Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake CityMonster Energy AMA Supercross Championship

With the gate set to drop on the final Monster Energy AMA Supercross race of 2024 this weekend, we thought we’d get into some of the different ways the three championships might play out. Sure, we have a pretty good idea of how two of them are going to end, but hey, Eli Tomac was a lock last year too. Until Denver. Things in the 250SX classes are further complicated by the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown, which combines the East and West Regions into a single, stacked race. So, with all that in mind, let’s get into the nuts and bolts of the title chases that will end on Saturday night.

450SX

There are only two guys left in contention—Jett Lawrence and Cooper Webb—and Lawrence has a 20-point lead on Webb, who’s nursing a thumb injury. So, on the surface there doesn’t seem to be much Webb can do. That’s because there isn’t much he can do. Webb would need to win or get second, and have Lawrence finish 21st or worse, or somehow not qualify for the main. If Lawrence took 20th, 19th, or 18th, Webb would have to win the race to earn the championship. Lawrence could come down with the flu, get horrible food poisoning, smash his hand in the car door, crash ten times, and still finish higher than that, so really, other than an immediate mechanical failure in the main, the only hope Webb has is that Lawrence somehow gets unruly on his flight to Utah and the plane makes an unscheduled stop to forcibly deboard Lawrence.

The Bottom Line

A 17th or better gets the job done for Lawrence no matter what, so as long as he shows up in Salt Lake City, this championship is his.

Supercross

450SX Standings - 2024

Position	Rider	Hometown	Points
1	Jett Lawrence	Landsborough, Australia	351
2	Cooper Webb	Newport, NC	336
3	Chase Sexton	La Moille, IL	307
4	Eli Tomac	Cortez, CO	282
5	Jason Anderson	Edgewood, NM	282

Full Standings

Jett Lawrence Align Media
Cooper Webb Align Media

250SX East Region

Things are similar in 250SX East, where Tom Vialle leads Haiden Deegan by 15 points. They both have two wins apiece, so if Deegan wins, Vialle would need to earn enough points to avoid a tie, as Deegan would get the nod in that scenario on account of the hypothetical superior win count. If Deegan does indeed win, which is a tall order for anyone in a showdown, Vialle would have to finish 11th or better to wrap it up. A second for Deegan would require a 14th or better from Vialle, and if Deegan takes third, Vialle’s minimum requirement drops to 16th. Aside from the opening-round first-turn catastrophe, Vialle hasn’t been off the box all season. He’s also a world champion who knows how to deal with title pressure, so don’t expect any meltdowns from the Frenchman.

The Bottom Line

If Deegan finishes in seventh or worse, it’s all over for him no matter what Vialle does. If Vialle finishes 11th or better, he wins no matter what Deegan does. If you think Vialle isn’t going to get the job done on Saturday you clearly inserted the Q-tip way too far into your ear this morning.

Supercross

250SX East Standings - 2024

Position	Rider	Hometown	Points
1	Tom Vialle	Avignon, France	172
2	Haiden Deegan	Temecula, CA	168
3	Coty Schock	Dover, DE	132
4	Pierce Brown	Sandy, UT	131
5	Max Anstie	Newbury, England, United Kingdom	125

Full Standings

250SX West Region

This is the race everyone is going to be watching on Saturday night, and for good reason. RJ Hampshire and Levi Kitchen are both tied coming into the final race of the season, and both riders have been excellent in 2024. This race is going to be awesome! Yes, Jordon Smith and Jo Shimoda are still mathematically in this thing, but with Smith 21 points back and Shimoda 23 points back, all Hampshire or Kitchen has to do is finish 18th or better and both Smith and Shimoda are eliminated. Really, the only hope for either of them would be to team up—if Smith throws a croquet mallet in Hampshire’s spokes and Shimoda dumps a pound of sugar in Kitchen’s fuel tank, it’s on!