450SX Main Event
AMA SX 2023
Round 10

Team Honda HRC Sweeps Detroit Supercross

us Ford Field

Chase Sexton scores come-from-behind win in premier division. Hunter Lawrence dominates 250SX East Region class.

Team Honda HRC Sweeps Detroit Supercross

Having come tantalizingly close on a number of occasions this year, Team Honda HRC finally completed an AMA Supercross win sweep at round 10 in Detroit, with Chase Sexton topping the premier division and Hunter Lawrence ruling the 250SX East Region category.

To earn his premier-class main-event win, Sexton had to pass some of the class’s top riders. Following an eighth-place start, he quickly moved up a spot, then passed Ken Roczen for sixth on lap 2. He displaced Adam Cianciarulo for fifth two laps later, moved around Eli Tomac on lap 8 and got Cooper Webb for third on lap 10. One lap later he came out on top of a scrap with Justin Barcia to assume second place, and he set out after Aaron Plessinger, who had a lead of over eight seconds. Sexton shrunk the gap to as low as 3.5 seconds before Plessinger crashed two laps from the end, helping the CRF450R to take the win.

Meanwhile, the 250SX East main event saw Lawrence snare the holeshot and check out. Five minutes in, he had an advantage of more than three seconds over second place, and he added another second by the 10-minute mark. At the finish, the Australian was 7.6 seconds ahead, for his fifth win in six rounds.


Team Honda HRC rider Colt Nichols sat out Detroit to continue recovering from his Daytona crash, but he’s expected to be back for Seattle next week.

With pit space being tight at Detroit, there is no option for teams to put up their truck canopies, and there is no Fan Fest. With outside temperatures in the 20s, Team Honda HRC worked out of the technical truck.

As has been the norm for much of this season, Team Honda HRC riders topped daytime qualifying in both classes, with Chase Sexton best in 450SX and Hunter Lawrence quickest in 250SX East.

Lawrence suffered a poor start in 250SX heat 2 but quickly moved up to second. He eventually closed the gap on the leading Nate Thrasher but couldn’t make the pass before the finish. Other Red Riders to advance from his heat were Phoenix Racing Honda’s Cullin Park, Fire Power Honda’s Max Anstie, Valley Ford’s Jeremy Hand and TiLube/Storm Lake Honda’s Henry Miller. Meanwhile, five CRF riders advanced from heat 1: Phoenix’s Coty Schock, Jace Owen and Caden Braswell, as well as TiLube’s Michael Hicks and Moto Academy’s AJ Catanzaro. Fire Power’s Gage Linville and STR Racing’s Lance Kobusch made it in through the last-chance qualifier.

More than half of the riders on the 250SX East main-event start gate–12 of 22–were aboard CRF250R race machines.

Sexton exited turn 1 of 450SX heat 2 in fourth place and quickly advanced to second. After stalking Ken Roczen for four laps, he made the move for the lead and pulled away to win by nearly three seconds. Fire Power Honda’s Dean Wilson advanced through heat 1.

Lawrence posted the fastest lap time in the 250SX East main event.

The last time Honda’s factory team won the premier and support classes was at the 1993 Indianapolis round, where Jeremy McGrath and Doug Henry did the honors. Honda’s support-class effort was later handled by Factory Connection, and at the 2020 Atlanta round, Ken Roczen and then-Factory Connection rider Sexton topped 450SX and 250SX East, respectively.

Sexton and Lawrence took part in the post-race press conference and media scrums.

Lawrence’s lead in the 250SX East title chase has ballooned to 35 points–well over a full race. Meanwhile, Sexton still sits in third, but due to a seven-point penalty incurred for jumping on a red-cross flag, he lost ground and is 17 behind the leader.

As indicated by NBC during the broadcast, Hunter Lawrence’s Detroit performance moved him into a tie with brother Jett for career 250SX wins (10 each), and also for top-five finishes (22 each). Both brothers have 27 starts, and Hunter has one more podium than Jett (19 compared to 18). NBC also pointed out that Hunter has led every main-event lap since Daytona (51 laps straight).

Sexton’s victory gives him 19 podiums in the premier-class, as well as three wins.

Sexton’s win put Honda in a tie with Yamaha for most premier-class AMA Supercross wins in Michigan, with 20 (including races at both Pontiac Silverdome and Ford Field). It also added him to the list of Honda-mounted Ford Field winners, with Davi Millsaps and Eli Tomac.

Lawrence’s success stretched Honda’s support-class-best Michigan win record to 13, five of which have come at Ford Field (Josh Grant, Justin Bogle, Malcolm Stewart, Jett Lawrence and Hunter Lawrence).

Next up for Team Honda HRC is the Seattle Supercross on Saturday. It’s a West Region round, which means Jett Lawrence will take over from Hunter.


Chase Sexton
Chase Sexton 23
Team Honda HRC
I think starting towards the back actually helped me lock in, focus on just pushing forward and not worry about the race. After I made all those passes to second, I just tried to click off laps and get as close as I could to first. I definitely needed this after last weekend–especially with how I did it; this was what I needed to get momentum on my side. Hopefully, we can click a couple of these off and push towards the end.

Hunter Lawrence
Hunter Lawrence 96
Team Honda HRC
I’ve had two healthy years of compounding work to get to where I am now. There were days where a night like tonight felt a lifetime away. I’m glad now that I don’t have to step out of my comfort zone too often, and now I know the right opportunity to do it. I’m really happy with the bike and myself at the moment, and glad to see all that hard work paying off.


250SX East Standings

Pos. Rider Num. Team Constr. Pts
1 Hunter Lawrence 96 Team Honda HRC Honda 151
2 Nate Thrasher 29 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Yamaha 116
3 Haiden Deegan 238 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Honda 111
4 Jeremy Martin 6 Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha 109
5 Max Anstie 63 Fire Power Honda Honda 104
6 Jordon Smith 58 Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Yamaha 92
9 Coty Schock 285 Phoenix Racing Honda Honda 72
10 Cullin Park 67 Phoenix Racing Honda Honda 67
11 Jace Owen 62 Phoenix Racing Honda Honda 63
12 Chance Hymas 832 Team Honda HRC Honda 60
13 Henry Miller 66 Ti-Lube, Storm Lake Honda, Innovation Concrete Inc, Rangeline Honda 55
16 Jeremy Hand 91 Valley Ford Truck, Dean Hushon Insulation, Wiseco, SKDA, 6D Honda 41
17 Michael Hicks 460 TDMX Graphics Honda 39
19 Caden Braswell 243 Phoenix Racing Honda Honda 31
22 A J Catanzaro 330 The Moto Academy, Honda Honda 16
23 Luke Neese 125 Red Research Group, Honda of Lynchburg Honda 15
29 Gage Linville 602 Fire Power Honda Honda 4
30 Lance Kobusch 95 STR, 100%, Dunlop, Canvas Honda 3


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