Career-First 450SX Podium for Sexton at Atlanta 1 Supercross

AMA Supercross’s debut race at Atlanta Motor Speedway–round 13–kicked off the venue’s tripleheader with a daytime event, where Team Honda HRC rookie Chase Sexton notched the first 450SX podium result of his career by charging to a runner-up finish. Sexton ran among the top riders for the entirety of the main event in what was an impressive performance by the Illinois native, who took second in qualifying and third in his heat race. It was a challenging main event for Ken Roczen, who struggled with the slippery track conditions and finished ninth. In the 250SX West race, Hunter Lawrence showed good speed on his CRF250R before finishing seventh.

The condensed, 18-minute-plus-one-lap 450SX main event saw Sexton run third early on before applying pressure 10 minutes in, passing points-leader Cooper Webb in the whoops. Sexton then capitalized on an Aaron Plessinger crash to take the lead for almost five laps before a run-in with a lapped rider cost him the lead with two laps to go. Nonetheless, Sexton was excited with his impressive runner-up finish. Meanwhile, Roczen was delayed by a pile-up after the main-event start and had to charge through the pack to finish ninth. The German remains upbeat and is still second in the championship standings.

The 250SX West class saw Lawrence finish third in qualifying and ride to an impressive heat-race win on the slick red dirt, but a first-turn crash in the 13-minute-plus-one-lap main event limited him to an eventual seventh-place finish. Red Riders Kyle Peters and Mitchell Harrison (of Phoenix Racing Honda and Muc-Off Honda, respectively) posted strong fifth- and sixth-place results.

NOTES

• This year has marked several “firsts” for AMA Supercross, including the first time supercross has been held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the city’s first tripleheader. This year also marks the first time that Atlanta is a 250SX West Regional round, due to pandemic scheduling.
• Both Team Honda HRC trucks arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday, and setup happened Thursday, with mechanics working in the paddock on Friday. The trucks will be in the same location until round 15.
• Rapid COVID-19 tests were conducted at a drive-through station outside Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Team Honda HRC personnel underwent their first tests on Thursday. A second round of testing will be needed for those attending round 15, as all attendees of an event are required to have a negative test result from within the previous seven days.
• Press-day and free-practice sessions were canceled due to weather, and the track was covered on Thursday and remained covered until Saturday morning. Team Honda HRC rider Ken Roczen nonetheless participated in interviews on Friday, including a face-to-face sit-down opportunity with NBC producers. Chase Sexton also took part in a taped interview with the nationally syndicated SpeedFreaks Radio show.
• Team Honda HRC riders each donated autographed jerseys to be given away in an online auction for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, scheduled to run April 19 to May 3.
• The Atlanta Motor Speedway round featured a long, 4,591-foot hybrid supercross/motocross track situated across the front straight from the stands. The longest track the series has seen thus far, it required 50,000,000 pounds of dirt to create.
• After consultation between the AMA and Feld, the second set of qualifying sessions were canceled to preserve the racetrack for the show program.
• During the only 250SX Group A qualifying session, Lawrence was third-fastest with a 1’41.289” lap time. Muc-Off Honda’s Mitchell Harrison was 12th, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Kyle Peters and Enzo Lopes were 10th and 23rd, respectively, and FXR Chaparral Honda riders Coty Schock and Carson Mumford were 17th and 26th.
• The 450SX class’s Group A qualifying session saw Chase Sexton post the third-best time at 1’37.991”, with Roczen seventh at 1’39.312”. Other Red Riders included SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/MotoConcepts racers Vince Friese and Broc Tickle place 15th and 16th, respectively, while Muc-Off Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg was 17th.
• With longer practice times and in an effort to stay within the TV broadcast schedule, the durations of the heat races were reduced from six minutes plus one lap to five minutes plus one lap, and the main event was adjusted to 13 minutes plus one lap for the 250SX West class and 18 minutes plus one lap for the 450SX class.
• The 250SX West class saw Hunter Lawrence ride to a flawless win in heat 2, while Lopes finished fifth. In heat 1, Harrison, Peters and Mumford were third, fourth and 20th, respectively. Sexton posted a third-place result in the first 450SX heat race, while Tickle was fifth. In heat 2, Roczen was fourth, with Friese and Oldenburg seventh and eighth, respectively.
• As a podium finisher, Sexton took part in the post-race virtual press conference on Saturday evening.

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