Jett Lawrence wins Nashville Supercross, reclaims sole possession of red plate as Cooper Webb finishes third
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Jett Lawrence scored his sixth win of the season in Nashville and reclaimed sole possession of the red flag one week after losing it. Cooper Webb finished third and lost five points in the process.
RJ Hampshire claimed honors for the 250 West division and took the points' lead in the West division in Nashville.
"I'm so danged proud of this team," Hampshire told Peacock's Jason Thomas. "They stuck behind me in those couple of tough rounds. It was that break, that long six-week break. I had a couple of hard crashes, just stupid, that kind of dragged me down. I executed my start in the main event and that was what I needed."
Hampshire now has a two-point lead over Levi Kitchen.
Jo Shimoda stayed out of trouble and rode a smart race to finish in the runner-up position. This is Shimoda's fourth consecutive podium.
"Confidence-wise it's good for me," Shimoda told Will Christien. "Me and my team worked really hard for this and I was stressing so much today."
Tom Vialle was the top finishing rider from the East and he also grabbed the points lead in his division.
"I saw Cameron [McAdoo] had pulled over and had an issue early in the race," Vialle said. "I just tried to stay focused on my own race. I had a good base. The track was really sketchy so you had to stayed focused."
Vialle has assumed a 13-point lead over Haiden Deegan. Cameron McAdoo fell from first to third and is 16 points out of the lead.
In the 250 class, East / West Showdowns often shake up the standings and that was never more true than when the points' leaders in both divisions crashed on the opening lap. Levi Kitchen crashed on the backside of a jump in the second turn and collected his teammate Cameron McAdoo. Both riders were able to remount, but could not find enough speed to contend.
After a crash in Qualification 2, McAdoo was already riding hurt and he retired before the halfway point.
Kitchen minimized the damage by moving up to 14th.
Click here for complete 250 East / West Showdown results
Click here for complete 250 East points
Click here for complete 250 West points
Click here for combined East / West points
In-Race Notes
This week's track layout features a split start like the one we saw in last year's SuperMotocross Round 1 at zMax Dragway.
A light rain fell early this morning in Nashville and as a result, Free Practice has been canceled and with Friday's Press Day ride scrubbed as well, qualification will be the first time riders get on course.
The drama of an incredibly tight points' contest mounts.
Aaron Plessinger extends contract with Red Bull KTM through 2025
Aaron Plessinger announced his contract extension during the Nashville weekend while recuperating from a fractured elbow.
Dan Beaver
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Dan Beaver
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The sand section is going to be the trickiest part of the track this week; several riders in both divisions have gone down there.
Meanwhile in the 250 class, Nashville marks the first East / West Showdown, which doubles the competition for a podium finish.
Race Day Live reports Max Anstie and Nate Thrasher are the only two riders in the field to have won an East / West Showdown.
Aaron Plessinger announced the extension of his Red Bull KTM contract through 2025 this weekend.
Features
450s
Eli Tomac lights up the leader lights with the holeshot.
Jett Lawrence takes second and Cooper Webb third until Ken Roczen sweeps by them both.
Lawrence is pushing hard. He takes out a Tuff Blox in the sand but does not go down.
Chase Sexton goes down on Lap 4. He needs help off the track.
The top three, Tomac, Roczen and Lawrence are close to one another. Webb is losing ground in fourth.
Massive crash for Roczen after his bike appears to blow an engine and flips. After a couple of laps, Roczen stands up and his bike is finally rolled off the track.
Ten minutes to go and a rider goes down in front of Tomac. Lawrence capitalizes and takes the lead. Webb still third — and a distant one at that. He's 10 seconds behind and losing more ground.
In traffic, Lawrence stretches his lead to six seconds with six minutes on the clock.
250 East / West Showdown
There is a lot of ground to be lost or made up when Supercross combines the East and West. Bragging rights are on the line as well.
Big pileup in Turn 2 including Cameron McAdoo and Levi Kitchen while RJ Hampshire leads. That's both championship leaders down in once incident. Kitchen gets run over by Max Anstie after his crash.
Both riders remount but they are 21st (McAdoo) and 22nd (Kitchen).
Jo Shimoda and Jordon Smith are second and third.
Vialle in fourth is the highest running East rider.
Smith falls in the whoops from third.
As they run, Hampshire gets the lead in the West and Vialle in the East.
McAdoo takes his bike to the pits. He's done for the night.
Strong run for Jalek Swoll, who rides fourth with seven and half minutes remaining.
The front has settled into a rhythm with Hampshire, Shimoda and Vialled comfortable in the top three with two minutes remaining.
The top three hold with Hampshire getting his first East / West Showdown win.
Shimoda and Vialle also stand on the podium.
Jordon Smith in fourth and Jalek Swoll round out the top five.
Haiden Deegan finishes sixth.
Last Chance Qualifiers
450s
Grant Harlan grabs the holeshot.
On Lap 1, Devin Simonson crashes out of second.
On the last lap, Justin Hill passes Harlan for the win. He will join his brother Josh Hill in the Main.
Jeremy Hand and Fredrik Noren also advance with Colt Nichols coming up one position short.
Click here for complete 450 LCQ results
250s
Garrett Marchbanks was unable to make the start after crashing in his heat.
Julien Beaumer snags the holeshot and leads early.
Beaumer spins late in the race but holds onto the lead and wins.
Gage Linville, who played such a critical role in his heat, finishes second.
Daxton Bennick and Henry Miller also make the Main.
Click here for complete 250 LCQ results
Heats
450s
Heat 2
Cooper Webb and Jett Lawrence will be in this heat.
Eli Tomac leads the field into Turn 1 but Lawrence and Webb both get past quickly. Lawrence leads.
Malcolm Stewart takes third with four minutes on the clock.
Lawrence is stretching his advantage. Webb is close enough to study his line.
On the white flag lap, Tomac sets the fastest lap in the race and takes third back from Stewart.
Lawrence wins with Webb 2.6 seconds behind. Tomac is third.
Stewart hangs onto fourth with Jason Anderson rounding out the top five.
Justin Barcia, Vince Friese, Shane McElrath and Mitchell Oldenburg also advance to the Main.
Click here for complete 450 Heat 2 results
Heat 1
Justin Cooper and Ken Roczen contend for the top spot. Roczen gets the holeshot.
Cooper rides off course and hands second to Adam Cianciarulo.
With three minutes remaining, Hunter Lawrence moves into third. Chase Sexton gets around Cooper as well and rides fourth.
Roczen stalls with a minute and a half on the clock; Cianciarulo leads.
Fierce contest at the front as Lawrence takes the lead from AC with the white flag waving.
Lawrence wins with Cianciarulo second and Sexton third.
Cooper in fourth and Roczen round out the top five.
Benny Bloss, Dean Wilson, Kyle Chisholm and Josh Hill also advance directly into the Main.
Click here for complete 450 Heat 1 results
Triumph Motorcycles, Evan Ferry part ways in SuperMotocross
Evan Ferry was injured in the opening round of the 250 East division and has not returned to competition.
Dan Beaver
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Dan Beaver
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250 West
The 250 West riders have their heat first in this East / West Showdown.
There is a big pileup in Turn 1. The bikes are still down when the field comes back around and West points' leader Levi Kitchen rides wide, off course. He fell to 10th.
A red cross flag is on course, immediately followed by a red flag. That will help Kitchen.
Garrett Marchbanks is the rider who brought out the red flag. He's being helped to the medical cart. Marchbanks ran into the back of Jordon Smith.
The race will restart with a staggered start.
Ryder DiFrancesco leads on the restart.
Kitchen immediately makes up three positions, which will help with his gate selection.
Phil Nicoletti announced his retirement earlier this week and he's having a good race in second. With a minute on the clock, he falls to fourth.
RJ Hampshire gets around on the last lap and takes the win. Smith sneaks past as well for second with DiFrancesco slipping to third.
Nicoletti held on for fourth and Jo Shimoda rounds out the top five.
Kitchen could only get to sixth and he will have a disappointing gate pick.
Nate Thrasher, Anthony Bourdon and Cole Thompson also advance directly into the Feature.
Click here for complete results from 250 West heat
250 East
During the red flag break in the 250 West race, Cameron McAdoo details his crash with a lapped rider. He's sore but will mount up for the heat.
Coty Schock gets the holeshot but the big news on Lap 1 is that Haiden Deegan goes down in the sand. Deegan falls to 15th.
Halfway through, Tom Vialle takes the top spot from Schock.
Deegan and Gage Linville are swapping ninth and 10th.
Deegan rides off course and gives up another position.
Vialle still up front ahead of Pierce Brown.
With time running off the clock, Deegan finally gets Linville. He passes McAdoo too.
At the checkered flag, Vialle gets his second heat win.
Brown finishes second with a strong run by Schock in third.
Casey Cochran in fourth and Max Anstie round out the top five.
Jalek Swoll and Hymas also advance.
At the back of the transfer positions, Deegan and McAdoo barely advance directly into the Feature. McAdoo almost lost ninth to Linville at the line.
Click here for complete results 250 East heat
Qualification
450s
Eli Tomac takes the early lead in the first qualification session.
Riding 11th on the chart, Jett Lawrence dumps his bike in the sand. Lawrence had to cut low exiting the section in an attempt to get around a slower rider. On the next lap, he moves into third.
As he often does, Lawrence gets to the top of the board on the final lap. Cooper Webb is immediately behind him with Tomac winding up third.
Chase Sexton and Jason Anderson round out the top five.
Click here for complete 450 Q1 results
In the mock gate drop, Adam Cianciarulo gets the holeshot.
Halfway through this session, Cooper Webb and Jett Lawrence ride 1-2.
Lawrence goes to the top with two minutes remaining. Webb is fast in segments but having difficulty finding a clean track,
Qualification 2 ends with Lawrence on top by half a second over Justin Cooper. Webb is third. Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac round out the top five.
This is Lawrence's eighth time to win qualification.
Click here for complete 450 Q2 results
Click here for combined 450 practice sessions
Nashville Supercross by the numbers: Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb take their battle south
Eli Tomac won the only other Nashville Supercross race after surviving engine problems in both his heat and the last chance qualifier. Cooper Webb was third in the main.
250s
In the first qualification session, David Pulley crashed hard in the rhythm section. He's stunned as he walks to the medical carts after the track crew picked the bike from on top of him.
The 250 East riders are the first Group A qualifiers to hit the track and Chance Hymas is fastest early.
Haiden Deegan winds up on top with a .182-second margin over Max Anstie. It's the first time Deegan has been fastest in qualification if it holds up through Q2.
Chance Hymas rounds out the top three.
Tom Vialle and Cameron McAdoo are also in the top five.
Click here for complete 250 East, Q1 results
Carson Mumford is the early leader in 250 West.
At the six-minute mark, there is a wholesale change at the top with Levi Kitchen, Nate Thrasher and Jo Shimoda top three. Mumford just gets knocked down to sixth.
Kitchen ends the session with the fastest time. Jordon Smith moves into second with Thrasher third.
ClubMX's Garrett Marchbanks and RJ Hampshire round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 West Q1 results
The West riders get to go out first in Qualification 2.
Levi Kitchen takes control of the top spot early in Q2.
RJ Hampshire goes to the top of the board for this session with Jordon Smith and Levi Kitchen rounding out the top three.
Fourth-place Garrett Marchbanks and Julie Beaumer are the other top-five finishers.
The second session was fastest for the West riders.
Click here for complete 250 West Q2 results
Click here for combined West qualification sessions
Tom Vialle puts down a heater and is more than a second faster than Cameron McAdoo and Pierce Brown.
This is Vialle's first career quick time.
Race Day Live reports McAdoo is favoring his right side.
Haiden Deegan in fourth and Max Anstie round out the top five.
Click here for complete 250 East Q2 results
Click here for combined qualification sessions
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Evan Ferry, Triumph Motorcycles part ways
Chase Sexton will not be forgotten
Phil Nicoletti announces retirement
Nashville by the numbers
11 bikes stolen from Phoenix Racing
Foxborough results, points in 450 division / 250 division
Supercross Foxborough 250 East points, results
Foxborough Live, in-race coverage
Coty Schock signs three-year contract with ClubMX
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Adam Cianciarulo set to retire at end of SX season
