I was trying to just let it all come to me. How it was going to break down, and on the second lap it was already starting to break down!"

Nate Thrasher was left to settle for second on the night, but it was also a welcomed podium for Thrasher after a rough week at Daytona. While Thrasher continues to deal with a torn ACL he sustained early in the championship, each weekend appears to be one more step in the right direction as he looks to land back on top of the box.

"I’d say once I got into second I was doing everything I could to put in a charge and get up to Hunter," said Thrasher. "I couldn’t make it happen and we just kind of matched each other there. About seven or eight minutes in, I realized I was gonna need a mistake from him for him to come back to me. The track was super technical but the lap times were still super closer. There wasn’t as much separation as you would think for how rutty it was. There wasn’t much I could do, I was giving it everything, and then starting to make mistakes here and there, so I realized I better bring it in. I was still giving it 100 percent,  you never know with lappers. He had that mistake with the one lapper and I don’t know how he saved it. I probably would have gone down! He’s a tough competitor and he’s riding really well out there, and Jordon is out there too not giving me any space.”

It was a quiet third place finish in the end for Jordon Smith who got into P3 early on behind his teammate Thrasher and had a similar story to his teammate in that he just couldn’t make up much ground while battling the track. Smith now sits fourth in the championship just one point behind his teammate Thrasher, but they're both still a long way from the top.

“The first half of the race I was really struggling in the whoops, and that’s usually my strong point, but I was not gelling with that rut," said Smith. "I finally found a line by like the eighth lap, but by the time I did, lappers were all over the place. It was just tough to get through there. This track, with the ruts, it was harder to go slower. They could pull up and try to double, but you could catch a rut and still cut across straight in front of you. I was trying to make a charge on Nate and get back to him, but yeah, it just didn’t happen.”

Second place in points entering the night was Max Anstie who struggled a bit to a fifth-place finish. He actually ran in sixth for a long time in the main event but was granted a spot inside of the top five when Haiden Deegan went down with a few laps to go. Deegan ended up finishing in seventh, while Anstie brought it home in fifth to slip to 22 points behind Lawrence.

Jeremy Martin seemed to find his groove a bit more this week as he was able to work up and pass Haiden Deegan for fourth around the halfway point. He didn’t quite have the pace to run down the front three, but it was an overall better week for Jeremy Martin when the dust settled.

And that’s all from a wild night here in Indianapolis. A rather status quo 250SX main event was completely overshadowed by an incredible moment in the 450SX main event as Ken Roczen got back on the top step of the podium. It seems like things are just getting crazier as we progress through this series, and we get to do it all again next week in Detroit. We’ll see you there!