Saturday’s Ironman National marks the final round of the 11-round AMA Pro Motocross Championship, but also serves as Round 28 of 28 for the races that set the field for the SuperMotocross World Championship beginning in September. Both the 250 and 450 classes will have three races to fight for the SMX title, and only the top 20 riders in points from the 17 rounds of Monster Energy AMA Supercross and 11 rounds of AMA Pro Motocross combined will be directly qualified into the three playoff races. Riders finishing 21st to 30th will have to compete in the Last Chance Qualifier at each week of the playoff rounds to make it into the 22-rider field. There is a lot of money up for grabs with a $5.5 million purse for just the three races, and even finishing in the high teens overall will garner tens of thousands of dollars.
Ahead of the Pro Motocross finale on Saturday, we wanted to show some of the key battles yet to be settled for seeding going into the playoff races. Note that for now only the top 30 riders qualify for SMX, but we believe they may begin letting alternates in beyond that to fill the 10-rider LCQs. For those wondering, yes Eli Tomac is locked into the playoff races despite not racing and his spot is secure, but the plan would then be to open another transfer spot in the LCQ to fill his gate at each of the three rounds. So, 21st place still doesn’t make it straight in, they will have to race the LCQ. Let’s look at some key spots.
Jett Looking for P3
Jett Lawrence has already locked up the 450 class AMA Pro Motocross title as a rookie and will look to become the third different rider to complete a perfect season on Saturday as he sits on a 20-0 moto record with just two motos to go. That will certainly be his focus, but he’s also just eight points back of Adam Cianciarulo for third place in SMX seeding. Points are reset at the start of SMX, but the seeding earns riders one race worth of points before the first gate even drops. Chase Sexton is already locked in as the #1 seed and will have 25 points to his tally then, but Jett might enter with 20 points already as he looks to score the third most 450 class points all year despite not racing any 450SX races in Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
1. Chase Sexton – 666
2. Aaron Plessinger – 586
3. Adam Cianciarulo – 508
4. Jett Lawrence – 500
Butron Tries to Boot Josh Hill
Only three spots remain mathematically available in the top 20 spots of the 450 class with Shane McElrath (174 points), Colt Nichols (163 points), and Josh Hill (153 points) occupying 18-20 at the moment. Christian Craig sits just three points back of Hill and is riding again coming off a dislocated elbow in supercross, but will not be racing on Saturday and will not contend for a locked in spot. Jose Butron is 11 points back of Hill and is racing Saturday as he looks to jump from 22nd into the playoff races. Same can be said for Phil Nicoletti who is 23rd but sits a distant 33 points behind Hill and will need a really good day to make it into the top 20. Since they are not mathematically locked in, McElrath, Nichols, and Hill are all electing to lineup this weekend to try to fend off Butron from sneaking into the top 20. All three riders have raced select races of Pro Motocross between their preparation for World Supercross and are doing everything they can to make sure they are also locked into the SMX playoff races. Keep an eye on where McElrath, Nichols, Hill, Butron, and even Nicoletti on the timing sheets Saturday.
18. Shane McElrath – 173
19. Colt Nichols – 163
20. Josh Hill – 153
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21. Christian Craig – 150
22. Jose Butron – 142
23. Phil Nicoletti – 120
Harri Kullas Wants In
Rumor has it that Estonian Harri Kullas is keen to try his hand at SMX following his strong two rounds thus far racing in the USA. He has already garnered 46 points and would need to get to 84 points to make it into the top 30 to be guaranteed eligibility to race the LCQs. As mentioned though, there is a chance more riders are allowed into the LCQ to fill the 10 gates as we don’t expect to see Eli Tomac (injury), Lorenzo Locurcio (injury), Benny Bloss (signed with Beta), or Justin Cooper (plans on racing 250s) lining up at SMX. Theoretically, Kullas might sneak into the LCQs if he can make it to 33rd place in the standings and he’s currently 36th. Jerry Robin is apparently returning to racing this weekend and he sits 33rd already on 69 points. So, even outside of the playoff cutoff, it’s getting wild for determining who really makes it or not, and Kullas might end up landing right where he needs to in order to be in for SMX.
28. Benny Bloss – 91
29. Joey Savatgy – 85
30. Romain Pape – 84
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31. Justin Cooper – 76
32. Josh Cartwright – 76
33. Jerry Robin – 69
34. Cade Clason – 64
35. Jeremy Hand – 57
36. Harri Kullas – 46
Chaos for 250 Lock-Ins
The 250 class has nine riders separated by 28 points that are teetering on the top-20 guaranteed lock-in spots for SMX. Enzo Lopes is the bubble man right now in 20th with 149 points, but he is not racing Ironman this weekend. He has two points on Jeremy Martin who is 21st , but Martin is of course out with injury. So, if we go back to 22nd we find Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker who has been on a tear since returning five rounds ago at RedBud as he desperately tries to make it to the playoff cutoff. He is on 133 points and sits 16 markers back of Lopes but he is racing Ironman and has averaged more than 20 points per weekend since returning. Since Martin, ahead of him, and Chris Blose (WSX) and Mitchell Oldenburg (WSX) behind him in 23rd and 24th won’t be racing, Hammaker is mostly the one to watch as he looks to fight his way in.
16. Pierce Brown – 159
17. Dilan Schwartz – 159
18. Caden Braswell – 158
19. Chance Hymas – 152 (injured)
20. Enzo Lopes – 149 (not racing Ironman)
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21. Jeremy Martin – 147 (injured)
22. Seth Hammaker – 133
23. Chris Blose – 133 (not racing Ironman)
24. Mitchell Oldenburg – 131 (not racing Ironman)
The Factory LCQ
Thanks to some untimely injuries for key factory riders as well as debuts for new factory faces, we might end up seeing quite a few factory 250s headed to the SMX LCQ every week. Cameron McAdoo is 28th and will not race Ironman, though he is back on the bike. Daxton Bennick is 29th as he has now transitioned to full-time pro and even finished fourth in the first moto at Budds Creek. Coty Schock is on the top-30 bubble spot but again, we believe more riders will be allowed in since riders like Hymas, Martin, and Nate Thrasher will not race SMX due to injury and even Jett Lawrence is locked into a 250 spot but of course will be racing a 450. So that puts Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Stilez Robertson in 31st place just ahead of Cole Thompson and Henry Miller. Six points behind that sits Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner who jumped 11 places last weekend from 45th all the way to 34th. Robertson and Forkner are looking to make it into that guaranteed top 30 this weekend though to at least ensure they will be able to race the LCQ each week.
28. Cameron McAdoo – 101 (not racing Ironman)
29. Daxton Bennick – 101
30. Coty Schock – 89 (not racing Ironman)
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31. Stilez Robertson – 87
32. Cole Thompson – 87 (not racing Ironman)
33. Henry Miller – 86 (not racing Ironman)
34. Austin Forkner – 81