Well, that wasn’t much fun, eh? With Cooper Webb’s crash in his heat race and the subsequent knock to the head he took from Adam Cianciarulo, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series officially went into, “let’s get this thing over with,” mode. The 250SX title hunts have been dominated by the Lawrence brothers but we did have some genuine 450SX excitement building. That’s all gone now. Webb’s out for the last two races (might be the last time we see him on a KTM BTW) and we’ll see Eli Tomac play it safe the next two weeks to take home a third title.
Still, it was cool being in Nashville, the crowd was stoked, and it really makes me think we should be visiting this city every year. But nobody from Feld Motor Sports ever seems to listen to me. Track was brutal, it was soft, then it hardened up and had some serious curb appeal. Guys were hitting the dirt from the very first practice and it didn’t stop until the final checkered flag was thrown.
Let’s take a look at the results, shall we?
250SX Results
1 | 96 | Hunter Lawrence
Hunter clinched his first title in style with another win. He’s been awesome this entire east coast series and would’ve loved to see if everyone that was supposed to race it had stayed healthy and 100 percent the whole time. But hey, Hunter can’t control that, and he was clearly the best guy right from the jump. His SX skills are so much better than they were a few years ago and it seems like he’s jumping up to 450SX next year, which I’m not quite there yet but hey, I guess why not?
2 | 30 | Jo Shimoda
Good ride for Jo. He’s still getting back into it so getting caught by Smith isn’t so bad. He won his heat race, he was the fastest guy in two out of the three segments and he landed on the box. Good day in Nashville. Sneaky SLC showdown winner pick right here as well, ICYWW.
3 | 58 | Jordon Smith
Man, Jordon was great all day long. Like, he looked aggressive in practice and was attacking the track. I don’t know what he did during the week but he should keep doing that. He really wanted to win one week after having a horrible NJ showdown race. He grabbed the lead early and I think he would’ve won had he not made that mistake and went off the track but, yeah, he did. He closed right up on Shimoda late as well. Good day for Smith but oh what could have been.
4 | 238 | Haiden Deegan
Deegan rode hard all race, he just didn’t get the start he needed. He looked to be catching Smith at some point until late. Early on in the race I was watching the top three battle it out when a huge roar went up in the crowd and I was all, ‘Huh?’ Well, it was just Deegan passing into fifth or something early on. Yep, we’re at that point.
5 | 63 | Max Anstie
Well, Anstie didn’t back up his win with another win, but he still rode well to get up into fifth. Unfortunately, the top four guys were definitely better than him on this day. Still, he got a win this year and that’s awesome.
6 | 6 | Jeremy Martin
J-Mart got caught and passed by Deegan. Again. I think that makes it, like, six races this has happened to him. Ouch.
7 | 128 | Tom Vialle
Vialle had two crashes in practice that were pretty good (him and Jeremy Hand did the same thing in a rhythm lane as in, they got kicked and went over the bars) and both times he hit the dirt pretty good. So, props to him for toughing out this finish. Doesn’t it seem that Vialle’s best SX of the season was the first one? That’s weird, right?
8 | 57 | Chris Blose
Zombie wasn’t happy with his ride after the race. I feel like he’s been 6-7 or 8 at almost every main since he kind of got up to speed. Sucks for Blose that he had pretty much stopped riding when Mitch gave him the call to fill in. If this was any other year, he would’ve been much more prepared to get this shot.
9 | 66 | Henry Miller
Miller’s been riding very well and shedding the, “he’s an outdoor guy” tag this year. He came around the first lap in 16th and worked his way up to this. Nice ride.
10 | 67 | Cullin Park
Park is just a top ten guy now and it wasn’t always that way. He’s been slowly getting better this SX season.
11 | 125 | Luke Neese
Neese was the first “real privateer,” unless you count Miller who’s on a team. I don’t know, it’s a whole thing. Neese is in a van and coming out to the races, he told me afterward he broke his foot in Dallas and that’s why he’s been a bit off until recently when he can practice.
12 | 339 | Talon Hawkins
Hawkins was in the LCQ and on the far outside. But when you’re a factory rider, that doesn’t matter. You HAVE to get in. Fear is a hell of a motivating factor and Hawkins did what he had to do by pulling a massive start to get to the front and get in. If I had to grade Talon’s rookie SX season I would give it a five. Just a five.
13 | 91 | Jeremy Hand
Hand had a big one in practice, and I wouldn’t have blamed him for sitting out the night. But here he is, having a good ride in the main event as a privateer.
14 | 62 | Jace Owen
I think the Club MX Jace Owen was a little better than the Phoenix Honda Jace Owen for whatever reason. It seems like Owen could be doing a bit better in the mains, he’s got some skill. This weekend he did go down.
15 | 243 | Caden Braswell
The most improved from the opening round until now might go to Caden. He didn’t have much SX experience coming into the year (when I say “much” I mean, zero…at least that’s what I heard) and he didn’t look great at the opener, but he’s gotten better.
16 | 86 | Josiah Natzke
Maybe after Braswell, Natzke should get most improved? The Kiwi rider has been better lately and last summer, he took the Canadian nationals by surprise in the MX2 class. I wonder if he’s doing that again.
17 | 285 | Coty Schock
Schock had a rough race with some falls including one on the last lap that looked to be pretty good. His teammate Braswell also didn’t seem to be enjoying himself out there.
18 | 330 | A J Catanzaro
The Cat seemed to not really care about his own race that much as his buddy Lawrence wrapped up the title.
19 | 460 | Michael Hicks
Hicks was really ascending in the results until a couple of weeks ago and it’s been a rough go for him at the last two. In Nashville he was up there and not sure if it was bike or body, but he just started to go backward. My fantasy team also went backward with him.
20 | 242 | Garrett Hoffman
I don’t know anything about Hoffman, but he made the main after coming close a couple of weeks ago and I believe it’s his first one. Also, I believe one of the ‘90s most underrated riders, Ronnie Tichenor, trains him.
21 | 511 | Jace Kessler
Jace’s career path has stalled out a bit lately as he’s had a bad wrist, bad teams, and more, to deal with. Seems like he’s getting a bit better here lately and he made his first main of the year. He’s a cool kid, glad to see it happen.
22 | 247 | Brock Papi
Papi looked to have a couple of close calls in practice, or maybe the heat race, but he saved it and brought it on home to the main event. Not sure what happened to him in the main.
450SX Results
1 | 23 | Chase Sexton
Are we just going to ignore that maybe, possibly, Sexton has figured this stuff out? No crashes this week, none in Atlanta, and Barcia helped him out in the deep mud in NY so I’m not counting that. Yes, he [Tomac] probably wasn’t pushing but he caught Eli Tomac from five or six seconds back and I don’t care how much Eli let his foot up on the gas, that’s not easy to do. Sexton’s the fastest supercross racer in the world and has been all year long. Yeah, I said it. Anyone want to take odds that he’s NOT going to win the next two as well?
2 | 1 | Eli Tomac
Eli was NOT interested in fighting with Sexton for the win. Nope, he’s got the title in mind, as he should. He stretched out a five-second lead in the main before Sexton got into second and you could see him look around a bit for the #23 before completely letting him by. He’s 18 up and will probably win this title by ten points or more over Sexton. What a season Cooper Webb, Tomac, and Sexton gave us, and although anything can happen, we sort of had the air let out of it here in end.
3 | 94 | Ken Roczen
Third straight third-place finish for Roczen, and he keeps on being strong to the finish in SX, something he’s struggled a bit with before. I don’t think it’s 100 percent yet, but it looks to me like KR is going to do WSX this summer instead of the AMA Motocross Championship and I endorse that. If you’re Roczen, you made it to all 17 rounds (knock on wood), you have two 450MX titles on your mantle, Sexton and Jett are gonna really send it this summer, and it’s really a lot of work. Why not do WSX, get paid, race some SX and see the world?
4 | 45 | Colt Nichols
Nichols scored a season best fourth and he sort of was out there riding by himself. Got a start and really, just kept it on two wheels on a treacherous track. If he can take advantage of a low give-a-shit meter by some guys, he might be able to get on the box here in the last two.
5 | 46 | Justin Hill
Justin and I don’t talk, pretty sure he got mad at me for critiquing him for sitting out the night show in Nashville for JGR, and then getting photographed out in town that night. JGR guys were pissed. Anyway, since it’s the three-year anniversary of said moment, I thought I’d bring it up. Talking to me or not, Justin has been riding great this year as a privateer and just got his season best finish. Last week before the rains came in NY, he was awesome in qualifying.
6 | 21 | Jason Anderson
Feels weird to say this but Jason has to be just badly waiting for the outdoors to start. It’s been a rough couple weeks for him now and he had two big crashes in Nashville. If he’s ever going to win a supercross this year, Denver and SLC are set up nicely for him with Tomac’s “care” meter to win low, Barcia injured, and having hardpack tracks.
7 | 15 | Dean Wilson
I thought Dean would be stoked on his race and he mostly was after the race, but he lamented that he was the same speed as Nichols (he was marking him out there) and just didn’t get the start he needed to. I don’t know, I think taking advantage of the dudes who are out is what a guy like Wilson needs to do and he did (shrugs).
8 | 9 | Adam Cianciarulo
AC was great in Nashville but the eighth doesn’t really show it. He was on the ground in the first turn, ripped through the pack to pass Anderson, and probably would’ve ended up right there in sixth before, I’m guessing, his arm issue reared its ugly head, and he was unable to keep up the pace.
9 | 11 | Kyle Chisholm
New fork setting a few weeks ago and here we are, with Chiz chizzing on the field. Kyle told me after the race that currently, he feels like last year’s Yamaha privateer Chiz was the same speed as the 2023 Hep Suzuki Chiz as of right now. I’d say he’s probably right. Even though he’s 52 years old, Kyle wants to race as many nationals as he can for the team, and World SX, and then the SMX races as well. He’ll probably squeeze a Tampa MX Thursday night race in there also.
10 | 751 | Josh Hill
Hill got a great start but got shuffled backward fast. Once he stopped the damage, he sort of rode around to get his tenth. There was like, one or two passes inside the top ten in the second half the race as the guys were just counting down the laps to avoid having the “Smashville” track get them. Hill looked to be one of those guys.
11 | 60 | Justin Starling
Starling told me he saw Grant Harlan and Barcia down and knew at that point he just wanted to get through the race and ride at “70 percent,” which he did and guess what? He got a season best position and is now looking at a top 20 in the points, which would help his pocketbook.
12 | 80 | Kevin Moranz
Last week was great for Moranz in the muck and this week was also pretty solid. He’s such a good starter that he’s been putting himself into a good position just with that skill. To me, although there’s a fine line with this, he’s a bit DGAF about being lapped. I’m sure some of the front runners would argue that he needs to be a bit more GAF about them but what it does is, it allows Moranz to make up some time on dudes behind him.
13 | 90 | Tristan Lane
Lane hadn’t made a main all year and last week he got in. Which with the mud and him being a good sand guy, maybe it worked out nicely for him. Well, this week he’s in again. And he got 13th, which is solid for sure.
14 | 519 | Joshua Cartwright
We all saw that heat race last corner “thing” from Cartwright. Just like earlier this year when he grenaded himself over the bars in the heat and then came back to make it in the LCQ, he did the same this week. Which makes his “thing” in the heat race at least something to laugh at and not throw a helmet around. Still though, let’s work on our racecraft a bit more Josh, okay?
15 | 74 | Logan Karnow
Karnow has been sour (and I think rightfully so) at having three main events this year where he didn’t DNF and was scored 22nd place. That doesn’t happen much, but three times in a row to our OF guy is a tough beat. Well, this week he scored his career best finish and that’s cool for him. I have a feeling we’re going to see lots of career bests these next two weeks. It’s privateer heaven right now!
16 | 219 | Chase Marquier
Shout out to PRMX Kawasaki, who had four of its guys in the main events. That’s pretty sweet. They’re becoming the little team that could. Marquier has been better lately at staying up there and moving forward.
17 | 170 | Devin Simonson
Simonson has made two 450SX mains in a row and hey, maybe he should’ve moved out of the 250’s sooner, right? Simonson got a wild card entry into the Yamaha LCQ challenge because I was complaining about his hair on a review show so he called in to say I could cut it however I want for a spot in the race. So that’s what we’re gonna do. It’s going to be great.
18 | 604 | Max Miller
Speaking of the LCQ race, Miller was in position to get into the race if he didn’t make the main in Nashville (he was just outside the top 17 in points) but then Cartwright did what he did in the heat and Miller got in. Luckily for Miller, he was 18th in points and Alex Ray can’t make it so he gets the spot. Miller seems to be a bit smoother on the 450 compared to the 250, which isn’t a surprise.
19 | 68 | Cade Clason
Cade’s not been able to practice much at all and it’s showing. He missed Atlanta with an injury and probably should’ve missed another race but he’s out there toughing it out. He rides okay until the lack of practice gets to his arms/body etc. and he drifts backward.
20 | 12 | Shane McElrath
Kaboom goes the shock. Shane’s shock split and steam and oil went everywhere. Oops. Haven’t seen that happen too many times. It’s too bad because he was up there.
21 | 51 | Justin Barcia
As we know, Bam broke his collarbone and will be out for a while. He will be lucky to be up to speed by the Pala MX opener, but it shouldn’t take him too long to get to 100 percent. Him lying there spooked a few guys out on the track. That dragon back was a good one and on the right it had a nice curb in it that got a few guys.
22 | 78 | Grant Harlan
Speaking of that dragon back, it got Harlan as well. Grant didn’t have faith in his 2022 YZ450F to make it through the weekend so he just said screw it and rode a brand new 2023 that he had there waiting for him for outdoors. And I don’t know if you guys know, but the 2022 and 2023 YZ450 are QUITE different. He looked rough first practice but got really good by the time the third practice came about. He put his shoulder out and will be out for a while. Bad news for him because he’s been riding great. His teammate, Benny Bloss, didn’t make it out of the heat with a broken collarbone. It’s at this point that I should mention I went to dinner with Alex Ray in Tampa and he broke his thumb the next day. I went to dinner with Phil Nicoletti in Oakland and he broke his wrist the next day. Guess who I went to dinner with Friday night before Nashville? Yeah, Benny Bloss. YIKES!
Thanks for reading OBS, TWO TO GO! Something tells me they’re not going to be classics but hey, I’ll be there to type and talk about them. Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat about this race or anything else.