Garrett Marchbanks, ClubMX End Relationship
The 2024 season started well for Garrett Marchbanks in his fourth season with the Muc-Off/FXR ClubMX Yamaha team, as he captured back-to-back 250SX West podiums at the double mud races in San Francisco and San Diego. Since then, his season turned sour with a thumb injury suffered in Nashville, and then, just as he was ready to make a comeback, he crashed into a downed rider at press day for the AMA Pro Motocross opener in California.
In between that, he signed a deal for 2025 to return to his old team, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
Marchbanks has attempted a comeback from the injuries with ClubMX this summer on a YZ450F, but it has not gone well. He ran out of gas in a moto in his return at Southwick, then carded strong 7-8 finishes at RedBud, followed by a terrible weekend overall at Millville, where he had mechanical problems in the first moto and a DNF, and then took 18th in moto two. His chances of making the SMX playoffs and World Championship on a 450, perhaps his only remaining target, are dwindling.
There have been rumors that either Marchbanks was no longer gelling with the team, or the team wasn't gelling with Marchbanks, or both. Plus, he's definitely leaving for Pro Circuit next year. With that, the ClubMX team announced today that it has ended its relationship with Marchbanks, and he will not be racing for the team this weekend at Washougal.
What this likely means is Marchbanks' season is over and he won't be seen again until his 2025 Pro Circuit deal begins, but there's an interesting wrinkle here. Due to scoring so many points in 250SX, Marchbanks is still ranked 20th in the combined 250SMX standings. If he were to jump onto a Pro Circuit KX250, perhaps starting a few weeks from now at Unadilla, he'd easily secure the points needs to get into the playoffs. Could this happen? We have no idea, but we think it would be a cool thing to see.
As for ClubMX, a statement from Team Owner Brandon Haas is below.
ClubMX Ends Four-Year Relationship with Garrett Marchbanks
CHESTERFIELD, SC – JULY 17, 2024: ClubMX has made the difficult decision to end its relationship with Garrett Marchbanks.
Team Owner Brandon Haas added: “In the fall of 2020, we took a chance on Garrett being the first rider to earn a salary on what was then a very low budget race team. Likewise, Garrett took a chance on us, coming to a team with little experience, just hoping what I was selling him was accurate. Collectively, we both put our money where our mouth was and put our YZ250F on the box right out of the gate at the opening round of East Coast Supercross in Orlando 2021 as our first ever race together. Since then, we have had multiple supercross podiums over the four years, heat race wins, multiple 250 motocross Top 5’s and a 450-motocross race podium. We are grateful for this opportunity, as it has helped us grow our program to where it is now. We are also grateful that Garrett took advantage of this opportunity and became one of the most sought-after riders for the 2025 season.
We have encountered some hardships along the way that we have proven difficult to overcome as a team. It is my job to ensure constant growth and development not only for our riders, but just as importantly for our crew. Now we must focus on our goals for our team and that is to prove to the world that whatever you set your sites on in life, regardless of your circumstances, you can accomplish them. There is nothing more satisfying to me than watching a great group of people work in harmony, with the flow of positive attitudes to drive us all to success. I will continue to search for this, and with time, we will accomplish great things together.
I appreciate all our race team partners, ClubMX families and members, and fans around the world who support us. Let us all wish Garrett nothing but the best moving forward!"
