CONCORD, N.C. — Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence returned to racing in grand style by taking the overall win at Playoff 1 of the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship Finals, fueled by Monster Energy. After missing most of the Pro Motocross season, the defending SMX Champion showed he hasn’t lost speed or endurance with a thrilling battle for the final moto win and overall victory at zMAX Dragway at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I surprised myself more than you guys, I think,” Lawrence said. “That race pace [was] a little different than practice. But that’s so cool. I remember back in 2023 I was saying I really wanted to battle Eli in outdoors, and this is as close as we get to outdoors, so it was a really cool thing to do. I could say a goal checked off, or a little check off the bucket list, you could say. I’m just super pumped to be up here again, and yeah, I’m back!”
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac dominated the first 450SMX moto on the high-speed, hybrid SuperMotocross track. He led most of the second moto but finished in the runner-up spot after a fierce battle with Lawrence. SuperMotocross event results are determined by a combined two-moto score, so Tomac earned second overall with (1-2) moto finishes. The freshly-crowned AMA Pro Motocross champion, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton, was in the mix in both 20-minute plus one-lap motos. Sexton had to settle for a third overall when the two leaders pulled away from him late in the final moto.
“We definitely have a lot to improve on,” Sexton said. “I felt a little bit like a re-run of Chicago last year, by trying super hard but I wasn’t really going that fast. So [I] gotta find some more comfort, but these guys are riding really well. They honestly just smoked me today, so gotta get better. We have two more rounds, the ones that really count, obviously, this one is just single points, then double points and triple points, so just trying to improve and really capitalize in that last race.”
In 250SMX Class racing, Haiden Deegan swept both motos with exciting come-from-behind charges that had him working his way past nearly all the top racers. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer led several laps in the first moto and battled up front in the second to score his first professional podium finish. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen pulled an early gap on the field in the second moto but had to settle for second place when Deegan caught and passed him in the final minutes of the race.
“Yeah, we gotta go back to work this week. When I get back, we’re working. Because even though I went 1-1 today there’s a lot of errors that were made and I’m not happy about it,” Deegan said. “But it was nice to win the first one, that was a good goal [to] check off the list.”
SuperMotocross Playoff 2 pits the racers against one another next Saturday, September 14th, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The racing intensifies as the points payout doubles in Playoff 2. And just seven days after that, the racers compete in the SuperMotocross World Championship on September 21st at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The final event pays triple points for the overall results and then pays out the huge prize of $1 million for the top step of the 450 SMX Class and $500,000 for the 250 SMX Class. Â