Where's Chase?

Sexton Out 4-6 Weeks with Bone Contusion in Right Hand

by Troy DogSeptember 24, 2024, 8:58 am

Since Saturday night mush anticipation has been building around what Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton’s injuries were that he sustained on the first lap of the first 450SMX Moto.

As you know, Sexton was caught up in a racing incident with Justin Barcia, resulting in the TLD GasGas rider accidentally hitting the 2024 Pro Motocross Champion’s back and hand with his tire.

Sexton circulated the track for a couple laps before pulling in and he eventually called it a night. That led to a meeting about Team USA’s future and Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Eli Tomac answered the call to save the day and fill-in for Sexton.

Red Bull KTM put out the following press release about Sexton’s injuries and how long he will have to be out for:

Injuries sustained in Saturday nights SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Final will unfortunately rule Chase Sexton out of the upcoming 2024 FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN), where the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was due to represent Team USA.

The impact to Sexton’s back and shoulder on the opening lap of 450SMX Moto 1 in Las Vegas has resulted in him withdrawing from the MXoN weekend scheduled for October 4-6 at Matterley Basin in the United Kingdom. Medical evaluations this week have also confirmed that he suffered a bone contusion to his right hand and wouldn’t be at 100 percent fitness in time for the event.

Chase Sexton: “Obviously it’s really disappointing to have my season end the way it did in Las Vegas. I’m especially disappointed that I am not going to be able to compete at this year’s MXoN. There’s no greater honor than representing your country on the world stage and it’s a role that I take seriously, but unfortunately my body is pretty banged up right now and I have a bone contusion in my right hand that is going to limit my ability to perform at my best next week. Team USA deserves nothing but the best, healthiest three athletes on the team and unfortunately that’s just not me right now.”

Team Manager of Red Bull KTM Ian Harrison: “MXoN is a unique event and being at the end of the long racing calendar year, it’s tough to have riders all fit and healthy after so much racing. We were lucky enough to have both Chase and Aaron Plessinger in the starting line-up for des Nations this year, but unfortunately Chase took a big hit to his body at the final SMX round in Las Vegas and won’t be healed up in time to race next week. However, Aaron is still ready to go and we look forward to supporting him alongside Cooper Webb and Eli

Jett's Resume

Inside Jett Lawrence’s 450 Pro Motocross Reign: His Stats Are Crazy

by SlawJune 3, 2025, 9:41 am

Something unprecedented happened in the first moto at round 2 of the Pro Motocross Championship at Hangtown on Saturday. Jett Lawrence lost a moto! On the surface, it may not seem like a big deal, but in Jett’s short time in the 450 Class, it has only happened five (!!!!!) times.

Since moving to the 450 Class in 2023, Jett has competed in 18 races. He’s taken the overall in 17 of those races. Further, he’s competed in 36 motos. He’s won 31 of those motos.

Following his perfect rookie season in 2023 (Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart the only other riders to do so), Jett started 2024 with another 1-1 finish at Fox Raceway. He was leading the first moto at round 2 at Hangtown before crashing on a tricky downhill.

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While Jett was able to remount, the crash ended his streak of 24 consecutive moto wins as he finished 24th. Nursing a leg injury, he finished the second moto 6th, his lone overall loss to date in his career, as Chase Sexton went 1-1 on the day.

He lost the first moto the following round at Thunder Valley to his brother Hunter but claimed the second moto and the overall. At High Point, he was perfect before losing the second moto at Southwick to Sexton. Despite losing the moto, he still claimed the overall on the day.

Jett would miss the remainder of the 2024 season with a thumb injury and then tore his ACL during the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. He returned at Fox Raceway and, you guessed it, went 1-1. While he finished third at Hangtown behind Eli Tomac and Aaron Plessinger, his second moto win was good enough for the overall.

It is crazy to think that through this many races and coming off back-to-back injuries Jett has such a record in this amount of time.

Cianciarulo Drops Bomb – ‘I’m Hearing Tomac Signed With KTM”

Could be true... we'll wait and see.

In a recent conversation, Adam Cianciarulo and Justin Brayton offered an inside look at the complex team decisions shaping up for 2026—particularly surrounding Yamaha’s star-studded 450 lineup. The main question: How could Yamaha let Eli Tomac walk away?

Brayton broke down the financial challenge Yamaha faces. With Cooper Webb’s 2024 Supercross title, his salary likely saw a significant increase, along with race bonuses in the six-figure range. Add Justin Cooper, a rising talent delivering consistent podiums at a fraction of Tomac’s cost, and Haiden Deegan, the 19-year-old social media sensation and future face of the sport, and the equation becomes difficult.

“You can’t keep four guys making millions,” Brayton said. “It’s a business decision. You either keep Deegan for the next decade or keep Tomac for maybe two more years.”

Cianciarulo echoed the sentiment, noting Tomac’s deep connection with the Yamaha  bike—especially the cable clutch and KYB suspension—but admitted Yamaha likely had no choice but to prioritize youth and longevity. “If I’m Yamaha, I sign Deegan. He could give you a decade. Tomac maybe two, three years.”

Brayton added to the speculation, revealing he’s heard Tomac may have already signed with KTM. While a switch to Ducati or Triumph was rumored, both riders agreed those  bikes come with uncertainty. “Tomac’s coming back to win, not to develop a bike,” Brayton said. “KTM is a proven platform.”

Still, they acknowledged the emotional impact of seeing Tomac leave Yamaha. “It’s just a shame,” Cianciarulo said. “It’s not fair to the fans or Eli.”

Both riders agreed that while Yamaha’s decision makes sense strategically and financially, it marks the end of an era—and the beginning of a new one led by Deegan.

"I keep letting Jett start in front of me."

Martin to make final Pro Motocross start at Spring Creek National

Section: Competition Post: Alex Gobert

'I’ve now decided I’d like to finish out my career with the team'.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250MX recruit Jeremy Martin will miss the next month of Pro Motocross, before returning at home in Millville for the Spring Creek National where he intends to ‘finish out’ his career with the team.

The former two-time Pro Motocross champion returned to racing in 2025, but it had been unclear if it was for a full season or a short-term stint with the factory Yamaha organization.

A crash in the opening race at Hangtown drew a premature end to his second appearance back after running just outside the top 10 late in the moto.

“Unfortunately, after my crash in moto one at Hangtown, I’ve decided to sit out Thunder Valley this coming Saturday so that I can get back to 100 percent for Millville, which is where I’ve now decided I’d like to finish out my career with the team,” Martin revealed.

“A massive thank you to everyone at Star Yamaha for their support and belief in me, and all of the people out there who have been supporting me. It’s been a privilege to ride under the truck and, as a life-long fan of this sport, I’m excited to continue supporting the Star Yamaha team.”

At 32, Martin had experienced a difficult return after an 11th-hour recruitment, recording a 20-20 moto scorecard at the series opener at Fox Raceway. His parents own and operate the Spring Creek Motocross Park, which will host round seven of the season on July 12.

The Bullet Still Has A Bite

Thunder Valley National

Let the Motos Begin!

Drop the gate real motocross starts Saturday!

Billy Bolt Undefeated 2

Prado Is Ready

Jason Weigandt had a great interview with the reigning MXGP world champ, Jorge Prado on what it has been like rehabbing his shoulder injury and having only a month to get ready for outdoors and on a new bike!

Prado said of his race against time getting the shoulder ready for Pro Motocross: “It’s not a lot of time. Anyway, I’ve been training a lot my physical side of the body like cycling, gym sessions, trying to get my rehab of the shoulder as good as I can. It’s not easy. It was a big shoulder injury. So it takes time to recover us, to get the mobility, to get the strength and the comfort. So you’ve got to work every single day. I’ve been going to the physio every single day just to. Yeah, just to feel better with my shoulder, plus all the training. So it’s been it’s been a couple of intense months of of training.

“It’s a new team, it’s a new bike and we need to build a base, right? And yeah, definitely four weeks. It’s not a lot, but they’ve been working super hard. And I think in the little time we had, it’s pretty impressive all the changes we were able to make and make the bike feel very good.

On how he feels on the bike, and his expectations of a new series coming off an injury, Jorge said: “I think I’m riding pretty decent. So there’s always a lot of room for improvement in the speed, rhythm and everything. But it just takes time and I don’t want to overdo it. We just, you know, take it step by step. And the season, you know, we still have some time. So I will not stress, I think also once the races start, yeah, you will get more into racing and the speed will come. So I’m not really stressed, you know.