2024 Glendale Supercross | Race Report & Results

By Chase Curtis

Photos by Michael Antonovich

The Monster Energy Supercross Championship continued its season-opening run with the 2024 Glendale Supercross, the sixth consecutive round for the 450 Class and the fifth round for the 250 West Region. A lengthy, fast-paced course inside State Farm Stadium made for exciting Main Events that saw Rj Hampshire and Ken Roczen as victors at the end of the night.

250 Class

Heat One

The first 250SX start of the night went to Levi Kitchen, who had a perfect jump off the gate. Carson Mumford and Mitchell Oldenburg trailed in second and third place. Carson Mumford looked inside a few times on the opening lap, but then settled into second place after the pass attempts. Just behind, Julien Beaumer made the pass on Phil Nicoletti for fourth place on the second lap. Levi Kitchen crossed the checkered flag to take the heat race win after a perfect start-to-finish performance. 

Heat Two

Slade Varola snagged the holeshot after a great jump and held the early lead until he mistimed one of the final jumps in the long first rhythm and went down. Nate Thrasher then picked up the race lead, as Jordon Smith and Hunter Yoder followed. Rj Hampshire then made the pass on Hunter Yoder after a few attempts. 

While leading, Nate Thrasher cased a triple in that first, long rhythm lane and was ejected off of his bike. Nate was slow to get up and needed medical attention. His crash handed the lead over to Jordon Smith. Just over a lap later, the red flag came out so the medical team could assist Thrasher. 

Restart

The start from the restart resulted in Jordon Smith leading the field into the first rhythm lane with Jo Shimoda in tail. Hunter Yoder snagged another great start and ran in third place, as Rj Hampshire trailed in fourth. Rj passed Hunter quickly this time and took over third place before the end of the opening lap. 

Jo Shimoda began pressuring Jordon Smith for the race lead, as Garrett Marchbanks made the pass on Yoder for fourth place. Jordon Smith fended off the challenge from Jo Shimoda and took the heat race win. 

LCQ

Slade Varola snagged another holeshot, this time in the LCQ. Matti Jorgenson trailed in second place and pressured for the lead early. Matti Jorgenson dove inside of Varola and made the pass for the race lead. Billy Laninovich was reeling-in Silveira for the final transfer position when the red flag came out for Addison Emory. 

Restart

The restart advantage went to St-Cyr, who snagged the early lead after jumping past Laninovich in the first rhythm lane. Meanwhile, Matti Jorgenson and others went down hard in the first corner, ending their night. Max Sanford then made some passes and advanced into the race lead. Billy Laninovich then made the pass for second place and set his sights on Sanford and the lead. 

Ty Freehill was dealing with pressure from Carter Biese for the final transfer position. The two swapped lines and then Blaine Silveira made contact with Biese, which sent Carter into the ground hard. Silveira then got into Freehill, which took him out. Max Sanford took the LCQ win ahead of Billy Laninovich. 

Main Event

The early advantage in the 250SX Main Event went to Levi Kitchen, who rocketed out of the gate and held the early lead over Jordon Smith and Rj Hampshire. With the three championship contenders starting top-3, we were set for an epic race. Jordon Smith looked to have the pace on the opening laps, as he stayed right on Levi and dove inside after the finish line to take the lead. 

Levi then returned the favor in the next turn and took Smith wide to retake the race lead. Rj Hampshire lurked just behind, as Smith pulled alongside and past in the whoops before the finish line. Jordon Smith then secured the race lead, as Levi bobbled in the rhythm lane following. That allowed Rj Hampshire to jump past and pick up second place.

Jo Shimoda was making moves after a poor start, as he cut down and jumped past Mumford for fourth place. Jordon Smith went down while leading after the sand section, which handed the race lead over to Rj Hampshire. Levi Kitchen also got past Smith before he remounted. Ryder DiFrancesco was out of the race, as he was getting attended to by the medical team on the side of the rhythm lane. 

A few laps after the lead change, the red lights were on for DiFrancesco so Levi slammed on the brakes, which gave Jordon Smith no room to land and sent him into the ground again. That crash dropped Jordon back to seventh place, as Rj Hampshire now held a 5-second cushion over Levi due to the red lights flashing after Rj passed.

Mitchell Oldenburg took JuJu wide and off-track before the whoops, which allowed Jordon Smith to pass both of them and pick up fourth place. Garrett Marchbanks was on the charge late, as he blitzed through the whoops and to the inside of Oldenburg to pick up fifth place. Rj Hampshire crossed the checkered flag to claim the victory in Glendale, Levi Kitchen took second place, and Jo Shimoda rounded out the podium. 

450 Class

Heat One

The gate was down for the first race of the night and Malcolm Stewart was off to the early lead with Ken Roczen alongside through the long rhythm lane. Ken Roczen snuck down the inside in the second corner and then rocketed to the race lead in the whoops that followed. Vince Friese settled into third place, just behind Stewart, after a great start. While Jett Lawrence trailed in fourth place on the opening lap.

Jett looked inside of Friese, but Vince managed to respond and carry more speed out of the turn. A few sections later, Jett cut down after the finish jump and made the pass on Vince for third. Chase Sexton was now pressuring Vince Friese for position and made the pass by going inside before the second sand section. 

Ken Roczen took the heat race victory with a 7-second lead over Malcolm Stewart, who had Jett Lawrence on his tail. 

Heat Two

The second holeshot of the night went to Aaron Plessinger, who had Shane McElrath and Hunter Lawrence in tail. Cooper Webb had a great jump, but both him and Justin Barcia drifted wide in the first corner. Jason Anderson sat in fourth on the opening lap, but he was quickly making advances, as he passed both McElrath and Hunter to secure second place. 

Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb then shuffled McElrath back to sixth place. Meanwhile, Aaron Plessinger held a 4-second lead over Jason Anderson. Eli Tomac cut inside before the second sand section to dart inside of Hunter Lawrence and take over third place. Cooper Webb then worked on Hunter but struggled to find an area to make the pass. 

Aaron Plessinger took the heat race victory ahead of Jason Anderson and the rest of the field. 

LCQ

Kyle Chisholm snagged the early lead after rocketing out of the gate. His teammate Shane McElrath lurked in second place, while Justin Starling trailed in third. Shane McElrath set up his teammate exiting the first sand section and darted inside to take over the race lead. Freddie Noren made some passes and ultimately picked up third place after a pass on Starling. 

Cade Clason then reeled-in Justin Starling and made a clean pass. Starling then took Cade out after the finish line for the final transfer position. Devin Simonson and others then made the pass on Starling on the final lap, which rewarded Simonson with the final transfer spot. Shane McElrath took the win in the LCQ. 

Main Event

Ken Roczen led the field into the first corner and took the race lead with Aaron Plessinger and Jason Anderson in tow. Cooper Webb made contact with Jett Lawrence on the opening lap, which made Jett veer off-track in the sand. Eli Tomac advanced past Vince Friese on the first lap, placing him in fourth place. Aaron Plessinger lost traction and went down while giving chase to Roczen, which dropped him back to 19th place. 

Jason Anderson now sat in second place but was already 3-seconds behind Ken Roczen. Meanwhile, Jett blitzed past his brother for fifth place, as Chase Sexton lurked in 7th. After a little mistake, Jett Lawrence regrouped and executed the pass on Webb for fourth place. Hunter followed his brother past Cooper and Ferrandis also did a few sections later, shuffling Webb back to seventh place.

Chase Sexton then passed Cooper Webb for seventh place. Ken Roczen continued to lead, as Jett Lawrence was slowly inching up to Eli Tomac in third place. Jett rode an inside line through the first corner and beat Eli to the following rhythm lane to pick up third place. A few positions behind, Cooper Webb jumped to the inside of Chase Sexton to pass the reigning champ for seventh place. 

Malcolm Stewart then made a pass on Sexton, dropping Chase to ninth place. Ken Roczen took the checkered flag first to earn his first win of the 2024 season. Jason Anderson finished just a few sections later to claim second place, as Jett Lawrence followed in third to re-take the championship points lead.