As for Jett, well… When we named Jett Lawrence our 2023 Racer X Rider of the Year back in December, after he had won the 250SX West Region, the 450 Pro Motocross title with a perfect 22-0 summer, I wrote something that rubbed a few industry friends and readers wrong, which was understandable: Jett might be “the fastest teenager ever.” Many people who remember James Stewart on a 125 took umbrage with my assessment of Jett, and in hindsight, it might have been less controversial to instead call #18 “the most successful teenager ever” and not the fastest.

Of course, Jett’s 20 now, so the point is moot, and he’s also since added the first SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) last September, and now the Monster Energy 450 Supercross Championship, which means he joins Stew as the only rider in contemporary history to win every title we have up for grabs in AMA SX/MX. Both James and Jett won 125/250SX in both regions, 125/250 and 450 Pro Motocross, and now the premier class SX title as well. Jett also has that new SMX title, as well as King of Bercy (Paris) SX, and he's even won a couple of motos in the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations while riding for Team Australia, all before his 21st birthday.

And here’s the thing: He’s won all of those AMA titles in succession. He hasn’t lost a championship since he won his first one back in the summer of 2021, the 250 Pro Motocross title. He’s done what only James Stewart managed to do, and he did it sooner. He may not get everyone’s vote as the fastest teenager ever, but there’s arguing that he’s already accomplished more before his 21st birthday (August 7) and we haven’t even started Pro Motocross…

One other bit on the success this kid has had in the last few years. We had ten different winners in the 250 class this past year, which shows the competitive parity in the class. Of those ten winners, only one of them—Haiden Deegan—is younger than Jett Lawrence. Deegan, winner of last weekend’s Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown, is still only 18 years old. The average age of the other nine winners—Hampshire (28), Jordon Smith (29), Levi Kitchen (23), Austin Forkner (25), Vialle (23), Cameron McAdoo (26), Nate Thrasher (21), Max Anstie (31), Jo Shimoda (22)—is 22.9 years old. The next youngest 450 winner to Lawrence? Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton, 24 years old.

Finally, when Jett goes into Fox Raceway for the opener next weekend, he has two winning streaks going on: He’s at 11 in a row for 450 Pro Motocross races and 22 motos in a row—he’s won everyone he ever started—and he’s also won six in a row at Fox Raceway going back to 2020.

Before we get into the news of the week, here’s a glimpse at the brand-new issue of Racer X Illustrated, featuring the just-retired Adam Cianciarulo on the front cover. There’s also a pullout poster that we put together with Monster Energy that has all of Adam’s cover shots over the years featured on one side, and a gallery from his career on the other. There’s also a feature called “Forgotten Supercross Champions” about the very first years of the series and its 500 class, a feature on the new and improved AMA Arenacross Series, presented by Kicker, and the Legends & Heroes of Motocross, and much more.

They Can’t Lose (Jason Weigandt)

Feels like yesterday I was roaming through a Honda HRC Supercross Championship celebration in Salt Lake City… celebrating Chase Sexton’s 450 Championship! Last year, when Sexton clinched it and Honda finally broke a 20-year dry spell without a 450 title (the Curse of the GOAT, as it came to be known) there was so much emotion for the long termers who had gotten so close, tried so hard, and always saw things go the wrong direction. I’m talking about guys like Crew Chief Shane Drew and current test rider/former racer Trey Canard, the upper management like Brandon Wilson and Bill Savino, and of course Team Manager Lars Lindstrom. It was such a big deal to get that title. I remember in 2022, when Ken Roczen was in the hunt in 450 Pro Motocross, but the title slipped away, again, then Team Manager Erik Kehoe told me that Japan reminds them of the dry spell every Monday. Finally, last year, it ended.

Now? Let’s fast forward a year later to Salt Lake City again, and Honda is hoisting another AMA 450 Supercross Championship with Jett Lawrence, and in fact the team has won every 450 title available since that Sexton breakthrough. From not being able to get one, to getting them all! What really drives that home is that Sexton, following a long-standing tradition, apparently came over to the Honda rig to hand over his 2023 450SX #1 plate. That’s a classy move by Chase, but don’t forget, he actually won that title when he was racing for that team!

I noted that the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki truck was parked not too far away. While Honda was celebrating, and you could hear the 250Fs of Tom Vialle and RJ Hampshire being revved in the distance, the Pro Circuit truck was locked up and empty. It’s getting crazy, almost to curse levels, how many championships PC has had control of only to lose them in the end. And, like Team Honda, this was a team that at one point could do no wrong! This year, PC had three different riders hold red plates—Austin Forkner, Cameron McAdoo, and Levi Kitchen—only to lose both titles, with Nashville’s Kitchen-and-McAdoo-crash-into-each-other starring as the ultimate kick in the balls. It’s clear the Pro Circuit bikes have taken a big step, and Kitchen has gone next level and will likely win many titles in his future, but there are no guarantees in sports, and this team knows that all too well. Sometimes the motocross Gods just seem to have other plans. Ask Honda.

This week I rang up Nathan Ramsey for the Exhaust Podcast. Ramsey, a great racer in his day, rose to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team Manager in 2022 and can now talk about a title with Hampshire. Nate’s a great guy and I’d recommend you listen to my podcast with him, as we talk about RJ’s strategy for the night (second-place in the heat race was better than first!) and the evolution of bikes. Specifically, Nate admitted that new-generation bike in 2022 was tough to get figured out, but it was a necessary step to get to this level. Congrats to Nate and his squad on what is a first title for many of them.

As for Pro Motocross, we’re shooting our annual Racer X Preview Videos (with me, Matthes and JT) as you read this. Look for them next week and thanks to Monster Energy, Fly Racing, Maxxis, Maxima, and New Ray Toys for the backing. You’ll see the videos on YouTube next week.

And if you can’t wait that long to see some motocross, make sure you check out Simon Cudby’s video from yesterday’s “Stopwatch Nationals” out at Glen Helen Raceway which offered a glimpse of a few of the fast guys that will be lining up next weekend. The unique race was based on the annual “stopwatch nationals” where riders compare lap times with one another while they test at please like Glen Helen, only this time they lined up behind the starting gate and raced two long motos, splitting a $10,000 purse. Here’s a look from Cudby’s cameras:

Look at All of Those Win Ads! (DC)

For the casual motorsports fan the Salt Lake City SX was a weird event, to say the least. There were two main events, one for the 450 class and one for the 250 class, though it included the two regions of Monster Energy Supercross, the East and the West. There were also three championships to be decided as the 450 class and both regions of the 250 class were still up for grabs. As it worked out, the two main event winners—Red Bull KTM's Chase Sexton and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan—did not end up with series titles. Instead, those went to Honda HRC's Jett Lawrence in the 450 class as well as Red Bull KTM's Tom Vialle (250 East) and Rockstar Husqvarna's RJ Hampshire (250 West).

Add it all up and that's why this week's Cycle News digital edition may have broken a record for the most "win ads" derived from a single race! We've posted them all here to show the state of the art in win ads (something that's long fascinated me personally, the art of the win ad...) Good for the riders, good for the sponsors, and good for the photographers who usually get a little extra for this kind of thing.

And for what it's worth there was the SX Futures AMA Amateur National Championship, won by GasGas rider Cole Davies of New Zealand, and even though he was the guy out there who was both a main event winner champion on Saturday night, he unfortunately did not get a "win ad" in Cycle News this week!  

Adam Cianciarulo Retirement Update #1 (DC)

For the sake of science, sociology, and general culture, we will be chartering the movements of the recently retired Adam Cianciarulo as he navigates a brave new world in which he is no longer a professional athlete, but rather just an ordinary civilian, per @adamcianciarulo on Twitter:

Note: Check out his final race vlog in the video section later in this post!

MXGP Again (DC)

While AMA riders have this weekend off the FIM Motocross World Championship is competing for the third weekend in a row, this time at St. Jean D’Angely, France. They are six rounds in now, and Jorge Prado has won five times in the MXGP division, including last weekend in Galicia, Spain, on a beautiful circuit named after him. And yet despite winning five of the first six rounds, Prado is still only two points ahead of Tim Gajser (298 to 296) after his miserable day in the mud of Portugal the weekend before. In the MX2 class the Dutch Husqvarna rider Kay de Wolf has a comfortable lead of 44 points over Simon Laengenfelder but Liam Everts, who missed the first round of the series, is now up to third after another strong weekend in Spain. The lone American on the circuit, Florida’s Jack Chambers, is in 14th place in MX2. The MXGP of France can be seen on both MXGP-TV.com and CBS Sports Network, with the second motos live on Sunday morning, from 10 a.m. ET to noon.

Godspeed Damian Campos (DC)

Last week Damian Campos of Toyota of Escondido passed away as a result of cancer, having just retired some six weeks earlier. Campos was a motocross/supercross enthusiast of the highest order, and he helped put more star riders in Toyota Tundras than probably all of the other automobile dealerships in the entire world, combined. His longtime friend Dean Wilson posted this tribute to Campos on his Instagram:

And last week we reported on the passing of legendary mechanic/engineer Eric Crippa. Steve Matthes talked to some industry friends and acquaintances of Crippa for this Open Mic feature.

Steel City Today (DC)

Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pennsylvania, was part of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship from 1988 thru 2012. The winners of the first national in ’88 were Team Honda’s Rick Johnson in the 500 class and Suzuki’s Erik Kehoe in the 125 class. (There had been a 125cc U.S. Grand Prix held there the previous summer, with Kehoe also winning the 125 overall there, and Johnson winning the 500 Support class.) The last Steel City National was in ‘12 won by KTM’s Ryan Dungey over Mike Alessi in the 450 class while young Eli Tomac of the GEICO Honda team bettered Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia in the 250s. After that 2012 Steel City National the track closed permanently, mostly as the result of an ongoing dispute with the local DNR officials. As you can see by this photo that longtime reader and Western PAMXer George Sosnick posted on Facebook, the land is still there, but most traces of the track are gone… The track founded in 1983 on the Bellora family’s property was one of the best tracks we’ve ever heard here in AMA District 5.

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Hey, Watch It!

Rise To The Occasion: Jett Lawrence Wins the 2024 AMA Supercross 450 Championship | Alpinestars

Here’s an awesome farewell video from Fox Racing: “Thank you, Adam Cianciarulo.”

Last Race Of My Career! | SLC Supercross VLOG

Robert Naughton was a very good 125 SX/MX rider back in the 1980s. He recently built three very special tribute bikes in honor of three very fast and very young minicycle racers who were killed in tragic train accident at the 1982 NMA Grand Nationals at Ponca City, Oklahoma, and will be displaying them again next weekend at Fox Raceway under the Legends & Heroes of  Motocross display:

Between the Arrows: 2024 Kenda Tires Powerline Park GNCC Motorcycles

Unpacking Jason Anderson vs Jett, Hunter Lawrence in 2024 Supercross | Title 24 | Motorsports on NBC

Head-Scratching Headline/s of the Week

"Petty King: City Orders Man To Conceal His Boat In His Driveway So He Paints His Fence To Replicate It"—Barstool Sports

"European Mullet Festival: Belgium hosts mullet lovers from all over"—BBC.com

“NFL confirms Taylor Swift played role in determining next season's football schedule”—Foxnews.com

“Ohtani bobblehead day in Los Angeles stirs stadium traffic”—ESPN.com

Random Notes

Didn't get to hear enough of Dan Hubbard this season on Race Day Live every Saturday? He's the guest this Sunday on Racer Radio on San Diego's KCBQ FM 96.1, AM 1170, from 3 to 4 p.m. West Coast time.