Chase Sexton on Saturday won the season-ending 450 Supercross in Salt Lake City, cruising to the finish line and capturing the 2023 championship after four of the series’ top five finishers had fallen to injuries late in the season.
Sexton, who led all riders wire to wire Saturday, crossed the finish line at Rice Eccles Stadium 18.266 seconds ahead of runner-up Aaron Plessinger. Justin Hill was third, 21.400 seconds behind Sexton, and Adam Cianciarulo and Dean Wilson filled out the top five.
The victory gave Sexton the title in the 2023 Monster Energy AMA 450 Supercross season. After the 17th round in Salt Lake City, he finished the season on top of the standings with 372 points, rising past the injured runner-up Cooper Webb and leader Eli Tomac.
Sexton jumped from third place to first place in two weeks part of a chaotic end of a season in which six of the top seven finishers suffered injuries in the final five races. Only Sexton survived.
Defending champion Tomac of Cortez, who held an 18-point lead over Sexton before a season-ending injury in Round 16 in Denver May 6, finished second overall with 339 points.
Cooper Webb, who suffered a concussion while in second place in Round 15 in Nashville on April 29, finished third in the standings with 304 points after missing the final three races. He said he could spend the next “six to eight weeks fully off the dirt bike.”
Ken Roczen apparently injured a knee injury in the first lap in Round 17 in Salt Lake City and stopped. He finished fourth place in the season standings, tied with Webb at 304 points.
Justin Barcia, who broke his collarbone, shoulder and two ribs in Round 15 in Nashville, sat out the final two races and finished fifth overall, with 267 points.
Jason Anderson suffered a neck injury and sat out the final two races in Denver and Salt Lake City. He finished sixth overall, with 242 points.
And Plessinger, who was the runner-up Saturday in Salt Lake City, finished seventh overall, with 236 points, after sitting out Rounds 14-16.
| 1. Chase Sexton | Honda | 372 |
| 2. Eli Tomac | Yamaha | 339 |
| 3. Cooper Webb | KTM | 304 |
| 4. Ken Roczen | Suzuki | 304 |
| 5. Justin Barcia | GasGas | 267 |
| 6. Jason Anderson | Kawasaki | 242 |
| 7. Aaron Plessinger | KTM | 236 |
| 8. Justin Hill | KTM | 212 |
| 9. Adam Cianciarulo | Kawasaki | 210 |
| 10. Dean Wilson | Honda | 200 |
The lineup for the start of the AMA Pro Motocross season May 27 remains uncertain. Webb has said he won’t be ready to race until near the end of the Motocross series, and neither Barcia nor Anderson provided a timetable.
This weekend, Tomac was recovering from the injury to his Achilles tendon. He declined to speculate about a return to racing.
“One thing for sure, I'm not going to make any decisions on my future right now,” he said May 8 in a video. “That will come maybe a month down the road or two, when I make a decision if I'm going to ride again. I’m just going to focus on getting healthy.”
The AMA Motocross season runs May 27 through Aug. 26. The inaugural, three-race Supermotocross series runs Sept. 9-23.
