Sierra Vet National MX 2024

Prairie City OHV Sierra National MX

GYPSY Tales...Haiden Deegan

The 2 Things that Hinders Haiden Deegan's run at a Supercross Championship.

Clinton Fowler goes through Haiden Deegan's 2024 Supercross stats so far and where they stack up to other superstars of the sport. My guest today is Clinton Fowler, the man behind the fantastic statistics that you hear each and every weekend on the Supercross broadcast as well as the fantastic online resource wewentfast.com and his own instagram @fowlerfacts. Clinton gave up his high-paying job at Microsoft developing the XBox to work in the action sports world with Red Bull and wound up developing the sports first detailed database almost on accident. I am a big storylines guy in the sport and no matter what story you throw Clintons way, he has a stat to either back it up or shoot you down. This was a highly enjoyable episode of the podcast with an extremely interesting and knowledgeable guy!

Supercross Questions?

Q&A: How Supercross is unfolding

Motoonline.com  Regulars Post: Kellen Brauer

Digging through storylines from the 2024 season after 15 rounds of the championship.

As the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship heads into its final two rounds, we’re seeing the conclusion to several season-long storylines. We break down the unfolding trends in this edition of Q&A.

Q: Who is going to take this 450SX title?

A: While mathematically, four riders are still eligible to win it, it really is down to Jett Lawrence and Cooper Webb. And more specifically, it’s down to whether Jett Lawrence doesn’t throw it away. He’s established himself a 12-point lead in the championship which isn’t the comfiest lead, but it does afford him the opportunity to control his own destiny by clinching the title with two podiums – something Jett has accomplished nine times across 15 races this season. For Webb to win this title still, he essentially had to win out at two races that will be harder packed and thus feature surfaces Webb has not been particularly strong on of late. It’s not impossible for Webb to pull the magic rabbit out of his hat still and get it done, but it’s looking like this is Jett Lawrence’s title to lose with two races to go.

Q: Will the 250SX points leaders remain out front?

A: RJ Hampshire is two points up on Levi Kitchen in 250SX West while Tom Vialle is 15 points up on Haiden Deegan in 250SX East. One of those championships looks more open than the other, but the question marks surrounding Levi Kitchen’s health still remains. Last we saw of Kitchen was him crashing in Nashville, finishing P14, and then posting from the hospital bed that he’s okay but thought he had broken ribs. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki say he’s fine and Kitchen has been on the bike since, but he may not be at 100%. This weekend’s Denver Supercross will be a huge tale in where this 250SX West title fight goes as it’s essentially a dead heat in points and this weekend could either open it up for Hampshire or flip it back in the favor of Kitchen. Either way, we’re probably going into the 250SX East/West Showdown at Salt Lake City with the closest title fight being 250SX West as Tom Vialle just needs P11 or better no matter what at the final round to be 250SX East champion.

Q: What have been the standout performances?

A: The standout performance nearly across the board has to go to Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger. His season unfortunately ended a few weeks back in Foxborough with a fractured elbow, but Plessinger was outstanding in the early part of the 450SX championship. He won the third round at San Diego for his first career victory and held the championship lead for a few weeks as the musical chairs behind him continued to shuffle. Everyone knew Plessinger had the speed to win on his night, but not many expected him to be a legitimate championship contender for as long as he was. With a free agency looming for Plessinger, Red Bull KTM saw plenty out of the Ohio-native before his injury to extend his contract into the 2025 season and keep the SuperMotocross cowboy in orange.

Q: Biggest surprise or disappointment this season?

A: While Aaron Plessinger was an eyebrow raiser in 450SX, Coty Schock had some eyes wide open in 250SX. After being dropped late by Phoenix Racing Honda in the offseason, the Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha team gave Schock and chance and fielded a fifth 250SX bike for him. Schock has been rock solid the whole season even through a broken collarbone that required surgery after the fourth round in Birmingham, and now he’s tied for third in 250SX East points with one round to go. No question he’s been the surprise of the year. As for disappointments, you’d likely have to pin it on Justin Barcia or Malcolm Stewart. These are two riders who have been battling well inside the top five in championships before and they sit P9 and P11 in 450SX standings, respectively, with two rounds to go. They both have been getting a bit better late in the year but being over 60 points behind P5 in the championship is certainly not where either rider envisioned themselves.

Q: What does this 2024 Supercross season tell us about the future of 450SX?

A: Well if Jett Lawrence claims this 450SX title as a rookie against this depth of field, look out. We are a few years away from names like Eli Tomac, Jason Anderson, Justin Barcia, Malcolm Stewart, and maybe even Cooper Webb and Ken Roczen, all retiring. Lawrence is still just 20 years old and is in a position to really take over this sport in a big way. This was the year where the veterans needed to show Lawrence that this 450 class is not going to be as easy as the 250 class. But after Lawrence had a perfect season on a 450 in AMA Pro Motocross and won the SuperMotocross World Championship after that, all he’s done indoors is win nearly double the races anyone else has and seemed primed to become just the third ever 450SX champion. Time will tell if this form continues year after year, but right now it’s all pointing towards #18 being #1 for a while.

Q: Is the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki curse real?

A: This was a question we answered at this exact same point in time last year and the answer then was “not likely”, but it somehow seems like this is turning into a “yes”. The team was three races away from maybe winning both 250SX titles and there’s a real chance they don’t win either of them. Cameron McAdoo had a freak crash at Nashville in qualifying that damaged his shoulder. He still made the main event that night but then collided with his 250SX West championship leading teammate Levi Kitchen early in the race and they both went down. McAdoo’s season was over four laps later when he pulled off the track while Kitchen watched his 15-point championship lead disappear to a two-point deficit behind RJ Hampshire. They have not won a 250SX championship since Justin Hill in 2017 and have seen nearly sure titles with Austin Forkner, Martin Davalos, Adam Cianciarulo, and more just disappear in the strangest ways. Curses may not be real, but Pro Circuit Kawasaki is on the oddest streak of bad luck this sport has maybe ever seen.

MXGP Portugal

The 2024 MXGP World Championship begins the first of it’s triple-headers this weekend as the series heads to Agueda, Portugal for the fifth round in this exciting battle. The following weekend the series heads north to Lugo in Spain for the inaugural race at that circuit before the third race in a row at the beautiful St Jean D’Angely track in France.

Tim Gajser will be the sole representative for Team HRC in Agueda, as Ruben Fernandez (MXGP) and Ferruccio Zanchi (MX2) recover from their injuries that have seen them miss the past few rounds. Fernandez’ injury is a bit more longer-term, but his initial recovery from the surgery has been good and he’s been diligently doing all his physio to try and get back on his Honda CRF450R as quickly as possible. For Zanchi, it was decided that another weekend on the sidelines was the best course of action, just to give his shoulder the best possible chance of being 100% as we start to approach the busy part of the calendar.

As for Gajser, the Slovenian closed up the gap in the championship to just 13 points after the last round in Trentino and while he is still looking for his first GP overall, he knows that he is riding extremely well and it is surely just a matter of time before he steps onto the top step of the podium. Agueda is a track he has done well at before, having won the GP back in 2019 and scored highly at in other years, and he’ll be hoping that he can make it another victory come Sunday evening after the completion of the two GP-scoring motos.

Tim Gajser 243
“It’s been good to have a couple of weekends off, just to recharge the batteries a bit before this stretch of races where we have six rounds in seven weekends. I like going to Portugal as the track is a good one, and the fans are always very supportive and it is just a nice weekend overall. Obviously, I want to get a win, as I try to every weekend, but it is still early-on in the championship and right now I’m riding well and staying consistent and that is very important.”

Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP

"We’ve had a couple of productive weeks away from the races, just having a chance to work on somethings with a bit more time. Tim is still in a good frame of mind and we can trust his programme to be on track at all times and I’m sure he’s excited for that gate-drop again. Unfortunately Ferro wasn’t quite ready for this race and we didn’t want to push him because it is better that he gets completely healed up for this hectic part of the year, than rush back and do even more damage. Of course, Ruben is also disappointed to be missing, but we’ve been getting encouraging reports that things are going well and hope that continues."

Lars Lindstrom – The Lawrence Brothers

Lars Lindstrom has a long history with American Honda’s motocross racing project, and an even longer involvement with the sport. His father is Swedish-born American motocross/off-road pioneer and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Gunnar Lindstrom, who actually managed Honda’s motocross-racing program for the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

A talented racer himself, Lars joined Honda as a shop assistant in 2000 and worked his way up, serving in just about every capacity, including mechanic, parts room, engine tech, suspension tech, special projects and, most recently, 450 crew chief. 

Over the years, he has worked with a long list of legendary riders, including Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, Ken Roczen, Kevin Windham and of course the current lineup of the two Lawrence brothers, Jett and Hunter.

Lindstrom has had great times in recent weeks and also some tough times. Jett Lawrence has won, been bashed by Justin Barcia and had to fight through bad starts, but in the end, the Aussie is now 12 points ahead of second placed man Cooper Webb and for that, Lindstrom is happy.

Last weekend Lindstrom got what he expected, a victory for Jett and a good result for Hunter. 

“What a great weekend, all around. Hunter’s qualifying was so cool to see; the progress has been awesome, and he’s doing exactly what I hoped and thought he would do, which is build consistently through the season. All I can say about Jett is that he is a legend. That main-event performance just drove another nail into the fact that he is the best rider in world, which I feel confident in saying—especially when someone like Jeffrey Herlings admits it! For these next two races, it’s business as usual, and we all know it’s not over until it’s over.”

A week earlier in Nashville it was celebrations after a very tough couple of rounds.

“Nashville seems to really shake things up, and the racing tonight was pretty wild. We were lucky to come out unscathed, while having some great results. Hunter is really starting to hit his stride, winning his heat and then setting himself up to have a podium opportunity in the main until he was taken down by ‘the Picasso of racing incidents.’ What can you say about Jett that hasn’t already been said? From qualifying, to the heat, to dominating the main, it’s just awesome to see a special rider do special things.”

Foxborough wasn’t as much fun as Cooper Webb started making life difficult for his number one rider, Jett Lawrence.

“It was definitely an up-and-down night for us as a team. Hunter is gaining experience and momentum every weekend, and I’m really looking forward to the summer, because I think he’ll be really good. Jett was great in his heat race, and I’m super confident that he can get the job done through these next four races.”

St Louis was T-bone night for the HRC team as Justin Barcia tried to clean Jett Lawrences clock.

“When we were coming to St. Louis, I was expecting to have some famous St. Louis ribs; I wasn’t aware that there are incredible T-bones also! I wasn’t a big fan of them though—I could’ve done without. It was a crazy night, but all in all, coming away without serious injuries and a career-first podium for Hunter was something to be happy about. We’ll take this next weekend off to recover and come back ready to finish the season off even stronger.”

Seattle was a comeback race for Jett Lawrence, while brother Hunter won a heat race and continued his improvement.

“We’ve had a lot of bittersweet races this year, but tonight I’m not sure I can say that. Jett rode incredible and watching him catch the leaders so quickly was awesome—his speed was unreal! It was so cool to see Hunter win his first heat race, and he was really fast at the end of the main, passing great riders to get into seventh on the last lap. 

KTM Zimmerman Out!

Sexton On Zimmerman – “The Decision Was Made By The Team”

At the 15th round of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross in Philadelphia, rumors circulated that Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton might have a different mechanic for his Factory 450 SX-F. Confirming these rumors, Kyle Defoe was seen working on the #1 machine this weekend, while Sexton’s usual mechanic, Brandon Zimmerman, was absent. Sexton posted on his social media to clear the air regarding the situation.

Chase Sexton posted- I have nothing but love for @zimm763 and he will always be a super important person to me. I want to thank him for everything, I had the best time working with him. I wanted to come out and clear the air that us not working together had nothing to do with the throttle in Nashville, that was a freak incident and no one’s fault. This was a decision made independently by the team and Brandon. Zimm is an awesome mechanic. I wish him the best on his next endeavors, and I hope to see him at the gate soon

WSX's Latest News

Monster Energy Supercross and FIM Motocross World Championship news in one place! This is your one stop show for motocross news from around because, remember, interesting stuff happens everywhere. This week's episode features a gaggle of updates, with a significant focus on the FIM World Supercross Championship. Adam Bailey, the former CEO, has left WSX, so questions have been raised about the likeliness of the series continuing. Lewis Phillips lays out all of the information that exists at the time of recording. This is a developing news story that will develop in weeks to come. Jump across the Atlantic Ocean for news from the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship. Jeffrey Herlings has announced that the ribs that he bruised at round three of MXGP, the Grand Prix of Sardinia, are actually broken. Yes, he has raced the last four weekends with four broken ribs and was lucky to not puncture a lung. MXGP returns in Agueda, Portugal, this weekend. Remember that interesting stuff does indeed happen everywhere! If there is news that you would like to see in this video, reach out in the comment section below. Thank you for watching and your continued support of this new feature.

Bloss Breaks Arm

Practice crash for Bloss results in fractured arm and collarbone

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Section: Competition Post: Kellen Brauer

The leading Beta rider’s Supercross season comes to an early end.

Image: Octopi Media.

Following a practice crash this week, Benny Bloss will miss the remainder of Monster Energy Supercross due to a fractured arm and collarbone. The incident occurred as Bloss was preparing for round 16 this weekend in Denver.

“I am super bummed for Benny,” said Liqui Moly Beta Racing team manager Carlen Gardner. “He has had a fantastic season representing the new 450 RX and we are in such a good spot with him and the bike. This sport likes to test your mental strength every day and all we can take from this situation is that we know the level Benny can get back to and better when he heals up. He will undergo needed surgery and begin the road to recovery. He will be supporting his teammate Colt over the next two rounds as we are still in full swing to better ourselves each weekend.”

Bloss currently sits 14^th in the 450SX standings and had been on a solid run of late having just come off a season best eighth place finish in Nashville two weekends ago. It’s a tough break for the Liqui Moly Beta Racing team as well who had both Bloss and Colt Nichols looking strong in Philadelphia as they looked to end the season on a high note.

The team was not planning on racing all of AMA Pro Motocross, so Bloss was likely going to have some time on the sidelines regardless, but no timetable on his return has been established either. Nichols will be the sole remaining rider for the team moving into the last two races of the season.

SMX Insider – Denver Supercross Preview

The Monster Energy Supercross Championship heats up as the title contenders head to Denver, Colorado. In this episode, the boys welcome Steve Matthes and racer Grant Harlan to the show to talk about Matthes's brainchild of having a fan-funded race to benefit the privateers. Get the lowdown on the Yamaha PulpMX privateer challenge race. When the 30-second board goes up, the Jason's discuss the international stars who make America home, Jeffrey Herlings comments on Jett Lawrence and his speed, Jason Anderson as a spoiler, Cooper Webb and his veteran move off the start, the 250 West battle, and Eli Tomac's homecoming. Additionally, Clinton Fowler dives deep and gives numbers to show how much gate pick matters to success in the main event.

Roger De Coster Discusses KTM Race Team

Roger De Coster was outside the Red Bull KTM truck after the Philadelphia Supercross, a successful day at the races that saw Chase Sexton charge to a podium and Tom Vialle affirm his place at the top of the 250 East Region points. While the team loaded up the motorcycles and backed up the rig, the Director of Motorsports for KTM/Husqvarna/GASAGS in North America gave us eight minutes to talk about the season so far, the how and why to the suspension change on Chase Sexton's motorcycle, and what he thinks of the current generation's competitive skills and technical knowledge.