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With two rookie champions, the new SuperMotocross World Championship fueled by Monster Energy ushered in a new era for the sport in more ways than one.
WORDS: JASON WEIGANDT
PHOTOS: ALIGN MEDIA
To the victor goes the spoils, and also the scrutiny. Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan found themselves deep within the fray in Los Angeles, Jett dealing with non-stop questions about his controversial “wave around” to Ken Roczen the previous weekend in Chicagoland. As for Deegan, he is no stranger to attention, saying, “I grew up, since I came out of the hatch, with a camera there. I’m just used to it.” But, after his first-moto performance in the Coliseum, where he went back from second to fifth and lost valuable ground to title-rival Jo Shimoda, he wanted no part of the TV cameras and interview request in the pits. He was in a zone of focus, frustration and disappointment, and he literally could not speak. That’s big stuff, but for both riders, such drama really doesn’t seem to matter that much. In the end what matters is performance. They had to perform when it counted, and when it did count, they did perform, emerging as the first-ever champions of the new SuperMotocross [SMX] World Championship format. While these kids are highly marketable, the marketing only works when it can attach itself to results.
The whole new SMX thing was the same. You could talk about it and hype it all year, but people had to actually see it to know if this was for real. Indeed, it was.
We are deeply rooted in Moto—We’ve been here all our lives. Back in 1998 when we turned an underground newspaper into a shiny color magazine, it immediately changed the game with its unprecedented depth of coverage, sense of humor, and access to the sport’s biggest names. Today, our readers know they can go to Racer X Online for all the news, race results, and event coverage they need, and then enjoy even more detail and perspective in the pages of Racer X Illustrated. The mag offers a chance to learn something new on every page and stay connected with the people and personalities that shape our sport—the competitors out on the racetrack, as well as the ones behind the scenes—through our exclusive deep-dive stories and columns.
Our trademark has always been insider knowledge from the experts who are at the races and around the sport. We have long prided ourselves on our unparalleled race reporting and detailed storytelling. We go deep with the riders and teams to provide comprehensive coverage you won’t find anywhere else—all with first-class photography and design. It’s a full education in motocross past, present, and future.
Davey Coombs
Editor-in-chief & Founder
Racer X Illustrated
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