Saturday Night Live: Ironman

In the 250 Class, championship leader Hunter Lawrence entered the day with a 22-point gap over Yamaha’s Justin Cooper, the only other rider mathematically still in the title fight. Cooper rode arguably one of his best rides of the year last weekend in Maryland as the duo split 1-2, 1-2 moto finishes (tying on points), but the #32 machine would need some disastrous things to happen to the #96 machine in order to become the champ. However, when the gates dropped, the championship was essentially over as Cooper was one of a handful of riders collected together in a turn two pileup, as Hunter Lawrence escaped with the rest of the field.

Out front it was Ryder DiFrancesco who holeshot and led a few strong laps before Tom Vialle, then Jo Shimoda took over the race lead. Cooper had to fight through the pack, which he did, finishing 13th, but a fifth from the Honda HRC championship leader would officially end the championship battle. Hunter Lawrence gained eight points on Cooper in that first moto, making his gap 30 points with only 25 up for grabs. The older Lawrence brother was later crowned 2023 AMA Pro Motocross 250 Class Champion on the podium, joining his brother Jett, who was crowned 2023 AMA Pro Motocross 450 Class Champion two weeks ago in New York.

“I saw the chaos in the second turn,” Hunter Lawrence said after the race. “I saw blue bikes and then the No. 32 and thought, ‘That sucks.’ I was way, way back, trying to be patient and trying not to rush anything. Man, what a year. Never say die, never give up. It’s unbelievable. So honored to thank the team with five championships, and the year’s not done.”

The #96 machine will enter the first SMX playoff round P1 in qualifying points.

Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing and Experiential Marketing at American Honda, said the following in a post-race news break release on Hunter Lawrence’s title:

Out front in that first moto, Shimoda bested Vialle for the race lead and then took the race win (his second moto win of the season). Haiden Deegan climbed to second ahead of Vialle, Austin Forkner, and Hunter Lawrence.

In the second moto, it was once again DiFrancesco out front! The #75 machine led a handful of laps before Shimoda again took over the race lead. Levi Kitchen, P1 for the first time ever in his career in qualifying, finished seventh in the first moto but was battling Ryder D and Shimoda for the race lead in the second moto. Kitchen eventually had a hard crash about halfway through the race that resulted in a DNF (37th officially, so 7-37 for 15th overall).

In the second moto, it was once again DiFrancesco out front! The #75 machine led a handful of laps before Shimoda again took over the race lead. Levi Kitchen, P1 for the first time ever in his career in qualifying, finished seventh in the first moto but was battling Ryder D and Shimoda for the race lead in the second moto. Kitchen eventually had a hard crash about halfway through the race that resulted in a DNF (37th officially, so 7-37 for 15th overall).

Shimoda cruised to the moto two race win over Cooper, Deegan, Vialle, and Jalek Swoll as DiFrancesco came through sixth. Class champion Hunter Lawrence came through the finish line ninth.

For Shimoda, it was a great day as the Japanese native went 1-1 for the first time in his career, claiming his third career 250 Class Pro Motocross overall win.

“I’m so happy to end the last race like this,” the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider said afterwards. “I got two good starts and it turned into a 1-1. It’s been a long, great season and I’m excited for the SMX rounds.”

Shimoda will enter the first SMX playoff round fifth in qualifying points.

Deegan (2-3 for second overall), who said he was ill on Instagram afterwards, did not make it to the post-race press conference. He said the following after the race:

“This year’s been crazy. To be honest, I woke up sick as a dog, but there ain't no quit in me. I’m going to fight until the end. This year’s been hard, but I never gave up. I’m going to go home, work my butt off, and come back swinging next year.”

Deegan will enter the first-ever SMX race second in qualifying points.

Oh, and check out this unbelievable line Deegan was doing after the finish line! 🤯

Vialle finished 3-4 in a strong showing to his 11th and final “new” track of the summer. It is going to be fun to watch the two-time MX2 FIM Motocross World Champion next year when he is really able to make a run for the 250 Class championship after growing pains this year learning the track, U.S. race day schedules, procedures, etc. throughout this summer.

“It’s nice to finish the season on the podium,” Vialle said. “This track was sick. I’m really looking forward to coming back and having a better season next summer.”

Cooper’s 13-2 finishes earned him fourth overall over newly crowned champion Hunter Lawrence. The #32 will enter the SMX playoff round one eighth in qualifying points. Ryder D’s 9-6 (sixth overall) do not stand out on paper, but the long-time Kawasaki rider got two great starts and rode well both motos. It is easy to forget, but the California native is still only 18 years old as he concludes his first full season of Pro Motocross. He has been learning every week and with a few adjustments in his approach, he was up front more often late in the season. Recently, his building has been showing off on race days.

Jalek Swoll (11-5 for seventh overall) said the following in a Husqvarna press release:

Maximus Vohland was penalized two positions in the second moto for cutting the track, finishing 8-8 for eighth overall.

“It was a tough weekend here in Ironman,” Vohland said in a KTM post-race recap. “I had to fight back to eighth in moto one after going down in the opening lap carnage, then in the second moto I really charged hard, was in sixth, and then an off-track excursion cost me a couple of places. Seventh overall for the championship, I would've liked for more, although I was happy with the improvements I made this year and now we'll come back for the SMX playoffs next up."

Austin Forkner’s 4-35 was not an ideal finish to the day as the Kawasaki rider slammed down face/chest first into an inside roller in a turn while battling with Stilez Robertson in the second moto. It was a hard slam, but reports are he is okay and just knocked the wind out of himself. Forkner officially scored 11th overall.

Seth Hammaker, who was P1 in the second qualifying session Saturday morning, was gelling the track and his machine, was up in the mix en route to bringing home 6-12 moto finishes (ninth overall). All of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki guys have had good starts lately, as we saw several green bikes up front at the Unadilla National and now here in Indiana. Daxton Bennick, who was down in the second turn of moto one, came through 20th before taking seventh the second moto. The rookie (12th overall) has been impressive, as his 20th was only his second moto finish outside the top 15 in his 12 motos he raced this summer. The #241 finishes the championship in 14th.

A few other riders to note: Peirce Brown was collected with Cooper in the moto one turn two crash. Brown finished 17-10 for 13th overall.

“The first moto was a little bit rough, “Brown said in a GasGas recap. “I got tangled up with some riders after the start which was unfortunate. I had to start from basically dead last, and was able to make it up to 17th. Not a good moto, but I was happy with my riding. In moto two it wasn't a great start or a terrible start, but I was able to make some passes and ended up tenth. So, for how the last couple motos have been I'm pretty happy with how I rode in moto two and how it went so hopefully we're building some momentum for the SuperMotocross rounds."

Talon Hawkins was up in the mix moto one, finishing tenth (tying a career best finish). He came through 19th in moto two for 16th overall.

“Wow. I definitely like to make it hard on myself in the second moto,” Hawkins said in a Husqvarna release. “But I got a top ten in the first one, and I was riding well all day. I had my best overall qualifying of the year, so that's a positive to take away. I also matched my best moto finish, I just needed to put it together for the second one. Unfortunately, I had a crash on the second lap and pretty much came from dead last up to 19th. This is a tough game, but I'm ready to get back on the track in the next couple of weeks for SuperMotocross.”

Julien Beaumer (15-38 for 21st overall) suffered a shoulder injury that ended his second moto early.

“The weekend here at Ironman was decent for me,” Beaumer said in a KTM release. “I qualified in 12th place and felt pretty good, before I got caught up in the opening lap pile-up in moto one, so I had to come back through the field, which I did before I went down again. I recovered to 15th and then in moto two, I got a great start, ran fourth and then dropped to seventh, where I was comfortable. Then I ended up having a crash, which took me out, but all-in-all I learned a lot these last two nationals, especially around the intensity these guys carry, and I’ll take these lessons into next year’s Supercross season. I’ve got a great team behind me, who have my back at all times, so I’m excited for the future."

Rookie Mark Fineis finished 21-20 (23rd overall) in his second pro race. Trevin Nelson finished 22-21 for 24th overall in his pro debut. Casey Cochran (28-39 for 37th overall) went down in the second turn of moto one and he only did seven laps in moto two.

“It was a rough weekend as far as the racing. I had too many crashes, but we'll bounce back and learn from the situations that we put ourselves in,” said Cochran in a post-race Husqvarna release.

In the premier class, we saw history made: Jett Lawrence completed only the fourth ever perfect season in the premier class of AMA Motocross, going 22-0. He did the damn thing! The Austrailian became only the third different rider to complete a perfect season, joining AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame members Ricky Carmichael (who had perfect seasons in 2002 and 2004) and James Stewart (2008 perfect season). And the craziest thing is that Jettson was a true freshman doing all of this in his first season on a 450cc machine—most of the moto wins he did at age 19, too!

“[The perfect season] doesn’t feel real,” Jettson said afterwards. “I started off so nervous hitting the gate [in moto two]. I don’t know how I led the first lap. Now we’re undefeated. To all the people who doubted me, here we are now. Also, congrats to Hunter [Lawrence]. No one deserved that [250 Class] title more than him.”

Entering 2023, we had not ever seen brothers win their respective classes on the same day in AMA Motocross, then it happened seven total times by the time this season was over. Then the brothers became the first siblings to both claim the two Pro Motocross titles in the same year. While nothing is guaranteed in life, the Lawrence brothers are writing history and it does appear the Aussie duo will one day be inducted into the prestigious HOF once the sun has set on their respective careers. Hopefully there are many, many years before that day though…

And with Chase Sexton winning the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450SX title earlier this year, Honda has swept all five AMA SX and MX championships this year—quite an accomplishing feat.

At the pre-race press conference ahead of the Pro Motocross finale, Honda HRC team manager Lars Lindstrom said simply: “It’s been an incredible year, for sure.” That is has been.

And speaking of Sexton, once again, he applied pressure to the #18 all race long as he was not waiving any metaphoric white flag until he came through the actual checkered flag both races. Unfortunately, the #23 machine came through 2-2 for second overall—his 12th and 13th second-place moto finishes and sixth second place overall finish of the season. Sexton was rather frustrated after the race and in the post-race press conference, rightfully so.

“You haven’t seen the last of me winning,” Sexton confidently said to Jason Thomas after the second moto.

The 2023 450SX Champion will enter the inaugural SMX playoffs in September first in the qualifying points.

Third overall on the day was Aaron Plessinger, who’s 5-3 moto finishes gave him his second consecutive overall podium in as many weeks. Another strong ride by the Red Bull KTM rider, who will enter the first SMX playoff round second in qualifying points behind Sexton.

"I’m pumped to finish this season’s outdoor championship on the box!” Plessinger said. “We experienced a few ups and downs this year, which is all part of racing, although continued to fight and ended up with P3 overall in the championship. My first motos remained the difficult part of the day, which was the same deal today, although we rebounded well in moto two for third place. Onto the SMX playoffs now, I’m stoked and intrigued to see what the tracks will be like, and excited to take the sport to all-new venues also."

Jason Anderson finished 4-4 for fourth overall in a strong day as Adam Cianciarulo’s 6-6 scores rounded out the top five overall. Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha’s Garrett Marchbanks finished 7-8 in a solid ride on his 22nd birthday. Justin Barcia was caught up in a pileup in the first moto, resulting in a fight through the pack. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas rider came through 11th, then brought home a fifth in the second moto.

“I had a tough first moto,” Barcia stated in a post-race release from GasGas. “I got into a little pile-up and came back to 11th. It definitely wasn't happy with that. In the second moto, I had a decent start and rode really hard. I found some decent lines, had a good flow going, and ended up fifth. I was definitely happier with the second moto considering where I was at a couple weeks ago to now. Not bad, but I definitely have a lot of work to do. I'm looking forward to SuperMotocross and getting back to my winning self.”

Canadian 450cc motocross champion Dylan Wright returned to Pro Motocross for a second straight week, looking for some redemption after a chain broke last year and broke his engine case last week in Maryland. The Honda-mounted rider finished 8-9 for eighth overall.

Racer X columnist Phil Nicoletti finished 12-7 for ninth overall, then Estonian Harri Kullas finished 9-12 to round out the top ten in another solid ride at a track completely new to him.

Dylan Ferrandis officially scored 11th overall. He finished third in the first moto, then was leading the second moto alongside Jettson and Sexton, until he had his rear end step out in the third turn. The #14 went down hard and was banged up before getting on his YZ450F and riding back to the pits.

Weird thing I remembered is that at the 2019 Ironman National Marvin Musquin had just won the first 450 Class moto in a straight up three-way battle with Ken Roczen then Eli Tomac, only to make accidental contact with Zach Osborne in the third corner and go down hard, ending his day early. Ferrandis’ crash happened in the same corner as Musquin’s did!

Third-place in moto one (Ferrandis) finished 37.781 seconds back of Jettson in the first moto, then third-place in moto two (Plessinger) finished 1:06.251 back of the #18 machine. Over a whole minute! These factory guys are fast, but man, the top two HRC boys were on another level today!

Runner-up in the Canadian 450cc motocross championship Jess Pettis finished tenth in the first moto but had a moto two crash that would eventually result in a mangled bike and DNF in moto two. Pettis officially scored 37th in the second moto.

Shane McElrath showed up for his third Pro Motocross event of the summer on his Rick Ware Racing Yamaha and brought home 25-13 finishes to score eight points towards his SMX qualifying position. Josh Hill also raced this weekend, claiming 31-19 finishes and two points towards SMX qualifying—which locked him into a top 20-spot (so he does not have to race the LCQ races at all three SMX races).

And no Ty Masterpool in the motos today—word from sources close with the team said he was sick this morning and ended up going to the hospital to get checked out. Ty then took to Instagram to explain some details. Bummer deal for Masterpool's season to end like this. Check out his full post below.