Jordon Smith Confirms Departure from Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki Team
Ahead of the October 1 new-signing day, Jordon Smith has taken to Instagram to thank the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, confirming his departure from the squad. Due to a lingering wrist injury, Smith raced only four main events in the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship, and just three rounds of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. He then signed with the Kawasaki team in the fall of 2019. The North Carolina native was hoping to turn around his 2020 season with the green brand, but that was not the case as he has dealt with several injuries.
Since the start of supercross in 2019 (when still on the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM team), Smith has only started 12 main events. A torn ACL at the 2020 Daytona Supercross ended his first year with Kawasaki after only four main events. He was kept out of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season because of the long recovery process from his knee surgery. A crash at the 2021 Arlington 3 Supercross (the fifth round) meant for the third year in a row Smith’s season ended after starting only four main events. In May, Smith announced he would miss the entire Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season because of issues with his recovery, missing his second full year of Pro Motocross in a row. He posted May 19:
“About two weeks ago I got surgery and already started rehab, trying to get it feeling better. It’s not really been hurting too much, it’s been feeling pretty good, it’s been a pretty easy recovery so far. Just looking forward to getting healthy again. It’s been a rough couple of years. ...It’s been some tough times but we’ll be back and we’ll be back up on that top step of the podium.”
Now, after only starting eight races with the team since the start of the 2020 season (all eight being supercross main events, with a best of fourth at the 2020 Tampa Supercross), Smith thanked team owner Mitch Payton and the team in announcing he would not return to the squad next year. In the eight races he did on a Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250F, Smith recorded finishes of 5-13-4-22-20-10-22-7. Since turning pro in 2015, Smith has three 250SX main event wins to his name: the 2017 Detroit Supercross, 2017 St. Louis Supercross, and the 2018 Daytona Supercross.
Rumor is that Smith may be getting support from the Millsaps Training Facility, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Below is his full post thanking Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki:
“I want to take a second to say thank you to @mitchcpayton and the entire @pcraceteam ! It was one of the best opportunities of my life and I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to give it a better shot. We worked as hard as we could to make it happen but sometimes that’s just how the cookie crumbles. Thanks to all the sponsors and @racekawasaki and @monsterenergy !
Good luck to the team in the future!
Also a big thanks to both of my mechanics I had with the team. @zimm763 and @colterahrens you boys don’t get the credit you deserve. Thanks for all of the hard work!”
