Sexton dominates Supercross' 2023 finale by 18 seconds, earns season championship
Chase Sexton was determined to prove his rightful championship and did so in a dominating fashion Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
This championship marks the first for Honda in 20 years; the last time the manufacturer captured a 450 Supercross title was Ricky Carmichael's 2003 championship.
After taking the hole shot at the start of the race, Sexton led every lap and finished 18 seconds ahead of Aaron Plessinger, proving that he can put together a complete race. This season was built on speed for Sexton as he routinely pulled the fastest laps in qualifying but early on in the season, he wasn't able to convert to the wins he needed to be in real contention for the championship alongside Copper Webb and Eli Tomac.
“They have 17 races for a reason and you have to stay strong,” Sexton said in his post-race interview. “I’m so proud of how I’ve bounced back this year. It goes to show I can make the whole race. I’ve made strides this year and it paid off.”
Sexton proved that he could put together the laps once again in Salt Lake City for his third consecutive win and fourth win in the last five rounds. He led Adam Ciancarul and Ken Roczen early.
An ecstatic Chase Sexton celebrates winning the 2023 Supercross championship Saturday in Salt Lake City. Photo: Feld Motor Sports/Align Media.
Roczen had the chance to move up to fourth in the championship and pass Webb for the final podium position of 2023. Disaster struck when he dabbed his foot and overextended his knee.
“I took the really high line but I almost crashed”, Roczen said once off the track, “I put my foot out and absolutely hyper-extended my knee, it was a sharp pain right away.
"That’s why I took that lap easy and went off. I’ve never really hurt my knee so I don’t know what a messed up knee feels like, but it didn’t feel good right there.”
The decision to not stay out and hobble around was a hard one with such a tight points battle. Roczen only needed two points to claim third from Webb and by finishing last in the feature only recorded one point.
Going into the outdoor season it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“If it was for the matter of two points and if there’s a couple of people out,” Roczen said on his decision, “I was going to cruise around and see if I could score a couple, but obviously since I’m back here that’s not the case. Tough, tough.”
Plessinger finished second, tying his career-best finish at Oakland at the start of the 2022 season. This was his first race back after injuring his hip during practice at East Rutherford.
Justin Hill has continued to march forward in his return to Supercross, snagging his first podium finish for a third consecutive best finish. He finished fifth two weeks ago in Nashville and fourth in Denver last weekend.
Adam Cianciarulo and Dean Wilson rounded out the top five and were the remaining two not lapped by Sexton in the feature. Josh Hill finished sixth, recording the third time this year that the Hill brothers finished in the top 10.
Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb were both able to hold on to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively on the championship podium after suffering consecutive season-ending injuries at Nashville and Denver.
Following them and rounding out the top five in season points were Roczen and Justin Barcia. Barcia will miss the beginning of the outdoor season as he continues to recover from Nashville.
Contributing: Dan Beaver.