High Point marks Round 4 of Pro Motocross, and the season is still young enough to develop various personalities. One Lawrence leads, but another continues to control races such as dirt bike racing has not yet seen in a generation.
1. Unfazed
Since moving into the 450 division, Jett Lawrence has only faced adversity once after he misjudged a jump in the Hangtown Motocross Classic and crashed violently. Jett raced injured for the first time in a year, and struggled to achieve a 12th-place overall result. His perfect record in the Pro Motocross series ended.
For the briefest moment, the spell he cast over the Motocross field seemed broken. Jett got a bad start in Moto 1 and was fifth at the end of Lap 1. It took a third of that race before Jett could get into a podium position, and he could never get around his brother Hunter Lawrence. There was still a tiny question that needed to be answered in Moto 2. In that race, Jett started in fourth, still trailing his brother. He passed Hunter on Lap 11 as the brothers tracked down Justin Cooper.
After making the pass for the lead on Lap 13, Jett could not entirely shake Hunter. The No. 96 stayed within one and half seconds of the lead for the remainder of the race, and a tiebreaker awarded Jett the victory, but now the field knows that not even injury can keep him off the top box of the podium.
2. Red Plate Shuffle
While this is still Jett’s title to lose, the crash at Hangtown provided a little mystery to the first three rounds. Chase Sexton ran a flawless race in Northern California and left with the red plate and a 24-point advantage. Hunter’s Moto 1 victory and second-place finish in Race 2 propelled him to the championship lead, and now there are three red plate holders in the first three races. High Point will determine if Hunter can withstand pressure from Sexton and his brother.
Motocross has been a different experience for Hunter than Supercross. In the stadium series, Hunter failed to make the evening program in his first race, and it took quite a while for him to feel comfortable on the 450. It was not until Round 6 in Glendale that he scored his first top-five. He finally earned a podium in Round 12 at St. Louis and only had two in 17 rounds.
Whether Hunter is finally comfortable on the bigger bike or if he is better in Motocross than Supercross will take a few seasons to determine, but he can take a great degree of solace in the fact that he has an average finish of 2.3 in the first six races compared to his 8.4 in the first half of the SuperMotocross season.
3. Sexton’s Stability
Chase Sexton won the 2023 Supercross championship despite a tendency to crash at critical times in high-pressure situations. Without injuries to Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac, there is some question as to whether Sexton could have overtaken them. He was Jett’s closest competition in the Motocross series early last year until a practice injury sidelined him for a few weeks.
No one could beat Jett in the Motocross series, but Sexton became the first rider to finish ahead of him in the inaugural SuperMotocross race at zMax Dragway last September. It was fitting that Sexton was also the rider who ended Jett’s perfect record in Motocross and, that should have given him the confidence needed to stretch the advantage a perfect weekend at Hangtown gave him.
Not even an accident in Moto 2 that weekend could slow Sexton, but he was back to his old ways at Thunder Valley. Sexton’s tendency to push too hard and crash has limited his success on the 450. That was why he struggled behind Webb and Tomac in the stadium series last year, and it is the reason he gave up the red plate last week. High Point will be critical. Sexton needs to win at least one of the motos and finish ahead of both Lawrence brothers at least once in the two races. If he cannot, this could be a two-man contest for the title.
4. Stewart’s Surge
Sitting ninth in the Pro Motocross standings, Malcolm Stewart is doing precisely what he needs. Injuries have kept this rider out of the outdoor series for the majority of his 450 career. He needs seat time. Stewart’s previous 450 MX campaign was made up of only four rounds in 2022; he finished in the top 10 only twice in those eight motos.
In what he hopes will be his first full 450 Motocross season, Stewart has swept the top 10 with a best result of seventh on four occasions. Equally important, he has improved his performance in Supercross with an average finish of 7.5 versus 10.2. Stewart doesn’t have to earn a top-five at High Point, but he needs to keep his streak alive and keep the bike vertical.
Riders cannot learn anything from the pits.
5. Dangerous Ground
With Jett’s perfect streak broken by his Thunder Valley crash, Haiden Deegan takes on the mantle with three overall victories in the first three Motocross rounds. No one expects the same level of performance in the 250 division as seen in the 450s, and Deegan has outridden his talent on several occasions, but he’s picked himself up from each fall and finished no worse than second in a race.
Deegan stands head and shoulders above the competition with four moto wins in the outdoor series and three victories in Supercross. Levi Kitchen leads the combined SuperMotocross points with three wins in Supercross. Tom Vialle has two SX wins and one MX moto victory. High Point will test whether Deegan can continue to pad that advantage.
Danger Boy is out to prove his inaugural SuperMotocross championship was no fluke, and he needs only three points than Kitchen at High Point to take the SMX points lead.
More SuperMotocross News
450 Results from Thunder Valley | 250 Results
Jett Lawrence responds with Thunder Valley win
Michael Mosiman out for remainder of MX
Nate Thrasher out with collarbone injury
Thunder Valley by the numbers
Chase Sexton sweeps Hangtown, snaps Lawrence’s streak
AMA explains Deegan, Vialle discrepancy
Dave Prater wants to keep SMX riders guessing
Haiden Deegan waits four hours for Fox victory
