2022 Atlanta Supercross | Race Report & Results

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CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE 2022 ATLANTA SUPERCROSS 

The Monster Energy Supercross Championship returned to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the 2022 Atlanta Supercross, round fourteen in the series and the first of two East-West Showdowns. Despite heavy morning rains that forced race organizers to eliminate practice, the efforts of the track crew and the Southern weather made the speedway track a competitive and technical course for both regions of the 250 Class and the heavy-hitters of the 450 Class, all of whom found their way to the front of the pack.

250SX East Heat

As the East Coast field left the gate, Jett Lawrence was off to a great start but went down in the first turn and remounted in dead last, as Jace Owen and Mitchell Oldenburg battled for the lead. Last week’s winner, RJ Hampshire, sat in third place with Pierce Brown trailing. Oldenburg secured the lead as they entered their second lap on the course and began to check out. Austin Forkner worked his way into a transfer position and then made a few more quick passes to secure a top-5 spot. Phil Nicoletti went down hard after casing the quad before the whoop section, ending his heat race. With two minutes on the clock, Jett Lawrence had passed into seventh place.

Back up front, RJ Hampshire passed into second place and began closing on Oldenburg. Austin Forkner began challenging Brown for third place, just as Hampshire blitzed past Oldenburg through the whoops and into the race lead. As they began their final lap of the heat, Forkner beat Brown to the far left-handed corner and made the pass for second place. Austin then caught and passed Hampshire through the whoops, to then scrub his way through the checkered flag and take the heat race win. 

250SX West Heat

The West Coast class was off and Jo Shimoda was off to the early lead after a great jump out of the gate. Michael Mosiman shuffled into second place with Christian Craig trailing. At the end of the second lap, Shimoda, Mosiman, and Craig has began to break away from Hunter Lawrence and the rest of the field. Mosiman opted for the far left side of the option lane through the sand and came out in the race lead. Jo Shimoda then made a minor mistake in the following section that allowed Craig to pass into second place. 

As Christian gave chase to Michael Mosiman and the lead, Hunter Lawrence began to pressure Jo Shimoda for third place. Hunter took the far left line through the sand while Jo continued to go right, and again, Shimoda lost a position as they exited the sand. Michael Mosiman went down after getting kicked while exiting the whoops and dropped back to fourth place. However, Mosiman made his way back past Shimoda a lap later and secured third place. Christian Craig crossed the finish line to take another heat race win and continue his win streak in the heats.

250 East/West LCQ

Derek Drake was off to the early lead with Hardy Munoz just behind. Jack Chambers sat in third place as they finished the first lap, but was then passed by Weltin and Cullin Park. Marshal Weltin made the pass on Munoz after going inside after the finish line and picked up second place. Jordon Smith entered the picture after a bad start, but was still racing outside of a transfer position. Weltin washed the front end and dropped back to seventh place, allowing Park and Smith to pick up transfer positions. Munoz then slowed through the beginning of the whoops and both Park and Smith raced by. Chris Blose passed into a transfer position with just over one lap to go. On the final lap, Jordon Smith had troubles while running in second place and failed to finish the race. Derek Drake crossed the checkered flag and took the LCQ win with a 8-second lead.

250 East-West Showdown

At last, the 250SX East/West Showdown was off and Hunter Lawrence was off to a great start, however, Jo Shimoda and RJ Hampshire cut across the inside of turn one to take the front spots early-on. Hunter Lawrence made the pass on Hampshire for second place at the beginning of the second lap after Hampshire slid-out. Jett Lawrence then moved into third place momentarily, as he went down after the whoops and remounted in 14th place. Meanwhile, Craig had passed into fifth place after a rough start. A lap later, Craig was pressuring Austin Forkner for third place, while Mosiman made the pass on Hampshire for fifth. Christian then blitzed through the first set of whoops and made the pass on Forkner for third. 

Jo Shimoda continued to lead Hunter Lawrence, but was now only holding a second lead on the Honda HRC rider. Hunter launched into the sand rollers and pulled past Jo to pick up the race lead. Craig now entered the battle, as he was pressuring Shimoda and ultimately made the pass through the whoops for second place. A few positions behind, Austin Forkner made a mistake and dropped back to sixth place where he was now faced with a charging Jett Lawrence. Jett made quick work of Forkner through the whoops and took over sixth place.

Jett continued to charge through the pack, as he scrubbed past Thrasher for fifth place. Forkner made another small mistake and allowed Hampshire to jump by. Michael Mosiman went down and dropped back to sixth place before regaining the race. With Mosiman’s fall, Jett found himself in fourth place. With two laps to go, Jett Lawrence was on Jo Shimoda’s rear wheel and pressuring for third place. Jett blitzed through the whoops and pulled past Jo for third place. However, Jo didn’t give in as he dove inside in the following corner and the two made contact. Luckily, the pair stayed up and continued on with their race. Hunter Lawrence crossed the checkered flag and took the win at the East/West Showdown. Christian Craig finished in second place and Jett Lawrence grabbed the final podium position. 

450 Heat One

The first 450 race in Atlanta was off, as 450 Heat One left the gate. Jason Anderson was off to a great start but Justin Bogle cut inside to take the lead momentarily. Anderson then made a quick pass for the race lead and Eli Tomac followed to get past Bogle. On the second lap, Justin Barcia blitzed by Bogle through the whoops and into third place. 

Eli began closing on Anderson ever so slightly and quickly found himself alongside the Kawasaki rider as the clock ticked under a minute. Eli Tomac went to the left through the split-lane and came out of the sand in the race lead. However, Anderson fired right back as he cut under to retake the lead. Eli Tomac then had a close call as his rear-end kicked out. A lap later, Eli went for the pass again after the sand but wasn’t close enough and this time settled for second. Jason Anderson crossed the checkered flag to take the heat race victory. 

450 Heat Two

The final Heat race of the day was off as 450 Heat Two left the gate. Justin Brayton was off to a great jump but Alex Martin rounded the first turn and exited in the race lead. Kyle Chisholm shuffled in behind Martin, but Cooper Webb made a quick pass through the whoops to pick up second place. Webb then blitzed past Alex Martin and into the race lead in the next set of whoops. Marvin Musquin and Chase Sexton were now pressuring Alex Martin, but Chase was the first to advance in position as he landed from the tunnel jump in second place. 

Marvin then cut under Alex a few sections later and Malcolm Stewart followed. Chase Sexton had caught Cooper Webb and flew past the RedBull KTM in the whoops to take over the race lead. Marvin Musquin missed the quad over the table, allowing Malcolm Stewart to jump by and into third place. Up front, Sexton had opened up a five-second lead over Cooper Webb, who also had a 5-second lead on Stewart in third. By the time Sexton crossed the finish line to claim the Heat race victory, he had raced to nearly a 10-second lead. 

450 LCQ

John Short was off to the early lead but Brandon Scharer made a quick pass in the first rhythm lane to take over the lead. However, Short retook the lead just a few sections later and both Enticknap and Hand also passed Scharer within the lap. Adam Enticknap now gave chase to John Short, while Benny Bloss entered the picture and passed into a transfer position. With two laps to go, Brandon Scharer was back on Hand’s rear wheel and challenging for the final transfer position. Scharer got close but was unable to make the pass on Jeremy Hand after a poor line through the whoops. John Short took the win in the LCQ, followed closely by Benny Bloss. 

450 Main Event

The gate was down for the 450 Main Event and Justin Barcia was off to the early lead with Chase Sexton just behind. Marvin Musquin went down hard exiting the tunnel and was dead last at the end of the first lap. Jason Anderson sat just ahead of Eli Tomac as they began their second lap around the course. Sexton was searching for a spot to pass Barcia for the lead, as the two swapped lines and did their best to find an advantage. Sexton dove inside of Barcia after the finish line to take over the race lead. Jason Anderson then made the pass on Barcia through the split-lane to pick up second place. Cooper Webb made the pass on Eli Tomac for fourth place and was now focused on catching Justin Barcia. While leading, Chase Sexton went down after tucking the front-end following the sand rollers, gifting the lead to Jason Anderson. Sexton remounted in sixth place, just behind Malcolm Stewart. 

Justin Barcia had a bobble and tipped over, dropping him from second place to fourth place. A lap after his crash, Sexton was back to his race-pace but then cased a triple through the smaller rhythm lane, putting him back behind Malcolm. Justin Barcia had a close call in the whoops, as he nearly went down but managed to wrestle the bike to a stop off-track, although, he still fell back to sixth place. Cooper Webb was running in second place and fending off attacks from Eli Tomac. However, Cooper missed the faster rhythm and allowed Eli to close right back in. Eli Tomac jumped past Webb and beat him to the left-hander under the tunnel to take over second place. A few laps later, Chase Sexton was now looking for a line past Webb. Sexton got a great run through the whoops and launched past Webb over the wall-jump to lock down third place. 

Jason Anderson crossed the finish line to take the race win in Atlanta Motor Speedway after an impressive ride out front. Chase Sexton managed to close-in on Eli Tomac after passing into third place but had to settle for third place as Eli took the second place finish.