The Monster Energy SMX World Championship Final takes place in Ridgedale, Missouri, this weekend, and as usual, nobody has managed to turn this thing into a runaway. The points pay triple this weekend too, which only adds to how crazy things could get. Let’s dive into the numbers to see how some of the different title scenarios could work out.
250SMX Class
As mentioned, the points are paying triple the normal amount this weekend so whoever wins is going to rake in 75 points, not 25. That means there are a ton of riders who are mathematically still in contention, but realistically it’s down to Levi Kitchen, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Julien Beaumer.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Qualifying Points | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA  | 541 | 153 |
| 2 |  Ryder DiFrancesco | Bakersfield, CA | 490 | 129 |
| 3 |  Cole Davies | Waitoki, New Zealand  | 638 | 128 |
| 4 |  Julien Beaumer | Lake Havasu City, AZ | 369 | 119 |
| 5 |  Landen Gordon | Murrieta, CA | 191 | 104 |
Kitchen
Since Kitchen holds the points lead it’s pretty simple—as long as he finishes ahead of DiFrancesco and Beaumer, this title is his. And if he finishes in the top three and beats DiFrancesco, the title is still his no matter what Beaumer does. The points lead also gives him the luxury of not having to worry about Cole Davies or Jo Shimoda.
DiFrancesco
It’s pretty simple for Ryder D too. If he finishes within the top three, and beats Kitchen, he wins the title, as long as Beaumer doesn’t win. If DiFrancesco finishes third and beats Kitchen, but Beaumer wins, DiFrancesco loses.
If DiFrancesco finishes fourth and Kitchen finishes fifth, the two would tie in points, and since Kitchen has an overall win, he’d win the title. So, if DiFrancesco finishes fourth or worse, he’d need Kitchen to finish sixth or worse in order to beat him in points.
Bottom line, a race win gets it done no matter what, as does second place as long as he finishes ahead of Kitchen. And with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna disbanding after this weekend, could there be a better sendoff than winning a championship?
Beaumer
JuJu is in a must win situation. Yes, there are scenarios in which he could win the title by not winning the race, but they’re highly unlikely. Interestingly enough, I’ve typed that several times about situations in the past and the highly unlikely scenarios have almost come true! Anyway, if Beaumer, who is 16 points back of Kitchen, wins, it doesn’t guarantee a title like a win for Kitchen or DiFrancesco does. He needs to win, and hope the other two have a little bad luck. If he gets the win, he’d need DiFrancesco to finish third or worse and have Kitchen finish fourth or worse. That’s well within the realm of possibility!
Points Up for Grabs This Weekend
| Finish Position | Playoff 1 | Playoff 2 | World Championship Final |
| 1 | 25 | 50 | 75 |
| 2 | 22 | 44 | 66 |
| 3 | 20 | 40 | 60 |
| 4 | 18 | 36 | 54 |
| 5 | 17 | 34 | 51 |
| 6 | 16 | 32 | 48 |
| 7 | 15 | 30 | 45 |
| 8 | 14 | 28 | 42 |
| 9 | 13 | 26 | 39 |
| 10 | 12 | 24 | 36 |
| 11 | 11 | 22 | 33 |
| 12 | 10 | 20 | 30 |
| 13 | 9 | 18 | 27 |
| 14 | 8 | 16 | 24 |
| 15 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| 16 | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| 17 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| 18 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 19 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| 20 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
450SMX Class
We’ve got an interesting situation in the 450 Class. Jorge Prado has a 16-point lead, so he’s in control for now. But if he falters, it’s wide open for Hunter Lawrence, Haiden Deegan, Ken Roczen, and Cooper Webb.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Qualifying Points | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jorge Prado | Lugo, Spain  | 590 | 158 |
| 2 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA | 404 | 151 |
| 3 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 820 | 136 |
| 4 |  Ken Roczen | Mattstedt, Germany  | 349 | 128 |
| 5 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 579 | 123 |
Prado
Prado has been great in the first to SMX Playoffs and as a result, has a nice cushion to work with. Bottom line is, if he finishes third or better the title is his no matter what. Full stop.
Lawrence, Deegan, Roczen, Webb
Let’s for a moment entertain the idea that Prado finishes outside of the top three. If that happens we’ve got a winner-take-all situation between Lawrence, Deegan, Roczen, and Webb. It is possible that Prado finishes outside of the top three all by himself, but judging by his performance last week it doesn’t seem likely. He crashed, and still won! That said, there’s a lot of money on the line, which increases the motivation for someone to help Prado get better acquainted with the Missouri soil. Fortunately for Prado this just isn’t in the playbook for guys like Lawrence or Roczen, or even Webb these days.
We know Deegan has no problem playing that game, but he’s got Webb to deal with, who last week said he was going to make sure Deegan doesn’t win the title after Deegan took him out in Los Angeles. Webb’s temperature has probably come down somewhat since the incident, but it probably wouldn’t take much for it to spike again. He’ll also be in his final race with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha, so consequences from his team aren’t a concern.
All things considered, things are looking pretty good for Prado, but if going to the races has taught us anything, you just never know how things are going to play out. The only thing we do know is, this Saturday is going to be wild so make like James Stewart and grab some popcorn!
