Sexton Completes Honda 2023 AMA Supercross Title Sweep

May 15, 2023

Illinois native ends indoor season with his sixth win of the year
Jett Lawrence tops 250SX East-West Showdown, Hunter Lawrence sixth
Colt Nichols earns AMA 450SX Rookie of the Year Award
Honda earns third consecutive Manufacturers Championship

Team Honda HRC put an exclamation mark on the 2023 AMA Supercross season at the series finale in Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. Not only did Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence capture the wins in the 450SX main event and 250SX East-West Showdown, but Sexton wrapped up the premier-class championship, completing a historic Honda title sweep of the three divisions.

The 450SX main saw Sexton lead all 25 laps aboard his CRF450RWE. The new champ scored the holeshot and never faltered, stretching out his advantage to over 18 seconds by the finish, where his team greeted him with a long-awaited celebration.

In the 250SX main event, Jett Lawrence exited turn 1 second behind RJ Hampshire, while Hunter Lawrence suffered a poor getaway and was mired back in about 13th place, only to be further delayed when another rider fell. At the eight-lap mark, Jett made a strong pass on RJ Hampshire to assume the lead. Meanwhile, Hunter patiently worked his way forward, ultimately crossing the finish line in sixth place.

NOTES

The Friday pre-race activities included a press conference featuring Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence and Jett Lawrence, as well as Team Honda HRC manager Lars Lindstrom. Following the conference, the riders had the opportunity to try out the track.
Despite a hard crash last week in Denver, Team Honda HRC rider Colt Nichols had intended to compete at the Salt Lake City round, but leg injuries prevented him from taking part. The Oklahoma native was nonetheless on hand in Utah, and he was presented with the AMA Supercross Rookie of the Year award on the podium following the first qualifying session.
This was Nichols’ final race with Team Honda HRC. Everyone on the team was happy to have him in the pits this season and in Utah, and Honda thanks him for his efforts this year and wishes him well going forward.
Honda World, a powersports dealership in South Jordan, Utah, set up a pop-up activation in the Team Honda HRC pits at the Salt Lake City Supercross. They displayed a Pioneer 1000 Trail side-by-side and a CRF50F and interacted with fans and customers.
Salt Lake City included a 250SX Futures race, and SLR Honda was on hand supporting Parker Ross and Jaxon Pascal. Ross notched a podium finish (third place), while Pascal recovered from 10th place on lap 1 to finish eighth.
For the season finale, Hunter and Jett Lawrence—recently crowned champions in the 250SX East and West Regions—ran special 1E and 1W numbers on their CRF250R race machines.
Team Honda HRC was flawless in daytime qualifying, with Sexton topping both 450SX sessions, Hunter Lawrence doing likewise in 250SX East and Jett Lawrence following suit in 250SX West.
Sexton set the tone for the evening by winning the second 450SX heat race by nearly 15 seconds, despite finishing lap 1 in third place. Also impressive was Fire Power Honda’s Dean Wilson, who finished a solid second in heat 1.
Hunter Lawrence was second in the damp 250SX East heat race, and Jett Lawrence was third in the 250SX West heat. Other Red Riders to qualify through the heats were Fire Power Honda’s Max Anstie, TiLube/Storm Lake Honda’s Michael Hicks and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cullin Park (East), as well as SmarTop/MotoConcepts Racing’s Mitchell Oldenburg (West). Making it through the last-chance qualifier were Phoenix riders Jace Owen and Coty Schock.
Sexton’s achievement is Honda’s 16th premier-class AMA Supercross title, a record.
This marks the third time that a manufacturer has swept all three AMA Supercross crowns (but the first time by a single team). One of the others was also by Honda, as Team Honda’s Jean-Michel Bayle took the 1991 premier-class title, while Peak/Pro Circuit Honda riders Jeremy McGrath and Brian Swink captured the West and East support-class crowns.
Sexton turned the fastest lap time in the 450SX main event, while Jett and Hunter Lawrence were first and second, respectively, on the lap-time sheets for the 250SX main.
Salt Lake City marked the seventh premier-class AMA Supercross victory of Sexton’s career. It also added him to the list of the venue’s Honda-mounted premier-class winners, joining Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham (twice) and Ken Roczen.
With his 250SX win, Jett Lawrence gives Honda sole possession of first place on the Salt Lake City support-class win list, with seven. It was his second win in Salt Lake City, where other Red Riders to have topped the support-class main include Trey Canard, Eli Tomac (twice) and Chase Sexton (three times). This also marked the 13th 250SX win of Jett’s career, making him the winningest Honda rider in the class.
Sexton and Jett Lawrence both participated in the post-race press conference.
Everyone at Team Honda HRC extends their respect and gratitude to all of the teams and riders for a hard-fought season.
Team Honda HRC now gets a rare weekend off before commencing the AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Pala, California, May 27.

Chase Sexton
“I’m really at a loss for words right now. Getting the win tonight was just the stamp on this season. I really wanted this win more than anything. It still sounds insane to hear that I’m the Supercross champion. It takes a team behind you to win though, and even when we were at our lowest in the middle of the season, no one gave up the fight. It was a long journey to get here, even a long week knowing where we were. I’m happy to get this one checked off the list, and to get everyone at Honda the championship they deserve.”

Jett Lawrence
“It still hasn’t sunk in that this is my last 250 race; it really didn’t cross my mind until I crossed the finish line. Obviously, I couldn’t ask for a better way to end my 250 career. I wish I could have battled more with Hunter, but I’ll take the win. It’s going to be weird this summer with a different schedule, getting dressed at a different time than Hunter. The outdoor season will be full of fun battles with my teammate Chase, and it will just be a great learning experience. It’s exciting pretty much starting from the bottom again.”

Hunter Lawrence
“I didn't really have any pressure on me today, so I could just go out there and ride my race. Obviously, I want to win every time I’m on the track, but today I just had to take what the race gave me. I didn’t get the best start, and when I ran into the back of someone on the first lap, I knew this wasn’t going to be my race. I’m happy to get out of here healthy and focused on the motocross season.”

Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager
“This truly feels like a dream that I’m going to wake up from at any minute! We’ve had so many times where we had the chance to win a 450 championship, only to come up short for one reason or another. It got to the point where I couldn’t emotionally invest anymore into the hope of winning, after being so disappointed when it didn’t happen. This season looked to be similar, but after the turn of events, it was obvious that it was finally our turn to enjoy success—and WOW, it came all at once, winning all THREE championships! The amount of congratulations and support from everyone in the industry, American Honda associates, HRC members, Honda Japan, family, friends and fans has been overwhelming. I was also happy for Colt to get Rookie of the Year; we’ve enjoyed having him so much, and we wish nothing but the best for him in the future. I’m so proud to be a part of all this; this record of one team winning all three Supercross championships can only be equaled, never beaten. Thank you to Chase, Jett and Hunter—we’re so lucky to have them on our team!”

Media contact:
Danny Gonzalez // Jonnum Media // danny@jonnummedia.com // +1 (805) 915-7889

450SX Results

Chase Sexton (Hon)
Aaron Plessinger (KTM)
Justin Hill (KTM)
Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw)
Dean Wilson (Hon)
Josh Hill (KTM)
Shane McElrath (Suz)
Justin Starling (Gas)
Devin Simonson (Kaw)
Grant Harlan (Yam)

450SX Championship Points (after 17 of 17 rounds)

Chase Sexton: 372
Eli Tomac: 339
Cooper Webb: 304
Ken Roczen: 304
Justin Barcia: 267
Jason Anderson: 242
Aaron Plessinger: 236
Justin Hill: 212
Adam Cianciarulo: 210
Dean Wilson: 200

—
14. Colt Nichols: 141

250SX Results

Jett Lawrence (Hon)
RJ Hampshire (Hus)
Levi Kitchen (Yam)
Jo Shimoda (Kaw)
Jordon Smith (Yam)
Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
Max Anstie (Hon)
Haiden Deegan (Yam)
Mitchell Oldenburg (Hon)
Carson Mumford (Kaw)

—
15. Cullin Park (Hon)
17. Jace Owen (Hon)
18. Coty Schock (Hon)
20. Michael Hicks (Hon)

250SX East Region Championship Points (after 10 of 10 rounds)

Hunter Lawrence: 241
Haiden Deegan: 183
Max Anstie: 182
Jordon Smith: 159
Chris Blose: 143
Jeremy Martin: 132
Nate Thrasher: 120
Tom Vialle: 120
Cullin Park: 117
Coty Schock: 94

—
11. Henry Miller: 86
12. Jace Owen: 82
15. Jeremy Hand: 62
16. Chance Hymas: 60
17. Michael Hicks: 58
18. Caden Braswell: 52
20. Luke Neese: 44

250SX West Region Championship Points (after 9 of 9 rounds)