CONCORD, North Carolina - It turns out Jett Lawrence can be beaten. After sweeping both motos of 11 round of the Pro Motocross season, Lawrence struggled in the SuperMotocross Playoff Round 1 while Chase Sexton fittingly swept both motos at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina to pad his points’ lead in the million dollar championship.
“I think I proved my point today,” Sexton said after the race.
Ken Roczen led much of Moto 2 before finishing third in both motos to claim second overall.
With a second in the first race and fourth in the second, Dylan Ferrandis took the final spot on the box.
As for Lawrence, he not only failed in his bid to keep a 22-race winning streak alive, he finished fourth overall.
Anticipation for the SMX Playoffs was high. So was uncertainty as riders needed to make their best guess as to how best to setup their bikes. As the reigning Monster Energy Supercross champion, Sexton hoped and believed a stadium setup would be best despite the fact that the track was more than three times longer than a standard course in that series. He was right, but still needed to deliver the victory.
A strong start in the first race and a solid one in Moto 2 put him in position to capitalize on the first mistakes made by Lawrence in four months since he moved up to the 450 class.
Returning to SuperMotocross for the first time since High Point and only the second time since the end of the Supercross season, it did not take long to knock the rust off Roczen. Before the race, he acknowledged that Lawrence had momentum, but insisted the Pro Motocross champion would not be the only competition.
Sexton entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed with the 25 points that accompanied that honor. He added 25 points to his tally and looks to duplicate Lawrence’s feat of scoring the maximum amount available.
Despite a disappointing round for Lawrence, he climbed to the second position in the standings, tied with Aaron Plessinger at 38 points. Plessinger finished sixth overall with a 5-6.
Jo Shimoda backed up his 1-1 at Ironman to grab the advantage in the 250 class and claim a piece of the SuperMotocross points’ lead. In the playoff opener, he finished fourth in the first race and was surprised to learn at the top of the podium that his Moto 2 win gave him the overall victory.
Shimoda is tied with Haiden Deegan for the most points at 42, but has the tiebreaker with his win. Equally important, he has momentum on his side after winning three of the last four races in the past two rounds.
French rider Tom Vialle finished third in the first race and second in Moto 2 to claim second overall and give the podium an even more international feel.
Haiden Deegan won the first moto and then had a poor start to the second race before finishing fifth in the second race to take the final spot on the box.
Austin Forkner was the top finishing rider advancing from the Last Chance Qualifier and it appeared he might challenge for a top five overall. He finished respectably in sixth in Race 1 despite having a bad gate pick, but when he was given a better starting position based on that result, he got a terrible start and then crashed while trying to make up the ground.
.@_ChaseSexton claims his throne at the top step of the podium, and wins here in Charlotte! 👑#SMX #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/qzkqvwVnYt
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) September 9, 2023
Ken Roczen returned to the SuperMotocross series with a title in mind. He takes the early lead.
Ty Masterpool gets a strong start and chases Roczen, but Chase Sexton is close behind. Five minutes into the race, Sexton gets around quickly bringing Jason Anderson with him.
Lawrence has another slow start and is forced to work his way through the pack. He finally cracks the top five and then gets around Dylan Ferrandis for fourth.
At the halfway mark, it’s still Roczen leading Sexton, but Lawrence has moved to third. Can he find his winning mojo? It won’t matter after finishing seventh in the first race, but he needs to let the field know he is not going down without a fight.
With six minutes remaining on the clock, Sexton closes on Roczen. Lawrence hopes they distract one another so he can get into the battle.
Sexton takes the lead. Roczen holds onto second with Lawrence trailing. Two seconds separate each position.
Lawrence closes on and passes Roczen with two minutes on the clock, but the overall seems out of reach as Moto 1 winner Sexton has a four-second lead.
White flag and it’s Sexton, Lawrence, Roczen, Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger.
Sexton sweeps the weekend, something he’s been forced to watch his teammate Lawrence do for the past four months.
Sexton to the lead!
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) September 9, 2023
📸- @MonsterEnergy 450 Moto 2 LIVE#SMX #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/q5pZmjB6Pw
Carson Mumford did not join the second 250 moto at the start gate.
Tom Vialle gets off to a great start and is chased to the holeshot by a sea of green Yamahas. Two of the first four riders went low at the over under. The other two went high. Vialle comes out on top in front of Jo Shimoda, Ryder DiFrancesco and Seth Hammaker.
Hunter Lawrence, for the second time today, starts in the back after he goes down shortly after the gate drop. He runs 17th on the first lap.
After winning Moto 1, Haiden Deegan rides comfortable in the sixth position as Jordon Smith and Hammaker trade places in front of him.
Smith secured fourth from Hammaker and Deegan followed to land in the top five.
RJ Hampshire goes down in the sand while running in the top 10.
With 9:30 remaining, Shimoda is seriously pressuring Vialle, but can’t get the pass done.
While Vialle and Shimoda battle for the moto win they also battle for the overall. Vialle finished in third and Shimoda fourth in the first moto. If Shimoda can pass Vialle they tie in the Olympic-style system and Shimoda has the tiebreaker.
Shimoda makes the pass by sweeping around in a flat right hand turn at the top of the dragstrip. Shimoda used the speed he gained in the rhythm to complete the pass on Vialle. If Shimoda holds on, he’ll win the overall with a 4-1.
Lawrence cracks the top 10 and battles Pierce Brown for eighth with a minute remaining.
Lawrence completes the pass.
Shimoda leads as the clock runs out and has a 2.4-second gap over Vialle. No mistakes. He takes Moto 2 and the overall.
Shimoda was only one of two riders to go 1-1 in the outside season. He continues his steak and wins the overall in 250s.
It appears Jett Lawrence may actually be beatable. He gets off to a slow start and is outside the top five after the first lap.
The two groups of riders meet at the holeshot line and head to the backside of the track where they must choose to go over or under a bridge.
Justin Barcia gambled and took the bridge giving him the lead over Sexton.
Sexton follows Barcia for the first lap and finds a better line, through the tunnel again, and this time comes out in front of Barcia.
Lawrence’s bad start and puts him mid-pack. In the final section of the second lap, he’s passed by more riders than in the entire outdoor season as Jason Anderson and Ty Masterpool make their way around.
With 15 minutes remaining in the moto, Sexton starts to pull away from the competition.
While running eighth, Lawrence goes down attempting to pass Anderson.
Ken Roczen races into third place.
With seven minutes remaining on the clock, Lawrence jumps off course while clearing a tear-off.
With five minutes on the clock, Sexton leads Dylan Ferrandis, Ken Roczen, Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson. Lawrence is eighth.
Two minutes to go and not much has changed except Aaron Plessinger moves up to fifth.
Sexton wins Moto 1 with ease followed by Dylan Ferrandis and Roczen.
“You wanted a statement, you got one!”
Sexton to the lead! ⏩
— SuperMotocross (@supermotocross) September 9, 2023
📸- @MonsterEnergy 450 Moto 1 LIVE#SMX #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/OV74TwJVFt
With Olympic-style scoring combining Motos 1 and 2, getting off to a fast start will be crucial. The hype surrounding this new series is behind us and the gate has dropped.
Seth Hammaker gets the early lead as Hunter Lawrence gets hung up in traffic. Lawrence is mid-pack.
More problems for Lawrence and he ends Lap 2 in 21st.
With 13 minutes to go, Levi Kitchen leads Haiden Deegan and Ryder DiFrancesco. Lawrence has moved up, but not by much; he’s running 15th.
RJ Hampshire crashes and is back in 20th.
Our featured 250 rider from the LCQ, Autin Forkner climbs to seventh.
The battle for the lead is heating up. Deegan is on Kitchen’s back wheel. Deegan made up a ton of ground in the Joker Lane.
Deegan takes the lead from Kitchen with five minutes on the clock.
Once he got the lead, Deegan stretches his advantage on the field with a six-second gap to second.
DiFrancesco gets passed by Tom Vialle and Jo Shimoda as he falls to fifth.
Forkner is knocking on the door of the top five in sixth.
The white flag is out; Deegan leads Kitchen, Vialle, Shimoda and Hammaker.
One race is in the books and Deegan is halfway to the overall 250 win.
Kitchen and Vialle take the next podiums steps.
Forkner works his way to sixth as Lawrence comes from the back to finish ninth and salvage.
NBC Sports caught up with Austin Forkner before the race and he admitted he has an uphill battle, but the path upward would begin by advancing through the Last Chace Qualifiers.
Forkner gained the early advantage and rode away from the field to dominate the race. He will have the 19th gate pick, but is in the show.
Cullen Park and Hunter Yoder also advanced. Chris Blose finished among the top four, but did not get into the features because of a penalty. His spot was taken by Luke Neese.
Phil Nicoletti paced the 450s and will line up with the top 20 riders to stake his claim at the $1 million that will go to the champion.
Kevin Moranz and Jerry Robin also advance.
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to establish himself as the rider to beat in the SuperMotocross World Championship. He paced qualification with a lap of 1:13.332. As with the outdoor season, Chase Sexton is his closest competition.
In the 250 class, Seth Hammaker edged top-seeded Hunter Lawrence with Pierce Brown slotting into third.