2023 Arlington Supercross | Race Report & Results

INSTAGRAM | @swapmotolive
INSTAGRAM | @swapmotolivedotcom
INSTAGRAM | @onealracing

2023 ARLINGTON SUPERCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The Monster Energy Supercross Championship made its annual trip to AT&T Stadium in Texas for the 2023 Arlington Supercross, the seventh round and the second Triple Crown event of the year. The competition in the 250 East Coast Region and 450 Class stayed close from the drop of the gate to the finish line flame, as the intensity of the format and the other riders led to mistakes, passes, crashes, and swings in the point standings.

250 Race One

Hunter Lawrence led the first race of the night out of the first corner with Tom Vialle and Max Anstie trailing. Vialle made a slight mistake through the first rhythm lane and allowed Nate Thrasher to sneak inside of both him and Anstie. Max Anstie then settled into third place after passing Vialle. 

Hardy Munoz went down hard in the whoops and then got nailed by Michael Hicks and Coty Schock, ultimately ending his race. Back up front, Hunter Lawrence continued to lead Nate Thrasher. However, Thrasher had closed Hunter’s lead to just under a second. After a few more laps of trailing, Thrasher missed the triple and lost just over a second of time to the leader. 

Late in the race, Haiden Deegan went down through the whoops and remounted in 20th place. Just inside of the top-10, Michael Mosiman made the pass on Chance Hymas for eighth place. Jordon Smith made a late race pass on Tom Vialle to take over fourth place.  After leading from start-to-finish, Hunter Lawrence took the win in race one over Nate Thrasher. 

250 Race Two

The second 250SX race was off, as Jordon Smith led the field into the second corner with Haiden Deegan trailing. Hunter Lawrence sat in third place early-on, but Nate Thrasher made a pass after Hunter had a bad run through the whoops. Max Anstie also took advantage of Thrasher’s pass following the whoops and made the pass on Hunter for fourth. 

Nate Thrasher then made a pass on Deegan to take over second place. After loosing two positions on the opening lap, Hunter Lawrence was back on the charge as he passed both Anstie and Deegan to advance into third place. Up front, Jordon Smith continued to lead but Nate Thrasher was beginning to challenge his teammate for the race lead. 

As Thrasher continued to work on Smith for the lead, Hunter Lawrence was closing-in on the duo. As the leaders hit lapped traffic, Hunter made a slight mistake and bobbled through the rhythm lane; loosing time to Thrasher and Smith momentarily. On the over-under, Nate Thrasher and Hunter Lawrence connected, sending Hunter into the dirt. Luckily, Hunter remounted quickly and held onto third place. 

Jordon Smith took the second race victory with a 3-second cushion over Thrasher, following that drama in the second place battle. 

250 Race Three

The final 250SX race of the night was off and Nate Thrasher was off to the early lead, while Hunter Lawrence and Max Anstie were down in the first corner. Hardy Munoz and others had their own separate issue, as they were down in the second corner. Hunter and Max remounted but lost a lot of time, as their bikes were upside down and tangled. 

Nate Thrasher held a 2-second lead over Michael Mosiman, who sat in second place, after just a lap. Jordon Smith trailed in third place with Tom Vialle in tail. A few laps later, Jordon Smith was pressuring Mosiman and challenging for second place. Michael Mosiman slid-out by himself and Smith had nowhere to go but right into Michael and his bike. Jordon remounted in fifth place, but Michael got back going in 9th place. 

Jeremy Martin now sat in second place, as he had made a pass on Vialle and then benefitted from Mosiman and Smith’s incident. Hunter Lawrence was charging through the pack after his first corner crash, and had passed into 6th place. While leading, Nate Thrasher went down in the whoops and lost the lead. 

Jeremy Martin took over the race lead and took the race win ahead of Tom Vialle, as Jordon Smith had gone down on the final lap and dropped back to fifth. Despite going down in the final race, Nate Thrasher took the overall victory at the Arlington Triple Crown. 

450 Race One

The first 450SX race of the night was off, as Eli Tomac led the field out of the first turn while Jason Anderson was down in the first corner. Ken Roczen started in second place and was immediately challenging Tomac, though, Justin Barcia was just behind. Meanwhile, Chase Sexton had a bad jump out of the gate and then hit Anderson in the first corner, resulting in him sitting mid-pack after the first lap. 

Cooper Webb was also pretty deep in the field after the first lap, but found himself battling Sexton over sixth place after just a few laps. Aaron Plessinger sat in fourth place and soon had to deal with a charging Chase Sexton. Out front, Eli Tomac continued to lead and held just over a second cushion on Roczen. 

Chase Sexton scrubbed past Aaron Plessinger after using an inside line and took over fourth place. Ken Roczen was matching Tomac’s pace and keeping the points-leader at bay, while holding a comfortable cushion on Barcia in third place. Late in the race, Cooper Webb had reeled in Aaron Plessinger and ended up making the pass as they crossed over the finish line with four laps to go. 

Chase Sexton caught Justin Barcia and made the pass for third place after swapping lines and paint in the corners before the triple. On the final lap, Cooper Webb caught Barcia but was unable to make the pass before taking the checkered flag. Eli Tomac took the win in the first race after leading from start-to-finish. 

450 Race Two

Cooper Webb led the second 450SX race out of the first corner and held the early lead. Jason Anderson sat in second place and had Ken Roczen trailing. Chase Sexton took an inside line up the dragons-back and passed Roczen for third place, but then nearly slid-out before the whoops. After Sexton’s mistake, Eli Tomac took over the third place position. 

On the second lap, Jason Anderson looked inside of Webb before the whoops to take over the race lead. Chase Sexton was back in the picture, as he closed-in on Eli Tomac. After reeling-in Eli, Sexton lurked and searched for a place to make the pass on his championship rival. Chase Sexton finally made the pass for third place after diving inside of Tomac before the whoops. 

Meanwhile, Colt Nichols was down in the whoops and dropped back to 18th place before remounting. Back up front, Chase Sexton had reeled-in Cooper Webb and the battle for second place looked to be forming. However, Cooper upped his pace and responded to the pressure from Chase.

Jason Anderson took the win in race two ahead of Cooper Webb, Chase Sexton, and the rest of the field.

450 Race Three

As the final 450SX race left the gate, Eli Tomac held the early lead just ahead of Chase Sexton. Justin Barcia was off to another great start, as he held third place and sat just ahead of Justin Cooper. Race two winner Jason Anderson was in fourth place, but had Cooper Webb in tail.

Chase Sexton kept Eli Tomac within a second, as he lurked and searched for a line around the points-leader. Justin Cooper was shuffled back to seventh place after running in fourth on the opening lap. While giving chase to Eli, Sexton lost the front-end but quickly remounted – only loosing time to Eli, not a position. Justin Barcia made a mistake and fell back to ninth, giving Jason Anderson third place. 

After his fall, Chase Sexton had Jason Anderson on his rear tire and challenging. However, Cooper Webb quickly joined the battle, as he reeled-in Anderson. Eli Tomac went down while leading, as he also lost the front-end, dropping him back to fourth place. Chase Sexton now sat in the race lead, while Anderson and Webb battled over second place. 

After getting kicked sideways, Jason Anderson nearly lost it in the whoops. That allowed Cooper Webb to dive to the inside and take over second place. A lapped rider went down in front of Sexton and then another lapped rider got in the way of him, allowing Cooper Webb to ride past and take the race lead. 

Ken Roczen and Aaron Plessinger then made the pass on Eli Tomac, dropping him to 6th place. Cooper Webb took the victory in the eventful third race, as well as the overall win in Arlington.