Today’s Atlanta Supercross will be the fifth visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway, which Monster Energy AMA Supercross first visited in 2021. The 2023 event will be the 13th 450SX round of the championship, and the seventh 250SX East Region round.

In the 450SX Class, Eli Tomac enters with a seven-point lead on Cooper Webb as the duo battles for their respective third 450SX title. Chase Sexton is still lingering in third as he looks to close up his 25-point deficit to Tomac. Sexton has ridden well here in the past but he has had costly mistakes as he has yet to win at this venue. Tomac and Webb both have claimed at least one win here at the speedway. Capitalizing on Sexton’s mistake last year was Jason Anderson. In the first four 450SX main events races at this venue entering today, we have seen four different winners (Webb, Roczen, Tomac, and Anderson). Will we see another one today in Sexton, Justin Barcia, or Aaron Plessinger? Or will we see our first repeat winner?

In the 250SX, Hunter Lawrence has been the man to beat this year, as the #96 has claimed five wins in the six races so far. He enters today with a full race-worth points gap back to Nate Thrasher, who is the only other winner in the region so far to date. At the Detroit Supercross on March 18, Thrasher moved to P2 in the standings after a rough night from both Max Anstie (crash in opening lap of the main event) and Jordon Smith (heat race altercation with his teammate and then finishing seventh in the LCQ, missing the main event). Hunter Lawrence claimed the 250SX race win here last year—which was a Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown—as he looks to continue his rather dominant season. Thrasher, winner of two of the three races here in 2021, said he was able to ride more during the break than he had been as he continues to navigate the season with an ACL injury. He said he had a good time of riding and testing and looks to go P1 here this weekend. Another rider to note on the Daytona-esque track is Jeremy Martin. He said yesterday he has been riding motocross and is looking forward to racing at this venue for the first time. And one final note is that Jo Shimoda will be making his 2023 season debut after a collarbone injury kept him sidelined for the start of the season.

Track walk has been completed, so the first session of the day will be on the track shortly. Check out our press day video below if you missed it. 

Related: Atlanta Supercross injury report

Free Practice

250SX

Once the free practices sessions began, we got our first glimpse of the varying line selections around the course. The lap times were pretty long—2:10 and longer right off the bat, but once the B and A groups took to the track the lap times started to come down.

Our first look at on track action showed there are some big doubles (which we have seen in previous years), as well as two sand sections, some high speed sections, an off-camber, and the back-to-back whoop sections is tough (although second set is longer and appears to be tougher). Fans are starting to funnel as the sun in shining down.

In the 250SX Group A free practice, it was Jo Shimoda topping the board in his season debut. Shimoda topped the field as Jordon Smith, Hunter Lawrence, Jeremy Martin, and Haiden Deegan rounded out the top five. Smith and Tom Vialle were each P1 in the session at some point before Shimoda eventually claimed the spot. All five of the top riders had their best time on the final lap of the session, so watch for times to keep dropping each session as riders figure out the fast lines and find a rhythm. 

250SX Group A Free Practice Results

450SX

In the 450SX group A free practice session, Eli Tomac’s 1:34.699 was the top time of the session. Tomac was followed closely by Adam Cianciarulo, Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton, and Cooper Webb. As with the previous sessions, riders were figuring out lines each lap.

450SX Group A Free Practice Results

Check out some highlights from the morning free practice sessions, via Tom Journet.

First Qualifying Session

250SX

Although riders are starting to find the fast lines and piece together full fast laps, the lap times are still pretty long here. Kyle Bitterman topped the first 250SX Group C qualifying session. In the 250SX Group B session, Guillaume St-Cyr had a crash near the finish line that required the session to be red flagged. The Alpinestars crew tended to St-Cyr, who was eventually placed on a backboard and carted off the track. The session resumed shortly after as TJ Albright sat P1. Lance Kobusch eventually topped the session.

When the 250SX Group A session began, it was Haiden Deegan leading Tom Vialle and Nate Thrasher. Hunter Lawrence had the top time in the session after he put down a clean lap. His 1:31.461 was about a second and a half over P2, Thrasher’s 1:32.869. Deegan finished P3 ahead of Shimoda (who topped free practice) and Jordon Smith.

450SX

In the 450SX Group A session, Adam Cianciarulo and Chase Sexton were leading the field around. Late in the session (lap five out of seven), Eli Tomac put down a 1:31.259, which topped the board. Jason Anderson finished 1:31.274 was a close second and even the top six riders were all within a second of Tomac. Cooper Webb was fifth, with a 1:31.599, just 0.36 seconds behind Tomac. Webb has won here before, but he usually does not qualify great, so maybe this is a good sign for the #2 for the remainder of the day.

Second Qualifying Session

250SX

The gates dropped for the start of the second 250SX Group A qualifying session. It was Haiden Deegan and Nate Thrasher side by side out front. Jo Shimoda swung inside from the very outside and almost pulled off exiting the turn in first, but the Yamaha duo drifted wide hitting the first jump and pulled ahead. It was Thrasher and Hunter Lawrence leading the field around. Thrasher had the fastest first full lap—a 1:32.752—as Lawrence ran second both on track and on the results, with a 1:35.577. Jeremy Martin ran third with a 1:38.000. Lawrence and Martin were both airing out the single before going through the over/under bridge. Cullin Park and Max Anstie had a run in. Anstie got up limping back to his bike but would continue through the session. Back out front, Lawrence and Thrasher were hitting the quad line (single-over table-over single) in the rhythm section after going over the over/under bridge. Thrasher dropped his time to a 1:29.944, as did Lawrence to a 1:29.989 as they went back and forth both on the results and on the track. When the checkered flag flew, it was Thrasher’s time that topped the session and gave him P1 overall on the day.

450SX

As the second 450SX Group A qualifying session began, the gates dropped, and Grant Harlan caught a Tuff Block and went down in the first turn. Justin Barcia got the fake holeshot and lead the field around as the sun continued to shine down on the track. Barcia’s 1:30.980 was the fastest first lap, followed by a 1:33.541 by Josh Hill. Cooper Webb was on a heater and put down a 1:28.576, which moved him up to P2 as Chase Sexton dropped a 1:28.563 just barely edging Webb. Moments later, Jason Anderson put down a 1:28.274 to move into P1. Tomac and Webb set out one after another for heaters. The checkered flag waved and a 1:28.064 from Sexton topped the field. Sexton earned his 11th fastest overall qualifier of this season. On the last lap, Adam Cianciarulo jumped up to P2 with a 1:28.156. Anderson finished the session third ahead of Webb, Barcia, Ken Roczen, and Tomac. Dean Wilson, Aaron Plessinger, and Benny Bloss rounded out the top ten.

Heat Races

250SX

Heat 1

Opening ceremonies concluded and the main show began. When the gates dropped on the first 250SX heat race, Haiden Deegan got the holeshot ahead of Tom Vialle and Hunter Lawrence. Jo Shimoda got a decent jump and was inside the top six but had an issue three turns in and went down. He remounted outside of the top ten and would eventually finish fifth. Out front, Deegan would run into trouble of his own as he scrubbed onto the on of the on-off tabletop and then came up short on the off, going face first into the dirt. He remounted in fourth, which is where he would finish. Lawrence would inherit the race lead and would cruise to an 11-second victory over Vialle and Talon Hawkins, who rode home a solid third-place finish. Michael Hicks, Caden Braswell, Luke Neese, and TJ Albright rounded out the final transfer sports as Josiah Natzke finished tenth.

Heat 2

In the second heat, Nate Thrasher holeshot ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin. Max Anstie and Chris Blose shuffled into fourth and fifth. Henry Miller got into sixth after a pass on Jace Owen. Marshal Weltin and Jeremy Hand landed the final two transfer spots. Gage Linville finished tenth. Lane Allison pulled off the track early and DNF as he picked up his mechanic and went back to the pits.

450SX

Heat 1

The gates dropped on the first 450SX heat race and it was Adam Cianciarulo, Cooper Webb, and Ken Roczen who exited turn one in the lead. Then, Cianciarulo jumped ahead of Webb and Roczen. However, Cianciarulo had a getoff as he exited the whoops, crashing out of the lead. Back in the field, Cade Clason and John Short ran into one another in the turn after the over/under bridge. Cianciarulo was battling back and climbing up the results and almost had a collision with Benny Bloss as they cut across the starting straight after the sand turn. Webb and Roczen were going back and forth, Webb could not get away, but Roczen was not close enough for a pass attempt. Webb held off Roczen by 1.229 seconds. Josh Hill rode home a third-place finish as AC came through fourth. Dean Wilson rounded out the top five.

Watch AC's crash:

Note: Jason Anderson and his wife Kenzie announced the birth of their first child ahead of today’s afternoon program. Entering the day, 16 of the 35 riders to score a point in the 450SX Class this season are dads. Congrats to the Andersons!

Heat 2

Justin Barcia shot out of the gates and exited the first turn, drifting wide and pushing Eli Tomac wide as well, shuffling the defending champion back a few positions. Jason Anderson jumped ahead of Barcia in the rhythm section after the over/under bridge. The #21 would go off the track momentarily and would return to the track still in the lead. We will come back to this in a minute. Chase Sexton made a pass on Justin Hill to take over third place. Then, the #23 joined the Anderson/Barcia battle for the race lead! Aaron Plessinger had a small crash that cost him some time. He finished tenth. Tomac made a pass on Justin Hill in the whoops to take over fourth. Anderson held on for the race win, barely edging Barcia for the win as just 0.629 seconds separated the two. Sexton came through 1.432 seconds back of Anderson as it was quite a close finish!

And going back to his off-track excursion for Anderson, the #21 was given a one-position penalty for his move. This handed the race win to Barcia.

Check out the ruling on Anderson's penalty here:

250SX Main Event

The points-paying main events began as the gate dropped on the 250SX main event. It was Haiden Deegan ahead of Hunter Lawrence, Jordon Smith, and Nate Thrasher. In the second turn going into the over/under bridge, Tom Vialle bumped into Coty Schock in the air and went down, collecting Jace Owen as well. Vialle would not remount as his night would be done. Deegan and Lawrence would battle back and forth. A slip up almost cost Lawrence big time, as his feet went flying off as he got bucked back up off the seat. He saved it, but went off track briefly, allowing Deegan to go by before he remounted. Eventually, Lawrence would retake the lead as they sped past the mechanics’ area. The #96 would pull away. Deegan would engage in a battle with his teammate Smith. The veteran would best his young competitor. Thrasher was in the fight catching up to Deegan until a huge crash ended his night early. He was taken off the cart on a backboard. Jeremy Martin, inside the top five, would suffer a crash that eventually ended his night early as well. Lawrence would take the race win as Smith and Deegan rounded out the podium. Jo Shimoda finished fourth in his season debut following his injury and Max Anstie rounded out the top five. Henry Miller (new career best), Chris Blose, Talon Hawkins (new career best and first top-ten finish), Cullin Park, and Caden Braswell (new career best and first top-ten finish) rounded out the top ten.

450SX Main Event

The gates dropped for the final time as the premier class riders blasted off of their gates. It was Ken Roczen who exited the turn in first, edging out Chase Sexton and Jason Anderson for the early race lead. Cooper Webb was about eighth and Eli Tomac was about night off the start. Sexton quickly jumped into the race lead as he led Roczen, Anderson, Justin Barcia, Kevin Moranz, Josh Hill, and Adam Cianciarulo. Anderson faded and eventually finished only nine full laps before pulling off and heading back to the pits. Sexton would eventually claim the race win over Barcia, who took P2 away from Roczen. The #94 claimed the final spot ok the podium as a battling Webb and Tomac came through the checkered flag in fourth and fifth, respectively. Plessinger caught up to the Webb/Tomac battle but was not able to make a pass on the defending champion as the top two in the standings went at it until the end. Cianciarulo came through seventh, Dean Wilson eighth, Colt Nichols ninth, and Justin Hill tenth.