The 2023 Monster Energy Supercross champions topped the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings after the season finale with wins in Round 17 for Chase Sexton in the 450 class and Jett Lawrence in his 250s’ swan song.
After Round 10 in Detroit, it was obvious Sexton needed a little help to win the championship. But to even be in a position to capitalize on that help, he needed to eliminate the costly mistakes that put him in third place, trailing Eli Tomac by 17. He gave up more points the following week with a fifth in Seatle before settling into a near-perfect run to end the season.
Sexton finished second in Glendale and then won four of the final five races. The only time he stumbled was in the mud race in New Jersey but even then, he survived the conditions to score a top-five.
MORE: Chase Sexton ends season in style with three wins
Dramatic injuries altered the final two rounds. Eli Tomac ruptured his Achilles tendon in Denver and Cooper Webb suffered a concussion in Nashville, which opened the door for Sexton, but he did all he could by winning both rounds. Even with the injury and 22-place finish in Denver and after missing the season finale, Tomac ended 2023 the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings second. Webb fell to sixth.
In Salt Lake City, Ken Roczen had an opportunity to overtake Webb for third in Supercross championship points; all he needed was to earn two points in Round 17. On Lap 1, Roczen hyper extended his knee and rode to the medical trailer. Earning just one point on the day, he failed to move up the chart. Roczen has committed to being a Supercross specialist and even without the injury was unlikely to show up in two weeks at Pala, California for the start of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season.
Adam Cianciarulo scored a dramatic podium two weeks ago in Denver. That was not only his first podium of the season, it was his first top-five after finishing between sixth and 10th in 10 of his previous 12 rounds. Granted, the field had thinned appreciably by that point, but the third-place finish that week gave the rider confidence entering the Supercross season finale and has allowed him to rise to third among active riders in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
A rash of injuries opened the door for other riders to climb up the ranks.
Dean Wilson finished outside the top 10 in his first 11 rounds, but he finally cracked that mark in Glendale, Arizona. He stayed in the front half of the field for the next four weekends and finally earned a top-five in Salt Lake City. The NBC Power Rankings looks back at the last 45 days, which places Wilson seventh overall with three injured riders above him. His average for the entire season would be 17th.
Justin Hill is another rider who kept getting better as the season progressed. Thirteenth or worst in the first six rounds, he improved to score six top-10s in the next eight. He was fifth in Nashville with his first top-five of the year and improved in each successive round until he finally scored his first career podium in the season finale at Salt Lake City and ended the season fifth among uninjured riders in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
450 Rankings
| This Week | Driver | Percentage Points | Last Week | Diff. |
| 1. | Chase Sexton | 90.57 | 1 | 0 |
| 2. | Eli Tomac injured | 81.00 | 3 | 1 |
| 3. | Ken Roczen | 80.14 | 2 | -1 |
| 4. | Justin Barcia injured | 79.40 | 4 | 0 |
| 5. | Adam Cianciarulo | 77.00 | 5 | 0 |
| 6. | Cooper Webb injured | 74.78 | 6 | 0 |
| 7. | Dean Wilson | 67.86 | 8 | 1 |
| 8. | Justin Hill | 67.57 | 7 | -1 |
| 9. | Aaron Plessinger | 66.63 | 9 | 0 |
| 10. | Colt Nichols | 62.08 | 10 | 0 |
| 11. | Kyle Chisholm | 58.36 | 11 | 0 |
| 12. | Shane McElrath | 54.93 | 13 | 1 |
| 13. | Josh Hill | 54.93 | 14 | 1 |
| 14. | Jason Anderson injured | 54.60 | 12 | -2 |
| 15. | Grant Harlan | 46.43 | 16 | 1 |
| 16. | Benny Bloss | 44.44 | 15 | -1 |
| 17. | Kevin Moranz | 43.57 | 17 | 0 |
| 18. | Tristan Lane | 42.22 | 20 | 2 |
| 19. | Justin Starling | 42.14 | 21 | 2 |
| 20. | Devin Simonson | 41.11 | 24 | 4 |
From the moment Jett Lawrence clinched the 250 West championship in Denver, he insisted his mind was on the impending move to the 450 class. He wasn’t going to worry about the final East/West Showdown and the opportunity to faceoff against his brother Hunter Lawrence for one last time. In the Supercross season finale, it actually wasn’t the battle with Hunter that kicked Jett’s competitive juices into overdrive, but when he saw his closest West competitor RJ Hampshire ahead of him, he had to get that final win and move up in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
Hunter Lawrence clinched the 250 East title one week previously in Nashville with his seventh win of the season. To that point, he had a perfect record of podium finishes and in several races was forced to overcome poor starts. Salt Lake City proved to be too much. Hunter was involved in a Lap 1 accident that landed him to 10th on a rain-slicked track. He climbed to sixth at the checkers, but that was enough to drop him to second in the Power Rankings. Hunter will race a 250 in the Motocross portion of the season, so it’s inevitable that he will rise to the top again.
After finishing second to Jett five times in the first seven rounds of the 250 West schedule, Hampsire finally beat his rival in Denver. The win was one of the sweetest of his career. He wanted to close out the season with a pair of victories. When he looked over his shoulder on Lap 1 in Salt Lake City, he knew he was in for a long race; Jett was on his back tire. Finishing second to the 250 West champion for the sixth time, Hampshire earned his seventh podium of 2023, which makes him best-in-class. The Lawrence brothers were in a league of their own in 2023.
Levi Kitchen closed out his season on a high note. His only podium in the first five rounds was an overall win in the Anaheim 2 Triple Crown, but for most of the opening rounds he was prone to making mistakes. He finished third in Glendale, struggled in the mud race in New Jersey, but then finished off the season with back-to-back podiums at Denver and Salt Lake City, solidifying him fourth among uninjured riders in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings after the season finale.
It will be interesting to see how high Jo Shimoda can climb in the Power Rankings when the Motocross season starts at Pala. He missed most of the opening rounds to injury and then roared back with a top-five finish in his first race of 2023. Shimoda finished fourth on the tough Atlanta Motor Speedway infield track and earned three top-fives in the four rounds he made. Given his success on the hybrid track and his second-place standing last year in Motocross points, he is certainly a driver to watch.
250 Rankings
| This Week | Driver | Percentage Points | Last Week | Diff. |
| 1. | Jett Lawrence - W | 90.43 | 2 | 1 |
| 2. | Hunter Lawrence - E | 89.94 | 1 | -1 |
| 3. | RJ Hampshire - W | 86.64 | 4 | 1 |
| 4. | Cameron McAdoo - W injured | 86.25 | 3 | -1 |
| 5. | Levi Kitchen - W | 82.71 | 6 | 1 |
| 6. | Nate Thrasher - E injured | 81.42 | 5 | -1 |
| 7. | Jo Shimoda - E | 81.38 | 7 | 0 |
| 8. | Haiden Deegan - E | 78.44 | 8 | 0 |
| 9. | Jordon Smith - E | 77.41 | 11 | 2 |
| 10. | Pierce Brown - W | 77.00 | 10 | 0 |
| 11. | Enzo Lopes - W | 75.64 | 9 | -2 |
| 12. | Max Anstie - E | 73.56 | 12 | 0 |
| 13. | Chris Blose - E | 70.06 | 15 | 2 |
| 14. | Max Vohland - W | 69.77 | 14 | 0 |
| 15. | Jeremy Martin - E | 69.31 | 13 | -2 |
| 16. | Mitchell Oldenburg - W | 67.42 | 16 | 0 |
| 17. | Carson Mumford - W | 64.58 | 19 | 2 |
| 18. | Tom Vialle - E | 62.44 | 17 | -1 |
| 19. | Chance Hymas - E | 61.33 | 18 | -1 |
| 20. | Michael Mosiman - E | 59.83 | 20 | 0 |
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days for the 450 class and last 90 days for 250s (because of the split nature of their season).
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 15 AT NASHVILLE: Eli Tomac back on top
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 14 AT NEW JERSEY: The top 20 settles in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 13 AT ATLANTA: Justin Barcia leapfrogs the Big 3
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 12 AT GLENDALE: Tomac gains momentum
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 11 AT SEATTLE: Cooper Webb, Tomac overtake Chase Sexton
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 10 AT DETROIT: Chase Sexton narrowly leads Webb
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 8 AT DAYTONA: Sexton unseats Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 7 AT ARLINGTON: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 6 AT OAKLAND: Perfect night keeps Tomac first
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 5 AT TAMPA: Sexton, Webb close in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Tomac rebounds from A2 crash, retakes lead
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Roczen moves up, Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage