Logan Seavey wins 2023 Chili Bowl for first time

TULSA, Oklahoma – Logan Seavey hugged the bottom groove in the closing laps of the Chili Bowl and survived a green-white-checkered finish to win his first Golden Driller trophy in the race’s 37th running. He became the second first-time winner in the last two years, holding off the 2022 champion Tanner Thorson and Cannon McIntosh, another young driver looking for his first win.

In four previous A-Main appearances, he finished in the top five only once.

“I’ll let you know tomorrow [how it feels],” Seavey said after the race. “For right now, it feels awesome.

“It didn’t set in until I got the driller and I could talk to Kevin [Swindell] for a little bit. I’m just so happy to do it for Kevin. He deserves it and you know, he probably have a lot more, it wasn’t for his accident. It means a lot to win this race in general. But doing it in the No. 39 in our first Friday (in my preliminary night win) is really cool.”

Swindell sustained back and neck injuries in a crash in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals. Swindell owns four Golden Drillers as a driver, but this is his first as a car owner.

Seavey was challenged for the lead midway through the race when Oklahoma native McIntosh wrestled the top spot from him on Lap 21. Seavey was patient, knowing 55 laps on a quarter-mile track was long enough for him to catch McIntosh, and when a caution waved midrace, he had an opportunity to pounce and passed McIntosh for the final time on Lap 31.

Seavey’s previous best finish in four A-Mains was fourth in 2020.

Toward the end of the race, the track glazed over and took a lot of rubber, essentially turning it into a one-groove racetrack.

When asked on the podium what he needed to win, Thorson replied “a better racetrack,” after he was forced to run in Seavey’s tire tracks for most of the second half of the race.

“Did everybody’s car feel bad?,” Thorson asked winner Seavey and third-place McIntosh “Even the night I won, I felt terrible.”

Thorson locked into Saturday’s A-Main with a win in Thursday night’s qualification race.

With passing on the track made difficult by the conditions, Thorson’s only opportunity would have been to use his bumper to move Seavey out of the groove.

“I wasn’t going to dump him because I didn’t want to obviously wreck him – and I didn’t want to get sent to the back. But I got into the middle and caught a little bit of rubber and got a good run on him. I definitely got in the back when I was trying to get him up off the bottom to get underneath him.

“I got close to him one time and just tried that one time. Coming to the end, if I had another shot at him – no offense, Logan, but I probably would’ve done it again.”

Seavey jokingly replied he was surprised he didn’t try that maneuver more often.

While he failed to win his first Saturday Main, McIntosh kept a perfect record of top-five finishes alive with his podium finish, equaling a previous-best of . McIntosh tried to take the highline before the rubber came in, but each time he began to develop momentum, a caution waved.

“It’s frustrating, you know, after leading probably at least 10 laps there,” McIntosh said. “Getting the lead first, I got right to Logan on the bottom. I went to the top in [Turns] 3 and 4 and got right to him and I think he saw my nose or heard me and moved up in 1 and 2 and I hadn’t even tried it yet down there. He was able to make speed and we kind of went back and forth for a second. I don’t think he had figured out how low I was running in 3 and 4 yet and I was able to sneak by just kind of through the middle.

“I’m sure that’s when he started to make adjustments. I felt really good probably through in the middle of the race there – and when I got to traffic, I was just in a good rhythm and felt like I was in the zone.”

With the exception of Thorson, the remainder of the top five each scored or matched a career-best in the Chili Bowl.

Shane Golobic finished fourth after scoring a seventh in 2012, which was his only top-10 in nine A Mains.

Emerson Axsom rounded out the top five in his first appearance.

Rico Abreu was part of the battle for the top five in the early laps until he was pushed back in traffic on a late restart. His fortune turned worse on the final lap when he brought out the final caution of the night as the two leaders were exiting Turn 4.

Jade Avedisian, who was battling for a top-10 in the closing laps, lost ground at the end and finished 18th and won the first ever award for being the highest finishing female in the race. She was also the top rookie.

Chase Briscoe had the best night among current NASCAR and IndyCar drivers. He started seventh in one of two B-Mains and finished 10th.

Alex Bowman started the day’s events in the E-Main and finished fifth and advanced to the D. His day ended with a 17th-place finish there.

JJ Yeley finished 13th in the C-Main.

Carson Hocevar and Santino Ferrucci finished sixth in their G-Main, narrowly missing the advancement position of fifth.

Josh Bilicki finished 14th in the J-Main.

The 2023 Chili Bowl was also marked by a terrifying crash involving rookie Ashton Torgerson, who was thrown from his car in a crash Wednesday night. He suffered a head injury in the accident, but addressed the media on Saturday.

Jett Lawrence remains perfect in the Pro Motocross series after recording another perfect round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California. In his second start on a 450, Lawrence won his second National with his fourth consecutive moto win. It is getting increasingly difficult to find the right superlatives to describe the exploits on the reigning 250 West Supercross champion.

“The track was so brutal out there,” Lawrence told NBC Sports Jason Thomas. “The bike handles amazing even when it’s not too friendly. You had to be really patient; you couldn’t take too much. I didn’t eat enough before that second moto. I kind of lost energy halfway through, but luckily I could use technique and balance and just keep that flow going.”

Lawrence leaves Hangtown with an 18-point advantage over Ferrandis in the 450 Motocross standings, but perhaps more importantly, he climbed to 19th in the SuperMotocross standings and should he stay there, he has an automatic invitation to the Main events in the SMX Championship.

“On this track, you just have to manage,” Lawrence continued. “If you try to take too much and not respect the track, it will bite you very quickly. It was humbling on the first few laps. I got kicked on the cutout at the start of the third section, the tabletop going to the left. I had to get my focus because the boys were coming.”

Still in his first few races since returning from a concussion suffered at Houston in the Supercross series, Dylan Ferrandis finished second with results of third in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2. While Ferrandis was happy with the result, he remains hopeful that he will contend for victory shortly.

“The first moto was very hard for my physically, Ferrandis said. “I got arm pump and when you get arm pump your body gets tired. But I’m very happy because we made a big change for the second moto. We tried stuff every session today and in the last moto the bike was much better, but unfortunately I wasn’t sure what I could do with this bike because the track was very hard and difficult to pass.”

RESULTS: How they finished in the 450 Overall at Hangtown

With the rash of injuries at the end of the Supercross season, the podium was filled with heartwarming stories. Cooper Webb returned to action last week in Pala and failed to make the podium. He is steadily improving with a third-place finish in Hangtown. after finishing with a 4-2.

“It’s incredible what seven days can do,” Webb said. “Last week I felt like I was going to get lapped in the second moto. This week, I could see the leader. It was nice. I fought hard, learned how to suffer again there and that felt nice.

Moto 2 wasn’t pretty for Lawrence. On several occasions in the opening laps, he nearly high sided as he rode the front wheel through the ruts. The reward was worth the risk. By the halfway point, Lawrence had 4.5-second lead over Webb, who was embroiled in a tight three-rider battle for second with his teammate Aaron Plessinger pressuring him and Ferrandis ready to take advantage if those made contact.

It took 20 minutes for Plessinger to get around Webb and once he did, he trailed Lawrence by four seconds. But then, with three minutes remaining, Plessinger crashed and had difficulty restarting the bike, handing second back to Webb who has seven seconds behind Lawrence. Plessinger fell to fourth with results of third and sixth.

Adam Cianciarulo rounded out the top five with a 5-4.

Heartbreak for Aaron Plessinger as he was charging forward 💔#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/vQtKIsuhVg

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 4, 2023

Last week Hunter Lawrence won the overall with a 3-1. He repeated that feat in Hangtown in an exact replica of his Fox Raceway results last week. In Moto 1, Lawrence got off to a slow start and lost 10 seconds in the opening laps. Forced to overcome a sixth-place position in the race at the end of Lap 1, he once again caught the riders ahead of him when the field hit heavy traffic. For the second week, scored another 3-1 for the Hangtown National win.

“The start was crucial’ I knew I had to go,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “They laid a lot of water down, so I didn’t want to be behind any longer than [I was]. First hot one of the year, was a bit of a wakeup call, so I’m happy to get out of here safe and healthy.”

Lawrence’s third-place finish in Moto 1 featured a fierce battle for final spot on the podium when he caught Spain’s Guillem Farres and France’s Tom Vialle. With Lawrence hailing from Australia, the international nature of the sport was highlighted.

Lawrence left Hangtown with a 10-point advantage over Haiden Deegan in the Pro Motocross championship battle.

Click here for 250 overall results

Justin Cooper finished second in both motos to finish second overall. Hangtown represented a huge improvement from Fox Raceway where he finished fifth overall with a 5-4 finish in the two motos. Cooper pressured Haiden Deegan in the second half of Moto 1 and he earned the holeshot in the second moto and stayed within three seconds of Lawrence in that race.

“He was following me a little bit, checking out my lines, seeing where he was better,” Cooper said. “It’s disappointing to give up the lead like that but it was way better than last weekend. I will definitely take two seconds. I want to be on the top of the step. I feel like I get close to the top step but I never get it done. That’s building up the frustration – the fire. I really want to get one of these wins, so it’s time to start digging.”

Haiden Deegan earned the first holeshot of his career in Moto 1 and rode away from the field, building a four-second lead in the opening laps. Cooper trimmed the lead at the halfway point and for a while it leveled off at two seconds. Then Cooper made another charge with three to go and closed to within a second. Deegan was biding his time, however.

“I was saving a little. I knew at the end Justin was going to try and put a charge on. I let him get up close and then sent it super hard at the end to break him a little at the end.”

Deegan’s first moto win comes in only his fourth National and he remains perfect in regard to podiums this year.

“This was a dream since I was a little kid, to win,” Deegan said. “And in my fourth race, it’s gnarly. I was just sending it. I was getting a little tired at the end becasue I left my mouth open the whole time. It’s unreal; I’m so hyped. I wanted to win bad and I proved it to you guys.”

Chaos erupted in turn 1 in Moto 2 Jeremy Martin went and another rider ran over his arm. Michael Mosiman crashed further down the track on that same lap. Both riders were helped off course by the Alpinestars Medical team.

Deegan grabs his first 250 Mx moto win!1️⃣#ProMotocross #SuperMotocross #HangtownMX pic.twitter.com/1FH5s1ZHfn

— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 3, 2023