MECHANICSVILLE, Maryland - Chase Sexton crashed in both motos of the Budds Creek National but still had the speed to win his fifth consecutive overall race. Despite Sexton’s victory, he failed to add to his points lead as he and Hunter Lawrence split the moto wins and finished second in the other moto.
Sexton leaves Southern Maryland with a 28-point advantage and could wrap up the 2024 Pro Motocross championship by finishing ahead of or within one position of Lawrence in Moto 1 of the Ironman National in the season finale.
For the second week, Sexton gave up the early advantage to Lawrence in the first race. He closed the distance in the middle stages of Moto 1 only to tip over after the halfway point. As with the Unadilla National last week, Sexton knew he could score the overall win with a Moto 2 victory. The second race boiled down to tire choice.
Sexton chose the standard knobby tire and was willing to give up some ground off the gate for durability on the hardening surface. Lawrence wanted a fast start that would allow him to stretch an advantage. Wanting to maintain his momentum with a fifth straight win, Sexton pressed hard and crashed in Race 2 also, but he was more than capable of making up the ground. In the closing laps, he stretched his advantage to more than nine seconds.
But Lawrence kept the pressure on as best he could and pushes the decision to the season finale. He had the overall in sight, which would have been his first 450 victory, but after choosing the scoop tire, he was unable to keep Sexton at bay. Despite earning the same number of points as Sexton, he was scored second overall.
Aaron Plessinger rounded out the podium with third-place results in both races.
Malcolm Stewart scored his first top-five in either series by scoring a sixth in Moto 1 and fifth in Moto 2.
Jason Anderson was scored fifth overall after earning his ninth consecutive top-five in Moto 1. He snapped that streak in the second race to finish sixth.
Click here for complete 450 results
In the 250 division, Levi Kitchen won scored the overall victory after Haiden Deegan clinched the championship at Budds Creek with one week remaining in the Pro Motocross season.
With results of third in Moto 1 and a victory in the second race, Kitchen battled illness and high humidity to score the overall victory.
Tom Vialle used consistency and finishes of second and third to finish second overall. This is his second runner-up finish in the last three motos.
But the focus this weekend was on the third-place finisher overall. Deegan won the first race and had enough points to take the title when Kitchen faded to third in the closing laps. A bad start in Moto 2 denied Deegan the chance to end on an even higher note, so he rode safely to insure he could celebrate his first 250 Motocross title.
Chance Hymas finished fourth with results of eighth in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2.
With a 6-4, Swoll rounded out the top five.
Click here for official 250 results
In-Race Notes
A light rain settled the dust as teams were entering the track and pop-up showers may persist throughout the day.
According to Adam Cianciarulo’s take on what to expect this week, that could create rutty conditions depending on how deeply track officials ripped the track.
Eli Tomac makes his return to the 450 division this week and RJ Hampshire will make his first 250 Pro Motocross start on a 250. Both riders look to gain as much momentum as possible before the SuperMotocross World Series begins on September 7 at zMax Dragway.
Features
450 Moto 2
Lawrence gets another strong start.
Plessinger sticks with him and makes it a contest for second.
Sexton rounds out the top three.
After finishing second five times this year, Lawrence is hoping he can hold onto the spot and get the overall win.
Fourth-place Malcolm Stewart and Jason Anderson round out the top five.
Colt Nichols crashes and is slow to get up. He got back into action just last week.
With 10 minutes off the clock, Plessinger is within five seconds of Lawrence for the lead. Sexton is about that far back in third.
Sexton has caught Plessinger. If he can get by him quickly, he could still win the overall if he can catch Lawrence.
Sexton gets into second at the halfway point. Soon after, Sexton lays the bike down again.
Stewart climbs to fourth. If he can hold onto the spot, this will be his first top-five of the season in either dirt bike series.
Sexton will need to pass Plessinger again to set his sight on Lawrence, but he is closing.
With 11 minutes on the clock, Sexton is in second once more and needs to make up four seconds on Lawrence.
Sexton closes to within a second with five minutes remaining.
Sexton surges on Lap 13 and takes the lead. This will deny Lawrence the overall if he stays there.
Sexton stretches his lead and wins by 10 seconds over Lawrence. Along with his second-place in Moto 1, he’ll have the overall win.
Lawrence finishes second in the moto and overall as Plessinger takes third.
Justin Cooper overcame a Moto 1 crash to finish fourth in this race.
Stewart slipped one position, but held onto fifth for his first top-five in either series in 2024.
Click here for complete 450 Moto 2 results
250 Moto 2
Kitchen takes the lead early with Hymas and Swoll next in line.
Having clinched the championship, Deegan gets a slow start and is 11th on Lap 1.
Ty Masterpool and Pierce Brown round out the top five.
Deegan decides he doesn’t have much to prove and settles into a comfortable 10th.
The top four are within 10 seconds: Kitchen, Hymas, Swoll, and Masterpool. Brown rounds out the top five at the halfway mark.
Vialle moves up and cracks the top five. He’s fourth wedged between Swoll in third and Masterpool in fifth. Otherwise, it has settled down near the front.
Hymas closes slightly. Kitchen is a little under the weather so with four minutes remaining this could come down to the final laps.
Kitchen holds off Hymas to win Moto 2 and the overall.
Vialle climbs to third,
Swoll narrowly misses the moto podium. Brown rounds out the top five.
Deegan finishes 10th.
Click here for complete 250 Moto 2 results
450 Moto 1
Lawrence gets a good start but Cooper jumps into the back of his bike and crashes. Lawrence survives and holds the top spot.
There may be a little damage on Lawrence’s bike; Plessinger takes the lead.
Christian Craig rides third.
Sexton got a bad start from the far inside, but recovers to settle into fourth.
Phil Nicoletti rounds out the top five.
Sexton moves up to third on Lap 2.
Seven minutes into the moto and Anderson moves into fifth. Tomac is just outside that mark in sixth.
Tomac gets around Anderson and Craig.
Anderson follows through to fifth.
At the halfway point. Plessinger fades to third. Lawrence leads Sexton by 3.4 seconds.
With seven minutes on the clock, Sexton is closing in on Lawrence for the lead.
Plessinger, Tomac, and Anderson hold their positions.
Five to go and Sexton tucks front tire and goes down. That dropped Sexton to nearly nine seconds back.
For the second week, Lawrence wins Moto 1 and gains three points on second-place Sexton.
Plessinger continues to consistently podium and finishes third, but he’s more than 30 seconds back.
Tomac finishes fourth in his return to racing while Mr. Consistency, Anderson, finishes fifth. That is Anderson’s ninth consecutive top-five.
Click here for complete 450 Moto 1 results
250 Moto 1
Big pileup in the first turn collects Masterpool and Max Anstie.
Deegan survives the incident and leads early.
Kitchen and Julien Beaumer settle into second and third respectively.
Fourth-place Hymas and Vialle round out the top five.
Anstie rides slowly through the pits; his Moto 1 is over.
In his first race back since winning the 250 West Supercross title, Hampshire rides sixth.
With 18 minutes remaining, Hymas takes over third from Beaumer. Deegan and Kitchen remain 1-2.
As they run, Deegan has a 73-point lead. If Kitchen falls a position, Deegan will clinch the title with three motos remaining.
Vialle has gotten around Beaumer for fourth.
Hampshire falls back a couple of spots, allowing the Triumph guys Joey Savatgy and Swoll to move up to sixth and seventh respectively.
With five minutes on the clock, Hymas gets to second.
Vialle slips past Kitchen for third. As they run, Deegan has the title.
Deegan tips over in the closing laps, but has a massive lead and doesn’t give up the top spot.
Deegan wins Moto 1 as Kitchen finishes third. That will clinch the title for the sophomore with three motos remaining.
Hymas fell from second on the final lap, handing the position to Vialle.
Beaumer in fourth and Savatgy round out the top five.
Swoll finishes just outside that mark.
Hymas fell to eighth.
Click here for complete 250 Moto 1 results
Last Chance Qualifiers
450s
Max Miller makes his way into the Feature over Jace Kessler.
Bobby Piazza and Ryan Diezic will also advance.
Click here for complete 450 LCQ results
250S
Stav Orland won the 250 Last Chance Qualifier by more than 12 seconds over Marcus Phelps.
Cameron Durow and Ryder Floyd also advance into the Feature.
Click here for complete 250 LCQ results
Qualification
450 Qualification 2
Sexton (2:01.044) and Lawrence (2:01.255) are the two fastest riders in Qualification 2, backing up the Q1 speed.
Cooper takes the third spot (2:01.551).
Tomac improves to fourth in this session with Anderson fifth again.
Click here for complete 450 Qualification 2 results
Click here for 450 combined qualification times
250 Qualification 2
Deegan jumps to the top of board early but it appears the times will be slower due to the earlier rain.
Deegan holds on to the top spot with a lap of 2:05.897.
Vialle picked up the pace in the mud and lands second on the speed chart (2:06.036). Masterpool (2:06.630) rounds out the top three.
Swoll and Hymas complete the top five.
Click here for complete results from 250 Qualification 2
Click here for 250 combined qualification times
450 Qualification 1
Rain began to fall in the middle of the session, but some fast laps were set afterward. We’ll have to wait and see if Qualification 2 is faster.
Sexton can’t clinch this week, but he can make it next-to-impossible for the field to catch him with a strong run at Budds Creek. He was fastest in Qualification 1 with a lap of 2:02.425.
Lawrence (2:03.290) is second in the championship standings and second on the board this week with Dylan Ferrandis (2:04.391), who narrowly missed the podium at Unadilla, third.
Cooper and Anderson round out the top five.
In his return, Tomac just missed the top five in sixth.
Click here for compete 450 Qualification results
250 Qualification 1
Deegan posted the quickest lap in the first qualification session with a lap of 2:04.760. He beat out Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Masterpool (2:05.007) by about 3/10ths of a second.
In his return, Hampshire (2:05.247) showed his time off didn’t slow him any. He landed third on the chart.
Vialle and Anstie round out the top five.
Click here for complete Qualification 1 results
More SuperMotocross News
Adam Cianciarulo’s take on the Budds Creek
RJ Hampshire returns for Budds Creek
Budds Creek Betting Odds
Cooper Webb shakes off rust, but reinjures thumb
Jo Shimoda breaks collarbone in Unadilla
450 results from Unadilla | 250 results
Chase Sexton wins fourth consecutive at Unadilla
Hunter Lawrence debuts new 2025 Honda
How Unadilla MX survived Hurricane Debby
Cooper Webb confirms Unadilla for 2024 return
Shane McElrath joins MaddParts.com Kawasaki team