Adding a SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) portion to the regular AMA racing season is the most significant change to the racing calendar in 50 years. This is a new concept in tracks, format, competition and rules, but it’s also designed to take elements we have already seen for decades in both Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. So, how different would it be, and what would we learn from the racing?
Here are just a few things.
10. The tracks are true hybrids (Or maybe not!): After looking at track maps, the general expectation was that SuperMotocross would feel like Monster Energy Cup or a speedway supercross like Daytona or Atlanta. Turns out that was only half right, because while the long lanes made it feel a bit like those races (plus the red dirt in Charlotte looked like Atlanta), but this track had some “motocrossy” sections (that’s the term we kept hearing). You don’t get deep, tilled dirt and multiple flat turns at the Atlanta MotorSpeedway Supercross. Daytona gets rough, but that’s black sand that gets rough on its own, not hard and choppy clay that’s been watered and sliced on purpose. Plus, Daytona has berms and traction. Charlotte did not. As such, riders were fighting for grip and comfort, because they had to run supercross suspension to get through the rhythm lane.
This isn’t just about bumps. When forks don’t compress, the bike doesn’t want to turn. A berm helps make the forks compress, and supercross bowl turns provide that. Charlotte’s flat turns did not. In general, stiff suspension means less traction because the tires don’t follow the dirt. At these races, there are compromises everywhere.
Of course, anything we learned at Charlotte may or may not apply to the other two races in Chicago and Los Angeles. No one knows for sure!
9. Riders and teams will adjust (or maybe not!): See above on the supercross suspension thing: even if the riders and teams know Chicago will have motocross bumps and turns, they might not be able to adjust, because rhythm lanes basically require supercross suspension. For as much as the riders struggled in the motocross sections as Charlotte, the battle for the win probably came down to jumping the biggest rhythm consistently, which requires running it stiff.
“That long rhythm section was the biggest thing on the track,” said Sexton. “It was a big rhythm. It was quad, three, quad, and then three out. Had to get that almost every lap.”
If a big jump line presents itself in Chicago, stiff is the only way to go. So how to handle the motocross-style bumps and turns? There won’t be a perfect setting.
8. Masterpool is halfway ready: Ty Masterpool wanted to use these SMX races to show the industry he can ride on a supercross-ish track. Unfortunately, his appendix started acting up at Ironman. An appendectomy would knock him off the bike for a few weeks, so instead he went on heavy anti-biotics to try to wait on surgery. His plan worked… halfway. Ty said the anti-biotics have jacked him up so badly he only has about nine minutes in him before he starts feeling bad. Well, he made the most of his nine minutes, starting second in Moto 1 and holeshotting Moto 2. He rode well, too! Ty looked pretty close to the same factory-fighting hero he was in motocross, which was exactly what he wanted to do.
He faded back, eventually, to 11-12 finishes and 11th overall. But if his goal was to make an impression, he did it.
7. Pro Circuit is Back: At the 11th hour, what looked like Kawasaki’s worst year in nearly four decades has turned into a renaissance season. Kawi nearly didn’t win a single race this year in any class, which had not happened since the 1981. Then, Jo Shimoda went 1-1 in the 250 class at the Ironman National and followed it with 4-1 scores for the overall win in SMX Round 1! That’s not all. KX250s are suddenly all over the front of the pack, with Seth Hammaker, Ryder DiFrancesco and Austin Forkner also toward the front at different parts of the day.
6. The Motocross Hangover?: For years, we’ve applied the term “supercross hangover” when the new Monster Energy Supercross Champion struggles at the first Pro Motocross round (see Chase Sexton not feeling it at Fox Raceway this year). Now, enter the “motocross hangover.” After watching the Lawrence brothers win every title they competed for this year—and the opening round in each of those series—the SMX opened with arguably the worst rides of the year for both Hunter and Jett. Really, you can blame the starts for just about all of it, as Jett got swallowed up early unlike just about every Pro Motocross moto (after the race Jett told me his supercross suspension reacted differently than he expected on the starting grates). Hunter crashed early in both races. That made it tough, but you could sense the competition was ready to pounce. It was a fresh start for their competitors, and a tough race to get up for if you’re the one coming off a championship or perfect season.
5. Deegan Ain’t Done: Great rookie season in the books for Haiden Deegan, so it’s hard to know if he’s using the SMX races as the revenge tour or just as something to get through safely en route to 2024. Well, he’s clearly sending it, taking the fastest qualifying time in the first session. He crashed pretty good later in qualifying but bounced back to get the Moto 1 win. Deegan said the second moto crash kinda caught up with him in Moto 2, so he settled for second overall, but it’s pretty clear he wants to end his rookie season with a championship.
4. Versatile Vialle: Tom Vialle might have an experience edge on the field coming into these unique races. As a two-time MX2 World Champion, he’s raced a wide variety of tracks in the MXGP series, which includes man-made, purpose-built tracks at some of the flyaway races outside of Europe. Plus, the SMX track didn’t have whoops, which were a weakness of Tom’s in his first Monster Energy Supercross season. Finally, his starts showed up. Tom holeshot everything in MX2, but after holeshotting the first supercross of the season this year, we didn’t see that mastery much again. If he nails these starts consistently, he could be very hard to beat in these races.
3. Kenny’s Rockin: Haven’t seen Ken Roczen much lately, but don’t worry, because he always adapts quickly and comes out firing. Plus, like Vialle, he is very versatile with all of his world-wide racing experience, and further, Kenny is known to run a softer suspension setup than most in supercross, so these tracks work for him. In a short series, the four-time Anaheim 1 winner could be very dangerous, and he lived up to that in Charlotte. Kenny led Moto 2 as a threat to win the whole thing before yielding to Jett and Chase. In a short series, anything can happen.
2. The Points Reset Matters: Riders came into SMX Round 1 with a ranking based on their regular-season points totals. In the 450 class, Chase Sexton’s #1 overall spot loomed large because he started with a gap and stretched it further by winning. A 12-point lead after one round is no joke! That’s what Sexton holds over Aaron Plessinger and Jett Lawrence, who are tied for second (he’d have a seven-point lead on Lawrence and nine on Plessinger if the regular season points didn’t count for anything).
On the other end, Hunter Lawrence’s bad day of double first-turn crashes didn’t put him in much of a hole at all. After taking eighth overall in Charlotte, he’s still just three points behind Shimoda and Deegan, who are tied for the lead.
Of course, now the races switch to double and then triple points. We’ll see how much impact that has….
1. Chase Sexton Will Answer: In some ways, Chase Sexton is just a glutton for punishment. He’s had to go up against great riders and take some losses, but he always comes back for more. He’s endured more than his share of crashes and tip overs, but again, he never gives up. The 22-0 season for Jett and Chase’s own impending departure of Team Honda HRC could have crushed his spirits and led him to mail it in until 2024. Instead, he came back even stronger and re-affirmed himself with a 1-1. Most telling is when Lawrence finally started to get going in the second moto, Sexton turned up his pace, as well, blasting past Roczen for the lead and throwing in two heater 1:14 laps. No one else got into the 1:14s.
With two races to go there’s much to play for, but Sexton helped prove to everyone else what he already believed: he was not done winning.