After 18 season of professional SuperMotocross competition, Phil Nicoletti, 35, will retire at the end of 2024.
Nicoletti intends to complete the 250 West season in Supercross, run the entire Pro Motocross and SuperMotocross seasons in the 450 division.
“I actually made this decision at Anaheim 1,” Nicoletti said in a release. “I rode press day, then I called my dad and told him, ‘It’s over.’ Just a feeling I had.
“Main thing, I just don’t have it in me anymore to take the chances I need to during the week. It’s not even a results thing, really. On race day adrenaline takes over and I feel like I can continue to be a fifth-to-seventh guy.
“But this sport is so freaking gnarly, you have to push to your limit every day even in practice. I don’t want to go search for tenths [of a second] on a random Tuesday. It used to piss me off when one of the kids went faster than me but lately, I’ve found myself not giving a care about it on some days. I’ve loved the grind, but I always said as soon as I don’t want to do that anymore, I’m outta here.”
Riding for ClubMX, Nicoletti currently sits 12th in the 250 West division and 24th in combined SuperMotocross points. He will attempt to climb into the top-20 in the 450 division once the outdoor season begins and will then race that class in SuperMotocross.
During his career, Nicoletti has amassed 71 top-10 finishes, 11 of which have come since 2022 despite being sidelined by injury on multiple occasions.
His best season came in 2016 when he finished fifth in the 450 Motocross championship. Nicoletti was sixth in the 2018 250 Motocross standings.
One of Nicoletti’s more interesting contribution to the sport was when he debuted leader lights at Anaheim 2 last year. Nicoletti and ClubMX continued to help with the development of the lights throughout the season until they were on the majority of bikes for the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship.
Nicoletti proudly displayed those lights when he earned the holeshot at Chicagoland Speedway for the second SMX race. In doing so, he beat Jett Lawrence and Cooper Webb to the first timing line, proving he could still compete against the young guns.
Nicoletti finished 12th in SuperMotocross points in 2023.
More Supercross News
Nashville by the numbers
11 bikes stolen from Phoenix Racing
Foxborough results, points in 450 division / 250 division
Supercross Foxborough 250 East points, results
Foxborough Live, in-race coverage
Coty Schock signs three-year contract with ClubMX
Jeremy Martin out for remainder of 2024 SX
Levi Kitchen becomes a more confident cook
Adam Cianciarulo set to retire at end of SX season
Austin Forkner underwent Lasik surgery
