Jett Lawrence manages the gap to win Southwick Pro Motocross as the 250 field bursts wide open

Jett Lawrence is just playing with the field right now as he perfectly managed his gap on the field in Round 6 of the Pro Motocross season at The Wick in Southwick, Massachusetts, Round 23 of SuperMotocross, to score his 12th moto win and sixth overall of 2023.

The only thing that could challenge Lawrence this week was the track itself. He was noticeably tired as he climbed from the bike and headed to the podium.

"Gosh, I didn't enjoy that one bit," Lawrence told NBC Sports' Will Christien. "That was a brutal track. Those end laps were sloppy. It was just survival. This is definitely one of the most brutal tracks. We're going to go home and recover from this one and get ready for Millville."

Lawrence still has the opportunity to have a perfect season of 22 moto and 11 overall victories, which would make him the third rider to do so in motocross history. Ricky Carmichael won every moto in a season twice (2002 and 2004); James Stewart was perfect in 2008.

Lawrence left Southwick with a 67-point advantage over Dylan Ferrandis for the Pro Motocross championship.

RESULTS: How they finished in the 450 Overall at Southwick

In the three rounds when Chase Sexton was sidelined by injury, Lawrence made easy work of the field, but a question remained about whether his teammate could apply pressure like he did in Round 1 at Fox Raceway in Pala, California.

Sexton believed he could. Last week in the RedBud Nationals he told NBC Sports he was in better shape than in the opener [link: Chase Sexton returns for RedBud Nationals 'in better shape' than Round 1], but a mistake in RedBud's Moto 2 dropped him to third.

Sexton finished second in both motos at Southwick, but each time he closed the gap on Lawrence, the rookie points leader dipped into his reserve of energy and stretched his advantage.

Still, the little bit of pressure Sexton is able to apply is not completely incidental. In Turn 1 of Moto 1, Sexton swept to the outside with the result that Lawrence nearly crashed. That might have put an end to Lawrence's perfect season.

"Speed is not a problem," Sexton told Jason Thomas. "I was not flowing halfway through the moto. I've got to work on that and overall get back to where I was last year; that's the goal."

Dylan Ferrandis scored third-place finishes in both motos to land third overall.

"I need to rest right now," Ferrandis said. "Last week we've been pushing really hard in practice and training and trying a lot of stuff on the bike and I think I paid the price. I was pretty tired and in the second moto I just tried everything I had to keep up with Jett and hit a wall."

Aaron Plessinger was fourth in both motos and finished fourth overall.

Garrett Marchbanks, who pivoted into the 450 class after two disappointing 250 rounds rounded out the top five and is now tied for 21st in SuperMotocross points with Lorenzo Locurcio with a 21-point gap to final spot in the top 20 occupied by Ty Masterpool. He is 39 behind 19th-place Colt Nichols, who is not racing in the Pro Motocross series.

Despite racing in the outdoor season only in the 450 class, Lawrence has moved up to seventh in the combined SuperMotocross points. The next two riders ahead of him are currently not racing with Eli Tomac's injury and Ken Roczen running in the World Supercross series. If Lawrence has another perfect performance, he will move into fifth in the rankings.

One week after Hunter Lawrence crashed and failed to finish Moto 2 at RedBud, the 250 class burst wide open.

Lawrence experienced mechanical difficulties with two laps remaining in Moto 1 at Southwick and handed the points lead to Haiden Deegan, who was coming off his first overall victory the week before.

The points leaders stayed in contact for most of the two races and both finished off of the podium with Deegan scoring results of 4-10 to finish sixth overall and Lawrence going 28-6 for 13th overall.

"I threw it in that first moto," Deegan said. "Hunter was in front of me and I knew it was going to be hard to catch at the end and I kind of blew myself out. I'm a rookie; I have to learn from that but I am hungry for next week.

"This put a chip on my shoulder, Now I have the red plate and I frickin' hungry. We got the red plate and we're coming."

Deegan left Southwick with a five-point lead over Lawrence, as RJ Hampshire was able to close to within 13 and Jo Shimoda to 20. After missing one round to injury, Justin Cooper is two points further back in fifth.

With Deegan and Lawrence riders experiencing problems, it allowed Tom Vialle to win his first moto in Race 1 and his overall after finishing third in Moto 2.

"The track was so fun," Vialle said. "It seemed a little like Europe, so I felt comfortable and it was nice for me. A win, it took time to be honest, but now we can start and go ahead."

Click here for complete 250 results

Cooper also made up points on the championship leaders. He had a chance to win the second moto as he tracked down race leader Jo Shimoda until a crash dropped him out of contention. With the win, he would have earned the tiebreaker on Vialle that would have provided the overall victory.

"I'm pretty wasted right now," Cooper said. "I'm very tired; I gave it everything. I had to push hard for that. I was just riding over my head, trying to make up the gap. I think I was trying to go faster. I probably should have chilled out and waited. I made a little mistake and this track bites you quick.

"I have to hold my head up It was a great day. Two-two with two falls in both motos. We just have to keep pushing; good points today."

Shimoda's Moto 2 victory combined with a sixth-place finish in the first race gave him third overall.

It was Shimoda's first podium since the final round of the 2022 Pro Motocross season at Fox Raceway.

"For sure a better start, but for the whole year I've been struggling. I thought this might never come. I just kept pushing and this team deserves it more than I do."

Cooper and Vialle were the class of the field at Southwick. Cooper had a good start to Moto 1 with Tom Vialle in second. With six minutes remaining, Cooper tipped over while leading Vialle by a mere two seconds.

Vialle goy the holeshot in Moto 2 and led for 10 minutes until Shimoda takes the lead and the one-third mark.

Hampshire had a chance to earn the overall victory. He pressured Vialle in the final third of the race, but Vialle responded and put a little distance on Hampshire to win his overall.

2023 Motocross Race Recaps
RedBud: Jett Lawrence gets his 10th straight moto win
High Point: Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence keep winning
Thunder Valley: Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence win again
Hangtown: Jett Lawrence goes two-for-two
Fox Raceway: Jett Lawrence wins in first 450 start

2023 Supercross Race Recaps
Salt Lake City: Chase Sexton ends the season with win
Denver: Chase Sexton wins, takes points’ lead with Eli Tomac injury
Nashville: Chase Sexton keeps hope alive; Cooper Webb out
New Jersey: Justin Barcia wins muddy race; first in two years
Atlanta: Chase Sexton is back in the championship picture
Glendale: Eli Tomac wins 51st, breaks tie with James Stewart
Seattle: Eli Tomac wins and ties Webb for first
Detroit: Chase Sexton inherits win after Aaron Plessinger falls
Indianapolis: Ken Roczen gets first win in more than a year
Daytona: Eli Tomac extends Daytona record with seventh win
Arlington: Cooper Webb wins for second time, closes to two of Tomac
Oakland: Eli Tomac ties Ricky Carmichael with 48 wins
Tampa: Cooper Webb gets first 2023 win
Houston: Eli Tomac bounces back from A2 crash to win third race of 2023
Anaheim 2: Triple Crown produces new winners Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen
San Diego: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence double down
Anaheim 1: Eli Tomac wins opener for the first time

NBC SPORTS' COVERAGE OF SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Cooper Webb, Red Bull KTM part ways
Garrett Marchbanks pivoting into SuperMotocross contention
Results and points after RedBud Nationals
Jett Lawrence wins 10th straight moto