The second half of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship gets underway at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota. The top four positions have made themselves quite evident, but in RMFantasyMX.com leagues, you must pick the top five, plus the Wild Card—15th place. So, let’s start roosting through the stats to help you come up with a winning stable of riders.
- Jett Lawrence is unbeaten as a 450MX rider, and nothing suggests he won’t continue his streak at Spring Creek. It’s not even close.
- While Chase Sexton isn’t challenging Lawrence, Sexton has the rest of the field under control. It is possible that Sexton will rise up to challenge Lawrence before the season is over. However, we have to see an inkling of that. Regardless, Dylan Ferrandis was nowhere near Sexton at the Southwick National, so Sexton is a shoo-in for P2.
- Ferrandis is a solid P3 pick. Ferrandis was beaten by Sexton by around 40 seconds in each Southwick moto, so he doesn’t appear to be a threat to Sexton. At the same time, Ferrandis was about 40 seconds ahead of P4’s Aaron Plessinger at the end of each moto. So, like Lawrence and Sexton, Ferrandis is locked into place—P3 in his case.
- Aaron Plessinger couldn’t get within 30 seconds of Ferrandis, so P4 it is. The gaps at the Southwick National were huge, so there’s little temptation to alter the finishing order. Plessinger was followed by two different riders at The Wick 338—Ty Masterpool in moto 1 and Garrett Marchbanks in the second moto. With the overall points tallied, Plessinger was a very comfortable P4—by nine points over five riders, so it wasn’t even close.
- Five riders tied on point for P5 overall at Southwick—Garrett Marchbanks, José Butron, Chris Canning, Adam Cianciarulo, and Ty Masterpool. You can toss out Canning for Spring Creek, as he was a local hero at The Wick 338. The next rider I would eliminate is Butron, as he hasn’t been a top-five threat. Cianciarulo has three top-five finishes, and Marchbanks earned his first top-five at Southwick. Masterpool is still on the outside looking in for a P5 overall, and don’t forget Jason Anderson. Anderson has one top-five finish in 2023, but fading to P14 in Southwick’s moto 2 dropped him to P10 overall. I like past performances, so I’m going with Cianciarulo for P5, and crossing my fingers that he can, literally, hold on at Spring Creek.
- The P15 Wild Card is impossible to pick, but I’ll give it a try. The lower you go in the results, the harder it is to choose the right rider. Lorenzo Locurcio was P15 and P16 the previous week at Redbud. Lars Van Berkel was P17 at Redbud and P16 at Southwick. That’s really all I have for you. With Canning out of the picture for Spring Creek, I’ll promote Lars Van Berkel for the P15 Wild Card, with no confidence whatsoever.
- Last week was good for me; I got the top four in order. That didn’t require any sort of brilliant crystal ball gazing, of course. My pick of Anderson for P5 was way off, as was Butron for the P11 Wild Card. Raise your hand and take a bow if you picked Gert Krestinov as the Wild Card finisher at Southwick. I’m now in the top third of RMFantasyMX players. That’s nothing to brag about, but I am improving.
- Don’t miss a 2023 Spring Creek National gate drop. Our 2023 Pro Motocross Television Schedule will tell you what you need to know.
Exclusive photography by Tyler Maillet / Ajak Photos
2023 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series Standings (after 6 of 11 rounds)
- Jett Lawrence, Honda, 300 points (6 overall wins; 6 overall podiums; 6 overall top 5s)
- Dylan Ferrandis, Yamaha, 233 (4P, 6 T5)
- Aaron Plessinger, KTM, 210 (1P, 5 T5)
- Adam Cianciarulo, Kawasaki, 176 (1P, 3 T5)
- Cooper Webb, KTM, 147 (2 P, 4 T5)
- Ty Masterpool, Kawasaki, 134
- Chase Sexton, Honda, 130 (3P, 3 T5)
- Fredrik Norén, Suzuki, 124
- Garrett Marchbanks, Yamaha, 118 (1 T5)
- Lorenzo Locurcio, GasGas, 110
- José Butron, GasGas, 98
- Grant Harlan, Yamaha, 90
- Derek Drake, Suzuki, 84
- Jerry Robin, Yamaha, 61
- Romaine Pape, GasGas, 59
- Jason Anderson, Kawasaki, 52 (1 T5)
- Kyle Chisholm, Suzuki, 52
- Phil Nicoletti, Yamaha, 47
- Ken Roczen, Suzuki, 36 (1P, 1 T5)
- Jeremy Hand, Honda, 34
- Ryan Surratt, Honda, 33
- Marshal Weltin, Suzuki, 32
- Luca Marsalisi, Yamaha, 31
- Chris Canning, GasGas, 27
- Jace Kessler, Honda, 24
- Brandon Ray, Honda, 23
- Lars van Berkel, Honda, 21
- Gert Krestinov, Honda, 18
- Kaeden Amerine, Kawasaki, 18
- Bryce Shelly, KTM, 16
- Dante Oliveira, KTM, 15
- Chandler Baker, Kawasaki, 15
- Max Miller, KTM, 13
- Christopher Prebula, KTM, 12
- Tyler Stepek, Honda, 11
- Brandon Scharer, KTM, 7
- RJ Wageman, Yamaha, 5
- Trevor Schmidt, KTM, 4
- Jacob Runkles, GasGas, 4
- Luke Renzland, Husqvarna, 4
- Bryce Hammond, Honda, 3
- Dominique Thury, Yamaha, 3
- Karel Kutsar, KTM, 3
- Cody Groves, GasGas, 3
- Scott Meshey, Husqvarna, 3
- Izaih Clark, Honda, 2
- John Adamson, Husqvarna, 2
- Anton Gole, Husqvarna, 1
- Sebastian Balbuena, Yamaha, 1
- Jeffrey Walker, KTM, 1
- Bryton Carroll, Yamaha, 1
- Richard Taylor, Yamaha, 1
