That’s a wrap on the 2024 season, with the checkered flag falling on the SuperMotocross World Championship Final at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The series was back in Vegas for the first time in years and after whatever that was last weekend in Dallas, Vegas was a welcome sight for many. The track was pretty good this weekend. Like the other two SMX rounds, it didn’t offer much for passing opportunities, but in talking to riders and teams, they liked the course, and the track crew did a good job with the dirt.
I think just being back in Las Vegas was also a fun time for the industry. The vibe was high (lots of Phil Nicoletti parties might’ve helped also) and it’s really a shame the series doesn’t come here every year. Salt Lake City pays money to be the finale for Monster Energy Supercross and it’s a good stop, but it’s not Vegas, where we used to wrap this thing up. Of course, Sam Boyd Stadium is closed now so until they can crack into the shiny new Allegiant Stadium it's hard to have a supercross in Vegas. It would be awesome, though.
So, year two of the SMX series is over and where are we at with this new thing? Well, the money offered to the teams and riders is a great thing, and the fan access, shows, and events are all good, I think. The format is whatever. I don’t know how ticket sales were for the three events, but Charlotte and Vegas seemed good, and the riders were, for the most part, pretty happy with all three events, overall. Dallas wasn’t good and we saw Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence voice their displeasure about the length of the season, but to me, overall, the riders were okay.
Here's the thing to me though. We are told this SMX thing really matters. It’s a WORLD TITLE, there are banners each week displayed in supercross with the champions’ names, they have special backgrounds on the champs’ bikes, and yeah, all the other stuff. And the money, again, is awesome. But in my opinion, these races should be special. The riders, teams, and fans should want to go see something special. So, whether that’s tracks like Charlotte or locations like Vegas (not the dragstrip itself), that’s what makes things cool. We should never have another SMX race in Dallas. That’s a crappy speedway track in the middle of the day. Make these things cool and people will want to go. I’m not sure if they’re there just yet.
Nothing against Hunter Lawrence or Chase Sexton but to me and many others, this 450SMX title was Jett Lawrence’s to lose. He controlled his title hopes coming into Vegas in that he just had to win, which he did. Not easily though, because in that first moto he had to reel in Eli Tomac late and then in the second main event he cruised—not that far ahead of Hunter—to go 1-1 and win the million bucks that comes with the 450SMX title. His fast lap in qualifying was something to watch, for sure. He’s just so smooth and effortless while still going so fast that it’s pretty special to watch.
Hunter Lawrence had a great 450SMX after ending the 450MX series on a bit of a downer. Hunter’s a tick off his brother and that’s enough to cost him the title, but Jett is unreal so that's not bad, really. Going into 2025 450SX, some people might have both brothers as 1A and 1B, right? Also, I wonder, when Hunter is following his brother out there in a main event, how much is different from a Wednesday in Florida? Like, I’m sure the intensity is a bit higher, but think about how many motos these two have done that were just like the second 450SMX main? You’re waiting for a slip up I guess because you can’t push too much on a track like Vegas, but that has to be a bit, boring, maybe?
Eli Tomac had to be shaking his head a bit when Jett went by him in the first main event. I mean, he was riding great, his lap times hadn’t slipped, and then Jett did…that. It was symbolic of this 2024 year and the passing of the torch kind of. Tomac didn’t ride 2024 SX like we’re used to seeing (just one win), but he’s still certainly a badass, and this SMX series was a good one for Tomac, no doubt about it. But what are you gonna do about that when Jett seemingly decides he’s going to get to the front? Youth versus experience was on display in that pass and the youth did something the vet didn’t want to, or couldn’t, do.
Tomac’s got the call and accepted it for the MXoN, which is awesome for sure. He’s rounding into a better form than we saw at the last two nationals. I still think his performance in SMX is a bit, well, SMX-induced because he’s so good at these types of tracks (especially Vegas and Dallas, where it’s similar to dirt he grew up on), but yeah, he’s Eli Tomac. He’ll be fine in the UK. Props to Tomac for stepping up when asked.
Chase Sexton got a new motor package for the starts this weekend and then proceeded to get a bad start in the first moto, get landed on in the first rhythm lane, and injure his hand. That forced him out of the MXoN, which is an event he loves to do. So yeah, Chase Sexton isn’t going to really remember the 2024 SMX series very fondly. I think this off-season, Sexton and KTM need to uncover every stone out there in the ECU world to try and improve the starts. Without those, the Honda guys are gonna be gone a lot. Or Ian Harrison needs to get an ECU launch button on his phone, like the one I suspect Lars Lindstrom has. You decide.
Aaron Plessinger was much better this weekend and that sound you hear is Team USA exhaling a bit. AP’s SMX was saved by having that shoulder heal up a bit by the triple-points third race. Also, I wish you could see me rolling my eyes over having a race count for triple points. AP wasn’t that far back of Tomac the entire second 450SMX main event.
Cooper Webb, American hero. That is all. His Vegas SMX was fine, and he was in the mix. But huge props to Webb for sticking his hand up for the MX2 class for Team USA. He didn’t even drink at any of the numerous Phil Nicoletti parties this weekend, he gave up about 10K in a Hawaiian vacation he had booked, and he left Vegas earlier than he wanted to in order to start riding this 250F.
From people close to him who I talk to, Webb’s 2016 MXoN, when a late pass by Romain Febvre took the USA win away, still haunts him to this day. Coop needs and wants redemption at this race and he’s letting his actions speak for him. Respect to Webb and Star for making this happen.
We started Anaheim 1 with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna 450 riders on the ground early in the main event. We ended 2024 with a DNF by Christian Craig and a DNS by Malcolm Stewart after a crash. Poor Nate Ramsey [team manager]. Tough season on the 450 side for the white bikes! Stewart had some good weekends but overall lacked his usual speed, Craig had a horrible year. Next season it’ll be Stewart and Justin Barcia alongside each other as the TLD team goes away and KTM merges the GasGas and Husqvarna teams together. One guy will be on a red bike and one guy on a white bike. I mean, there haven't ever been issues on the track with Barcia and Mookie right?
Our guy Phil Nicoletti went out in style with a tenth in main two after crashing out in main one. So, Phil hangs it up after 16 years of racing with some good results and really, a self-made career. Early in his career not many thought Nicoletti would do what he did in the premier class and in 250SX. Visor tip to our guy Phil—you did it your way.
Also, Nicoletti had the weirdest SMX ever with 9-DNF-DNF-21 (two laps down)-DNF-10, which thankfully got him 21st in the points and $26,000 for his efforts. I guarantee he wasn’t happy about it, but he went out as he came in, upset at the world.
Pierce Brown’s career so far as been up and down. He’s been on a factory team for a number of years, has gotten some podiums, and has generally been a guy who’s been sort of just, “there.” Some improvement but also, years into his career, he hasn’t taken that step. And it’s a bit ironic in his last ride for TLD Red Bull GasGas, Brown pulled off his best ride a professional, going 2-1 for the overall win in 250SMX.
He rode a great race to get second in moto one and then took off for the win in moto two. Haiden Deegan got into second about halfway through moto two and did close a bit on Brown, but Brown picked it back up to walk away with the overall.
With the triple points awarded in Vegas, Brown’s win put him third overall in 250SMX points and bumped him up to receive the 150K that came with it. Add in 50K for the overall win and Brown had himself a night in Vegas where he probably made about 65 percent of his yearly income in one night!
With TLD closing up shop for next year (we think they’ll be back with Ducati in 2026) it was a great way to wrap things up, and I wonder if this is a step forward for Brown in his new ride over at Star Yamaha. You never know when a guy will step up (and it’s not like Brown has sucked in his time at TLD, it’s just been [shrugs], okay?) and Yamaha might be the benefactor of Brown’s years of experience with the KTM group.
Deegan was the heavy favorite to sweep Vegas, complete the perfect season, and earn his second SMX title. He didn’t pull off the sweep as his starts cost him in moto two, but he did ride very well to grab the first moto win and then also cut through the pack to get second behind Brown in moto two. Deegan’s got that special talent only the elite guys have. You can see in the way he tries things no one else does (how about that jump in the back over the single?) and is always pushing. Haiden Deegan is the heavy favorite to win 250SX and MX and SMX in 2025, there’s no doubt about that.
When you discuss the rest of the 250SMX field through the three rounds, it’s tough to make concrete decisions on how a rider rode. When it’s obvious, like Brown at Vegas or Beaumer at Charlotte, that a dude rode great then that’s easy. But when you look at the results though a lot of the 250SMX rounds, you see Max Anstie with a 10-4 and yeah, the “analysis” of this race is, Max got a good start in the second main and not in the first main. Levi Kitchen, 7-4 in Dallas and so on. Lots of variations across the board for the 250SMX riders and on all three tracks, passing was hard so the start was perhaps even more important than usual.
So, when it comes to some of these riders, I don’t know (shrugs). But when it comes to other 250SMX riders, I do have some things I’m convinced of.
I’m convinced Ty Masterpool crashed way too much in the SMX series. He had speed for sure, but he hit the deck a lot. Like, too much. I’m not one of those “Ty can’t be good at SX” people but on these “easier” SX tracks, Masterpool didn’t look like he could stay upright. Fast, yes. Consistent, no.
I’m convinced that Levi Kitchen was probably finding it hard to get up for these races. He lacked his usual speed and never challenged for wins, really. In Charlotte he was close I guess but it seemed that Deegan was the best rider without a doubt. The Chef was just okay in SMX. I wish I could get 25K like the Chef did for sixth overall for just being an okay media guy.
I’m convinced Jalek Swoll would not trade getting KO’d thirty feet out of the very first main event for $3000, but Swoll did manage to not finish one SMX and still finish 21st in the points to get $3K. But hey, it’s not bad right?
I’m convinced that Cameron McAdoo had a good SMX, even though the results don’t show it. RAM IT had to go through the LCQ each time and didn’t get great gate picks (although with injuries, the picks were better than 21st or 22nd like they originally were gonna be) but he started close to inside the top ten and then did the typical McAdoo stuff to get into the mix. Cam made 15K for his efforts.
Thanks for reading OBS. It’s been a hell of a weekend here in Vegas and I need to dry out and sleep a bit. We’ll be back after the MXoN to talk about that and more throughout the offseason. We’re onto 2025, folks, but first, a trip to the UK next weekend. Email me at matthes@racerxonline.com to chat about this or anything else.
