Caden Braswell Undergoes Knee Surgery, Will Miss 2024 SX
It appears Caden Braswell’s run in the 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will be over before the new year even arrives. The HBI Racing rider posted to Instagram he will miss the supercross season due to surgery to fix a knee injury.
Braswell bounced around some in the last 12 months. After winning the 2022 AMA Nicky Hayden Horizon Award at the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Championship at Loretta Lynn's on a GasGas, debuting in supercross with the Phoenix Racing Honda team in the 250SX East Region. That team wasn't going to race outdoors, though, but Braswell got a fill-in deal on the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas team for the first half of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. The GasGas team kept him on their roster for most of the championship, then, the HBI Racing team signed him for the remainder of Pro Motocross and the first ever SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) playoff events. In his first year racing pro, Braswell finished 18th in the 250SX East Region, 15th in the 250 Class of motocross, and 17th in the 250SMX playoffs.
Braswell earned national number #42 for 2024, but it will not likely be until sometime this summer during Pro Motocross. Below is Braswell’s full post.
“Well… As you can tell in these pictures I’m not in moto gear 😂
After looking at the cards I was dealt it was obvious to have the knee fixed.
I will be missing this upcoming SX season in order to rehab and get my body back to firing on all cylinders.
Thank you to all my supporters
💪🏼”
Update
The HBI Racing team has announced Slade Varola will race the 250SX West Region in place for Braswell. Varola is set to make his AMA Supercross debut at the Anaheim 1 SX event the first weekend in January.
Welcome to the Team, Slade Varola
HBI Racing would like to announce the addition of Slade Varola to the team. Original plans had Caden Braswell racing in the 250 West Supercross division. Unfortunately, Caden suffered a knee injury and has undergone successful surgery to repair his knee. With no clear time table for Caden’s recovery, HBI plans to let Slade race in Caden’s class place for the 250 West rounds. Slade finished 3rd in the LA Coliseum Allstars/Futures class and placed 4th at the Supercross Futures Championship. HBI is excited to let Slade make his Pro Supercross debut under our banner.
