Here is what the riders had to say and post after SuperMotocross Round 3 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
450s
Jett Lawrence — Winner, 450s; SMX Champion: “I want to start off by saying it’s sucked that we didn’t have Chase out there. I don’t know what happened, but I hope you have a speedy recovery. I’ve seen the video [and it] looked like it was just a bummer of a racing incident, so I want to send my prayers to him and hope he has a speedy recovery, or nothing too bad. And, I mean, it feels good [to win]. I sat out the Outdoors with injury, and it sucked, so it’s… good to come back and start where I left off. [I’m] super pumped. I’m happy but also it still sucks again because it’s against Hunter, so it’s a little harder to swallow but I’m just super happy with the team. This new bike is unreal, as you can see… Thanks everyone. I had to show up because the Australians came out, so I had to make sure I put Australia on top, either it was me or Hunter, so thanks to them.”
Hunter Lawrence — Finished 2nd, 450s: Hopefully we gave the fans what they wanted to come and see, in a good battle all the way down to the wire. So, it was a fun race, regardless of the outcome I still had fun. That was a really good moto, and a huge thank you to the team. You know, they’ve been working their butts off all year, so thanks so much to everyone that makes it possible.”
Eli Tomac — Finished 3rd, 450s: “I gave it my best. I just started behind them there, and did what I could, but we were all really fast tonight. They maybe had a couple little sections at the beginning [where] they were kind of sneaking away from me. So overall, [it was a] pretty good SMX series here [for me], and glad I was fighting towards the front of the races for this comeback. And just thank you to the team, all the fans, everyone… it’s good to be back.”
Cooper Webb — Finished 5th, 450s: “Overall it was a great day. I qualified fourth, which was a good sign. I had two solid motos. In the first one, I fell on the first lap and lost that fifth-place position. I made my way up to sixth but just couldn’t quite get my teammate. In the second one, I got a pretty good start in fifth and was right there with that lead group for a while. Then Eli, myself, AP (Aaron Plessinger), and Kenny (Roczen) were all together, and I ended up fifth for fifth overall on the day and fifth in the series. Obviously, we wanted a little more, but we’ll take it. I didn’t come into the series super prepared, so I’m very happy to get two back-to-back fifths and have a solid result here at SMX. Now we’ll get ready for MXoN.”
Justin Cooper — Finished 6th, 450s: “It was a tough one coming in with a cracked collarbone, but we made it to every round this season and didn’t want to miss the finale. I was able to get the track figured out pretty quickly in qualifying, even though I didn’t get the track time yesterday. It was a really smooth day. I didn’t fall, which was really good, and I just tried to do what I could. I rode two pretty flawless races and tried to minimize the mistakes and eliminate the risk. It was a painful day, but we came away with sixth overall and eighth in the playoffs, so it was worth it. I’m pretty proud of the full season aboard the 450 and am excited for some time off before getting ready for 2025.”
Harri Kullas — Finished 9th, 450s: "[Ninth Overall]. Finally felt great on the track and got some great starts, had good rhythm all day and made the most of the final round to end up 13th overall in SMX finals. Could not be more happy with the results and to finish my USA trip on such a high note!” - Instagram
Shane McElrath — Finished 10th, 450s: “15 - 11 for 10th [overall]. SMX is done and I’m happy to finish strong! What a year it has been and one of my big goals was to race every race this year and I did that and finished strong. Starting the year on yellow and doing the last [three] outdoors and [three] SMX with[ Madd Parts Kawasaki] and it exceeded my expectations. It was so awesome getting to work and grow with this team and I really enjoyed my time on the bike and with this small but mighty team. We continued to persevere through it all and I’m excited about that. I fought hard last night but I always want more and that’s the beauty of competition! God is good. I’ll see you guys soon.” - Instagram
Grant Harlan — Finished 15th, 450s: "[Fifth overall] in Vegas and 19th [overall] for the playoffs. Happy to be done for the year to recharge and be ready for 2025! Thanks team.” - Instagram
Jerry Robin — Finished 19th, 450s: That’s a wrap for the 2024 season. Felt good to get another holeshot and win in the LCQ, had a good night going and was close to a really good overall to finish off the season but I ended up going down pretty hard Moto 2 in the back section with all the shadows. I haven’t talked about it [too] much but I have pinched nerves in [three] vertebrae of my neck with herniated discs that I need to get taken care of which is the cause of all my problems I had during the outdoor season when I took a break from racing. The amount of work I’ve done at physical therapy in the last few months to get the numbness/tingling out of my arms, hands and face I’m proud of but I’m definitely ready for a break to hopefully get it fully taken care of. Riding through nerve pain has been tough mentally for me and the people in my inner circle has seen how bad it’s been but I’m really thankful for them supporting me through the highs and lows of the 2024 season.” - Instagram
Malcolm Stewart — Finished 23rd, 450s: “2024 season is officially over! It’s been a fun one! Going to enjoy a little break for the off season. Thank you [Team Husqvarna Factory Racing] and all my sponsors for getting me to the races this year!” - Instagram
Ian Harrison, Team Manager KTM on Chase Sexton — Finished 24th, 450s: "[Chase] got landed on. He’s hurt his right hand. We’ll need x-rays to further evaluate it. It’s just disappointing to make it all this way after 31 races and not be able to finish but the most important thing is Chase’s health.”
250s
Pierce Brown — Winner, 250s: “I’m speechless right now. I mean, I feel like this win has been long overdue. We’ve been working really hard the last couple of years, and I’m just so stoked we got it done. I can’t thank my team enough; everybody behind me, Will, the whole TLD GASGAS team, I mean everybody. It’s just been a fun run. As our [“Venom: The Last Dance”-themed] gear says, this was the last dance so we ended on top, so I’m stoked.”
Haiden Deegan — Finished 2nd, 250s; SMX Championship Winner: “It feels good. Back-to-back is definitely a dream come true. I worked my butt off ever since I was a kid to get here, so thank you to my family, my team Star Racing Yamaha, my trainer Swaney, just everyone in my circle. Man, it takes a big team to do this, and a lot of hard work, so thank you, guys.”
Jordon Smith — Finished 3rd, 250s: “It’s been a great year; [I] stayed healthy all year. I’ve got to give it up to the whole Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team. They’ve given me an opportunity whenever I didn’t have one and it’s been a heck of a run the last two years. Man, it feels good to be back up here. [I] put in some solid rides, I’m really happy with my riding throughout this SMX [post-season]. We finally figured out the starts on the last start of the year, so that was a bummer to take that long, but we’ll take it.”
Jo Shimoda — Finished 4th, 250s: “Hit them with the jackpot today.” - Instagram
Tom Vialle — Finished 5th, 250s: “The track is really tough to pass. Unfortunately, I had contact with Ty [Masterpool]; I didn’t mean to, and I think he crashed, so that was my bad and I’m really sorry for that. I had a little bit of arm pump at the end of the moto and I’m really excited. One more [moto] to go and I really want to fight with Haiden [Deegan] up front.”
Max Anstie — Finished 6th, 250s: “I’m happy to have had the opportunity to race SMX this year and end up eighth overall. Only racing some of the outdoor rounds with the team, it was always going to be a challenge to get the settings dialed. We learned so much and finished up in Vegas with a solid fourth in Moto 2, and sixth overall on the night. I’m looking forward to MXON, which is coming up next.”
Coty Schock — Finished 15th, 250s: “ONE HELL OF A YEAR. Last night it clicked and went DNF-7! Little issue Moto 1 but hey it’s part of racing but at the end of the day I rode damn well and beat some factory dudes so we doing something right [ClubMX]. If you told me a year ago I would accomplish everything I did this year including P3 in East Coast SX Championship, I’d be laughing at you. Few days left till I go from fill in rider at [ClubMX] to officially signed and man am I amped. Excited for our future and bring on 2025! Till then let’s have fun riding our dirtbike y’all 🤠 Thanks everyone for your support to keep us going!”
Nick Romano — Finished 18th, 250s: “It’s not how we wanted to finish the season. It was tough out there today, and I just wasn’t gelling with the track, but we’ll take what we learned from this season and build on it.”
Cole Davies — Winner, 250 World All-Stars: “Yeah, I’ve made some huge gains in 2024. From the first race at RedBud [motocross], that was not great. I crashed four times in one race… but then [at this Las Vegas race] I got off to a pretty good start there, made a pretty quick pass on Landen [Gordon] and just tried to ride it home from there. [I had] a few sketchy moments and stuff like that, but yeah, we got it done.” – Cole Davies, when asked if he’s felt the improvements that the broadcasters had noticed throughout the year’s amateur events.”
More SuperMotocross News
450 Results from Las Vegas | 250 results
Jett Lawrence sweeps SMX Round 3, claims championship
Jett Lawrence, Haiden Deegan win SMX Round 3 practice
RJ Hampshire will miss SMX Round 3
SuperMotocross season finale by the numbers
Cooper Webb joins Team USA for MXoN on a 250
Justin Cooper re-signs to one-year deal with Star Racing
Cameron McAdoo renews with Pro Circuit Kawasaki
Max Anstie named MX2 rider for Team Great Britain
Hunter Lawrence wins SuperMotocross Round 2
