In the 450 class, the only person who really had a shot at Jett was his soon-to-depart teammate Chase Sexton, and #23 rode well all day long, but Jett got great starts and didn't miss a beat out front. He kept his date with destiny and won each of the last five championships he has competed for: '21 250 MX, '22 250SX East, '22 250 MX, '23 250SX West, '23 450 MX. That's an incredible run for anyone, but especially someone who is still a teenager. Or at least was a teenager, as he turned 20 years old in early August. I remember watching Jett walking the track after winning the opener at Fox Raceway back in May, and while it wasn't in my mind that he could go undefeated, I remember thinking, “This kid looks like Jean-Michel Bayle out there on a 450... Everyone else is in trouble.” Remember, he's just getting started in his 450 career.

And congratulations to Lars Lindstrom at every at Honda, as not only was this the Big Red Machine's best season ever, sweeping all five titles, it's also the brand's third perfect summer, going back to the two Ricky Carmichael had in '02 and '04. The long dry spell in the 450 class was ended in a big way, as Chase Sexton gave them their first SX title since '03, and Jett gave them their first 450 MX title since '04. And while they may be losing Sexton soon, they're adding Shimoda. Lars is going to have quite a team moving forward.

Speaking of teams, if you're puzzled by the fact that there has yet to be an announcement about Team USA for the FIM Motocross of Nations coming up October 7-8 in France, you're not alone. The hope was that it would be announced back at Unadilla, or even Ironman, and then maybe today. But it's still radio silence on Team USA because things are still being sorted out. I do know that with all of the team changes and injuries that have consumed summer there are a lot of moving parts to sort through, and I have a feeling we're in for a surprise lineup when it is finally announced. When? I'm now hearing next Friday. Stay tuned.

Just got this from special offer from Feld Entertainment: 

With this being a holiday weekend—Happy Labor Day everyone—after a full week of reports and footage from Ironman, I'll cut this intro short. But I do want to thank all of the riders and fans, race teams and sponsors, media and promoters for putting on such a fantastic AMA Pro Motocross Championship. We've seen bigger crowds, more riders, and more coverage than ever before. Now we're really looking to not only the SuperMotocross World Championship, but the Motocross of Nations as well. And while it's been a tough summer of motocross for American riders—Deegan is the only American to have won a national in 2023—hopefully we can rebound at the MXoN next month (where we will roll out bieks with #1, #2, and #3 plates). But there are still three big races to go here in the states. See you in Charlotte!

And by the way, if you're wondering about the lineups for the SMX rounds, the finalized entry lists will be announced on Tuesday.

Lastly, we got this note from Pascal Haudiquert:

2024 Numbers (DC)

If you're like us, you can't wait to see next year rider number assignments. But we're all going to have to wait a few more weeks as the new SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) will also count towards the process, along with the points from Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. 

One thing that may be of interest in the meantime is the fact that #18 Jett Lawrence, #23 Chase Sexton, and #96 Hunter Lawrence could all choose an available single-digit number as their permanent number if they choose to, as they each won a major championship in '23. And available right now are #4, #5, and #8. I doubt any of the three will make a numerical move, but you never know. 

And my old friend and longtime Honda man Ray Conway dropped me a note about #1s in 2024:

VMXDN (Matthes)

Still buzzing about the Vet MXDN last weekend in England that Keefer and I hit. I wrote my weekly OBS column about it so you can read more details there but yeah, what a "thing" Dave King and Robin Walters have going on there. I know vintage stuff is big over here, Unadilla Rewind comes to mind, but this three-day weekend was something else. The UK peeps really love the vintage stuff, there was strong vender presence there and seemingly, maybe 20 thousand people? I don't think we have anything like this in the USA, but I could be wrong. No twin-shock classes either so it's all EVO bikes. 

The bikes were unbelievable, some of these things really were works of art and then there were actual works of art there in old factory bikes. I think the racing needs a few tweaks but overall, the fans were really stoked to see Tyler Bowers, Mike Brown, Zach Osborne, Ryan Villopoto (not riding but he's the official mascot of this race I think), Doug Dubach, Keith Johnson along with the old Euro greats like Alessio Chiodi. We did a PulpMX Show two nights as well that went pretty good despite some sound issues on night one. Got to interview all the guys and safe to say Billy McKenzie stole the show one night. 

We talked more about it with Keefer and Osborne on Tuesday's PulpMX Show plus a special "Five Minutes with Fletch" who's a superstar nine-year-old over there and the new Lewis Phillips, speaking of PulpMX Show...

PULPMX SHOW (Matthes)

I should've known something was up when Phil Nicoletti texted me and asked to come on the show on Tuesday. After all, we have Phil call in a lot and so it was weird he asked to come on. Like, he's got nothing else to do? So, we moved some stuff around and got Phil on. And then Jett Lawrence called in. And then Hunter Lawrence called in. So, yeah, Phil got the two Aussie national champions to call in which is something that hasn't happened since early on in SX. Both of them were good interviews, Jett admitted that he did indeed want to go undefeated despite saying numerous times that just getting the title was important and Hunter told us about the run-down of injuries he had to deal with including a scary bike malfunction that threw him to the ground but he escaped with no harm. Good show, thanks to Phil Nicoletti for brokering this call (Lawrence's agent Lucas Mirtl might've also had something to do with it mehtinks) and the highlight was really listening to the brothers make fun of Phil. Like, a lot. 

Pulpmxshow.com for more info or on YouTube as well. 

James Marshall Memorial Race (DC)

Earlier this year James "The Outlaw" Marshall passed away. Once a professional racer with a bright future, the popular Texan was badly injured in a crash at the 2006 San Diego SX, immediately ending his career and leaving him paralyzed. But he never lost his enthusiasm for moto and the people that make up this sport. His friends and family wanted to wait until the SX/MX season was pretty much over before holding a memorial for James.  Finally, the James “The Outlaw” Marshall Memorial will be held on September 30, 2023, at Rio Bravo MX Park under the Pavilion with a Memorial Ride Lap at the closing of the service to pay a small tribute to his extraordinarily adventurous life. James' friend Darrell Hastings built a website for his memorial, www.JamesMarshallMemorial.com Everyone is invited to attend and honor James "The Outlaw" Marshall.

Arenacross Cases (DC)

Spotted this post from Arenacross:

Hey, Watch It!

Here's something extremely cool—Stew-able, even: Chad Reed as James Stewart's guest on Bubba's World:

Aussie duo become ‘most dominant siblings’ in motocross history | Today Show Australia