Before the starting gates ever dropped on the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship fueled by Monster Energy last September, the hope was that this new collaboration between Feld Motor Sports and MX Sports Pro Racing [a sister company to Racer X] would usher in an exciting new era in global motorsports. From the origins of each series in the early 1970s until just recently, the producers of Monster Energy Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross had peacefully coexisted, but never really worked together on a meaningful level. This, despite the fact that they had the same riders, race teams, sponsors, and fans, for the most part. It was as if two completely different seasons existed within the calendar year, the first being a 17-round stadium series, the second a 12-race outdoor motocross tour.
The idea of the new SuperMotocross World Championship changed all that. The two series kept their own identity and heritage, and crowned its own champions, but came together on items like a common rulebook, cohesive promotion and media coverage, cooperative sponsorship packages and more.
For example, the very creation of SuperMotocross led to a much stronger television and streaming package through NBC and Peacock, as well as a huge extra payday for the riders. By working in harmony, they were able to bring together the very best riders from either series to compete in a three-race playoff worth more than $5 million, a huge bonus for the athletes, the race teams, and of course the fans from all over the world who follow both series. And by the time it was over, and Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence had earned himself a million-dollar bonus for winning the 450SMX Championship and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan added a $500K bonus for taking the 250SMX crown, it was obvious that SMX was not only an immediate smash hit, but that it would have far-reaching impact across the entire sport.
Take the first SMX Champion, for instance. Australia-born Lawrence had a remarkable 2023 season that saw him earn a second-straight 250SX West Region title, then immediately move up to the premier 450 Class for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, where he had a perfect season, winning every race he entered. Then it was time for the SMX Playoffs: zMAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and the Finals at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jett got off to an uncertain start, as ’23 Supercross Champion Chase Sexton handed Lawrence his first defeat ever on a 450. Lawrence went 7-2 for fourth overall at that first race. He rebounded quickly, taking the win at Chicagoland, then capped his remarkable year with another win at the LA Coliseum and the first SMX World Championship.
Lawrence kept the momentum going into 2024, claiming his first Monster Energy Supercross title as a 450SX rookie, just as he had done last summer in outdoor motocross. But then Jett got hurt early in the summer when he broke his thumb in a training accident. The injury should have marked the end of his season, as AMA Pro Motocross would be over by the end of August, but Lawrence and his team now have something bigger to look forward to, namely defending his SuperMotocross World Championship. So rather than park his #1 Honda CRF450R for the rest of 2024, Jett Lawrence was back on the bike in mid-August, looking forward to the chance to end his season on a much different note than a broken thumb.
Coincidentally, Jett wasn’t the only rider who suffered a thumb injury in 2024 that would have ended his season already, if not for SuperMotocross. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, each multi-time SX and MX Champions, both went to the sidelines to heal thumb injuries, then both decided to come back before the end of AMA Pro Motocross, despite the fact that neither had any chance at the outdoor title. But the lure of the SuperMotocross World Championship Playoffs and its huge paydays have these two future AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers back on track, much to the delight of their legions of fans around the world.
Add it all up and SuperMotocross fans will have the chance to watch five different Monster Energy Supercross Champions line up in SMX ’24, as Lawrence, Tomac, and Webb will be joined by Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton (’23) and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson (’18). As for AMA Pro Motocross Champions, that’s an even longer list after you add Ken Roczen, Dylan Ferrandis, Aaron Plessinger, Dean Wilson…
Another wide-reaching effect of the launch of SMX is the renewed interest in top riders from around the world looking to move to the U.S. and pursue their careers here. Sure, Grand Prix champions like Ken Roczen of Germany and Tom Vialle of France are already here, but now multi-time FIM World Champion Jorge Prado from Spain is all set to move to the U.S. as soon as the current season ends to begin preparing for a 2025 run at SX, MX, and SMX, where the Spaniard will join Jason Anderson on the Monster Energy Kawasaki factory team. Also waiting in the wings for a chance to move stateside are Dutch rider Kay de Wolf and Belgian brothers Lucas and Sacha Coenen, all of whom are locked in battle for this year’s MX2 Motocross World Championship.
Speaking of Roczen, the Progressive Insurance Suzuki rider is another multi-time AMA champion who was also dealing with an injury that might have ended his season if not for the opportunity to take a shot at the million-dollar SMX bonus. Kenny, who won the Chicagoland round last year, finished second overall in the SuperMotocross Championship, worth a hefty $500,000 year-end bonus.
We’re also seeing riders switch teams in the middle of the season more and more, as both athletes and race teams seek the right fit for the Playoffs. Max Anstie and Colt Nichols left the teams they started 2024 with in order to join Star Racing Yamaha and Twisted Tea Suzuki, respectively. There are also riders that are switching both teams and classes. Garrett Marchbanks has gone from a 450 rider with Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha to a 250 spot with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, following in the bootsteps of Ty Masterpool, who switched from riding 450s for HBI Racing Kawasaki for a 250 spot with Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Both been tasked with trying to outpace reigning 250SMX Champion Haiden Deegan, who has been the front-runner in the 250 Class for most of the summer, but the 18-year-old really began to assert himself in last September’s SuperMotocross Final.
He joined Japan’s Jo Shimoda and the Australian Hunter Lawrence (Jett’s older brother) in a winner-take-all SMX showdown at the LA Coliseum, which just happened to be the site of his father Brian Deegan’s one and only 125 Supercross win 25 years earlier, as well as numerous X Games gold medals for the action sports icon. “Dangerboy” Deegan came through with the win, the biggest of his career to date, and it helped propel the rookie into an even better second season as a professional.
The ascent of young SMX superstars like Jett Lawrence, Haiden Deegan, and Chase Sexton, as well as the ongoing success of longtime heroes like Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb, and Ken Roczen, has helped result in a growing audience for the sport. A press conference this week spoke of streaming audience growth of around 25 percent for this season’s 28 “regular season” races on Peacock and NBC. And there’s already a generation of future legends in the making, rising through the ranks of the new “SMX Next” pipeline of amateur development races hosted by both Feld and MX Sports Pro Racing.
The SX Futures and the Pro Motocross Combines give aspiring young athletes a chance to ride, learn, and compete on the same racetracks as the current stars. This year the Charlotte opener will again host the 65cc World All-Stars, followed by the Supermini World All-Stars at Texas Motor Speedway, and 250 World All-Stars on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Remember the names of the front-runners at those races. Many will no doubt be among the ranks of 250 and 450 SMX contenders in the very near future.
The bottom line here is the new SuperMotocross World Championship, as well as the collaboration and cooperation between Feld and MX Sports Pro Racing, are already paying huge dividends for the riders, race teams, and the growing audience of fans from all over the world.
The next stage, year two, begins this weekend.
