Roczen puts Suzuki on top for the first time in 7 years!

Ken Roczen took a thrilling victory in front of the 62,728 fans who packed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for Round 9 of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season While Hunter Lawrence topped the podium again in the 250SX East Class.

Justin Barcia took second place after intensely pressuring for the lead in the final laps of the race. Cooper Webb finished third on an especially challenging track filled with deep, soft ruts. Webb’s finish gives him the season’s points lead and the red plate, by a single point. In Round 5 of Eastern Regional 250SX Class racing, Australian Hunter Lawrence earned his fourth win of the season.

When the gate dropped for the 450SX Class Main Event Ken Roczen crossed the Holeshot line first and immediately jumped into the lead. After one lap  Roczen led Cooper Webb, Chase Sexton, Adam Cianciarulo, Justin Hill, Jason Anderson, and Justin Barcia. After a slow start, points leader Eli Tomac had moved up to eleventh place.

Sexton went to work on Webb for second as the top four riders slowly pulled away from the rest of the field. Less than two minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap race Sexton moved past Webb and set his sights on Roczen. The lead was down to less than one second when Sexton caught a rut on a jump and crashed. The incident gave Roczen a little breathing room on Webb. Sexton remounted back in twelfth place.

Seven minutes into the Main Event Barcia applied heavy pressure on Webb for second place. Barcia took the spot after the two racers came together exiting the whoops. Neither rider went down, and Webb stayed tight on Barcia while the two tried to reel in Roczen, who was over three seconds ahead.

As the race clock reached three minutes remaining Barcia had the lead down to just one and a half seconds and the volume of the Indianapolis crowd was intense. Barcia got right on the rear fender of the Suzuki, dropping the gap to .7 seconds as the two racers took the white flag. Roczen held his composure through the final lap, earning his first win of the season.