AMA Supercross/Motocross

AMA-SX 2023 Review: Sexton Wins First 450SX Championship, Brings Honda First Premier Class Title in 20 Years

The AMA Supercross Championship is an off-road racing series that takes place on specially built courses in stadiums around the U.S. The 2023 season consisted of 17 rounds held from January to May.

AMA-SX 2023 Review: Sexton Wins First 450SX Championship, Brings Honda First Premier Class Title in 20 Years

Team Honda HRC was represented by Chase Sexton, in his third year in the 450SX class, and his new teammate Colt Nichols, the 2021 250SX East Regional Champion.

Sexton Chases Title, Nichols Injured and Out for Four Rounds

The season opener was held on January 7 at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Sexton got the season off to a good start with a dramatic race that saw him take the lead at one point, and finish third. Nichols, making his class debut, immediately took the holeshot and eventually finished 6th, showing a glimpse of the 250SX champion's ability.


Chase Sexton at season-opener Anaheim
Chase Sexton at season-opener Anaheim

This season, a three-race Triple Crown format was introduced at Round 4, Anaheim, Round 7, Arlington, and Round 12, Glendale. In this format, three races are held in a short race format of 12 minutes plus one lap, series points are awarded for overall performance. In Round 4, the first Triple Crown race of the season, Sexton took the checkered flag in races 1 and 3, his first victory for the season. Sexton followed with second place finishes in rounds 5 and 6 to close to within two points of the championship leader. Meanwhile, Nichols was unable to race until Round 11, after crashing and suffering a concussion during timed qualifying for Round 8, as Sexton continued to battle for the lead with top finishes.


Colt Nichols at Round 6, Tampa
Colt Nichols at Round 6, Tampa

Round 9, Indianapolis, kicked off the bottom half of the season. Sexton crashed on lap 7 and finished tenth, but he maintained his third place in the point standings. Round 10 was held in Detroit, one of the Illinois native's home tracks, and despite being slightly off the pace, trailing in seventh on the first lap, he caught up with the battle for second place within the first five minutes and was in second by the halfway mark. He took the lead in the last two laps and went on to win for the second time this season.


Chase Sexton at Round 10, Detroit
Chase Sexton at Round 10, Detroit

Three in a Row Gives Sexton the Championship

In the second triple crown, Round 12 in Glendale, Nichols was back in action, and rode consistently to finish eighth in all three races. In Round 13, Atlanta, Sexton took the lead from the first lap and was far ahead all the way to his third win of the season. In Round 15, Nashville, Sexton started fifth, but soon took the lead and held off his closest rivals to take the win by 14.5 seconds and move into second place in the point standings. Nichols also had a good ride, finishing fourth, his best result in the 450SX class.

Sexton went on to win Round 16, making it two in a row. With his championship rival Eli Tomac (YAMAHA) crashing out of the race, Sexton finally took the overall lead with one race remaining.

Going into season finale with the title on the line, Sexton had a good start and took the holeshot, and was unchallenged for all 25 laps to finish 18 seconds ahead, taking his sixth win of the season and his first, and Honda’s first in 20 years, premier class title.


Chase Sexton at Round 17, Salt Lake City
Chase Sexton at Round 17, Salt Lake City

Although Nichols was out due to injury for five rounds, he nonetheless was ranked 14th overall, and was awarded 450SX Rookie of the Year.


Lawrence Brothers Dominate East and West

In the 250SX class, Team Honda HRC was represented by last season's East Region champion Jett Lawrence in the West Region Championship, and brother Hunter Lawrence and newcomer Chance Hymas in the East Region. The team was aiming to dominate both  East and West regions.

Jett Lawrence got off to a good start with a win in the opening round in Anaheim, and continued to win consistently, winning six of the 9 rounds, finishing on the podium in every round to take the title.


Jett Lawrence at Round 16, Denver
Jett Lawrence at Round 16, Denver

In the East Region which started with Round 5, Hunter Lawrence was in the zone. He won five of the first six races to lead the series, then took his seventh win in Round 15, Nashville, to win his first 250SX East Region title.


Hunter Lawrence at Round 15, Nashville
Hunter Lawrence at Round 15, Nashville

Hymas, who raced in four rounds from rounds 5 to 8, kept up consistent top-10 finishes despite it being his 250SX debut season, with his best result coming in Round 8 where he finished sixth.


Chance Hymas at Round 8, Daytona
Chance Hymas at Round 8, Daytona

By Jett Lawrence winning in the west and Hunter in the east, for the first time in history brothers dominated both the 250SX east and west regions. The records did not stop there either. Including the 450SX class, Team Honda HRC became the first team to take the triple crown.



450SX - Standings

Pos.

No.

Rider

Constr.

Pts

1

23

Chase Sexton

Honda

372

2

1

Eli Tomac

Yamaha

339

3

2

Cooper Webb

KTM

304

4

94

Ken Roczen

Suzuki

304

5

51

Justin Barcia

GasGas

267

6

21

Jason Anderson

Kawasaki

242

10

15

Dean Wilson

Honda

200

14

45

Colt Nichols

Honda

141

31

111

Anthony Rodriguez

Honda

15

35

460

Michael Hicks

Honda

8

37

160

Cole Seely

Honda

7

42

91

Jeremy Hand

Honda

2


250SX East - Standings

Pos. No. Rider Constr. Pts
1 96 Hunter Lawrence Honda 241
2 238 Haiden Deegan Honda 183
3 63 Max Anstie Honda 182
4 58 Jordon Smith Yamaha 159
5 57 Chris Blose Kawasaki 143
6 6 Jeremy Martin Yamaha 132
9 67 Cullin Park Honda 117
10 285 Coty Schock Honda 94
11 66 Henry Miller Honda 86
12 62 Jace Owen Honda 82
15 91 Jeremy Hand Honda 62
16 832 Chance Hymas Honda 60
17 460 Michael Hicks Honda 58
18 243 Caden Braswell Honda 52
20 125 Luke Neese Honda 44
24 330 A J Catanzaro Honda 28
26 602 Gage Linville Honda 14
32 95 Lance Kobusch Honda 3
34 511 Jace Kessler Honda 2

250SX West - Standings

Pos. No. Rider Constr. Pts
1 18 Jett Lawrence Honda 223
2 24 Rj Hampshire Husqvarna 186
3 43 Levi Kitchen Yamaha 156
4 56 Enzo Lopes Yamaha 149
5 49 Mitchell Oldenburg Honda 131
6 34 Max Vohland KTM 121
20 111 Anthony Rodriguez Honda 40
27 162 Maxwell Sanford Honda 12
31 102 Wilson Todd Honda 6