2024 Spring Creek Motocross | Race Report and Results

By Austin Rohr
Photos by Michael Antonovich

Presented by FXR

2024 SPRING CREEK MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The seventh round of the 2024 Pro Motocross Championship was set to be a challenging day at Millville, Minnesota’s Spring Creek Motocross Park. Hot, humid weather in the forecast and the always brutal sand whoops and Mt. Martin were ready to greet the field. However, great battles, unpredictable plot twists, and a late afternoon thunderstorm made for an exciting yet brutal FXR Spring Creek Motocross. Able to rise above it all, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen weathered everything the day could throw at them and swept their respective classes to stand at the top of the box.

450 Moto 1

Hunter Lawrence put his Team Honda HRC machine into the early lead, capturing the holeshot with the KTM duo of Aaron Plessinger and Sexton behind him. The fast qualifier from earlier in the day, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson, sat fourth.

The front four was caught in a game of tenths, gaining and losing time to one another without any opportunity for position changes. Then, Sexton turned the pace up a notch and began to lay down fast laps. Carrying significant momentum down a steeper section of the track, he dove ahead of his teammate, Plessinger, to secure second.

Wasting no time, Sexton latched onto the rear wheel of Lawrence and kept the pressure on. His speed through the infamous sand rollers allowed him to close up the gap, but Lawrence would respond when they reached the steep hills and open the lead up again.

With under 10 minutes to go, Sexton found his opening at the bottom of Mt. Martin and pulled alongside Lawrence. The two drag raced their way to the top, with Sexton leaping into the lead as they crested the hill.

As soon as the pass was made, Sexton put together a series of laps at a blistering pace to open the gap up over 10 seconds and firmly take the moto win. Lawrence and Plessinger rounded out the top three, with the running order behind them holding steady as well.

450 Moto 2

Rebounding from a bad start in the first moto, Justin Cooper put the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha YZ450F up front ahead of the rest of the pack. Lawrence once again started up front as well, sitting in second with significant pressure from Anderson early. Meanwhile, Sexton found himself further back after a tangle with Phoenix Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis in the first turn.

Plessinger also started further back, and was going to work on Ferrandis when he slid out and dropped back outside of the top ten. Similar to the first moto, Sexton found his pace after the first few laps and began a charge. He caught and passed Ferrandis for fourth and immediately closed the gap on the top three.

Sexton soon made his way by Anderson for third, while Lawrence was attempting to get by Cooper. At the halfway point, Lawrence found success with a better line just before the finish. Sexton capitalized as well, passing Cooper through the sand rollers just moments later.

Just as he had in the first moto, Sexton struck right around the 10-minute mark. He set up the pass heading into the rollers on Lawrence, then laid down a series of fast laps to build a double-digit lead.

Rain fell in the final moments of the race as a thunderstorm moved into the area, but Sexton held strong and claimed a 1-1 overall victory, with Lawrence finishing second again. Cooper’s third place finish earned him a spot on the podium behind the top two.

250 Moto 1

Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Haiden Deegan launched ahead to grab the holeshot, with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Casey Cochran in tow. Deegan sprinted ahead on the opening lap, leaving the competition to battle behind him.

Cochran was quick to find himself in the sights of Kitchen, who made the pass for second early in the race. Team Honda HRC’s Jo Shimoda, meanwhile, was putting on a charge to come through the pack. With Deegan settling into his lead, Kitchen’s hold over second place was under challenge from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle.

Just as the race order seemed to stabilize, Deegan washed his front end before the finish with around 20 minutes on the clock and Kitchen inherited the lead. When Deegan remounted in third, he immediately came under fire from Shimoda. The top four were locked in a game of cat and mouse until the halfway point, when Shimoda managed a pass on Deegan for third.

Shimoda then went to work on Vialle to capture second and apply pressure to Kitchen, who’s lead came under fire with six minutes remaining. A passing opportunity wouldn’t materialize, though, and pressure from Deegan forced Vialle forward to the rear of Shimoda.

With just two laps to go, Vialle made the move on Shimoda for second. Deegan and Shimoda once again battled later that same lap, but after the white flag, Deegan secured third. Neither he or Vialle could catch Kitchen, though, who stretched his lead just enough to take the win.

250 Moto 2

The final moto of the day came significantly later than planned, as the thunderstorm that began at the end of the second 450 moto brought lightning along with heavy rains. When the conditions cleared and the gate could be dropped, the 250 class was met with a slick, muddy track.

Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas came away with the holeshot narrowly over Cochran, but it came at a cost. His line through the first turn crossed with Deegan’s, injuring Hymas’ right leg and causing Deegan to fall–collecting Shimoda and the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki of Ty Masterpool, among several others.

Hymas pulled off on the opening lap, and Cochran took the opportunity to open his lead up to over eight seconds as several championship contenders struggled.

Shimoda was the next to pull off into the mechanics area after Hymas due to bike issues from the first turn pileup. Then, an error from Vialle while attempting to overtake Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Daxton Bennick for second resulted in a crash in the rollers that forced him to stop into the mechanics area as well.

Avoiding the carnage, Kitchen went to work climbing through the front running order to take third, and later got by Bennick for second.

Yet again, Shimoda entered the mechanics area, this time with a bent front brake rotor. He would re-enter in 39th. As for Deegan, he was just outside the top ten as the moto approached the 20-minute mark. This was despite a broken exhaust pipe suffered in first turn crash.

His teammate, Bennick, then went down, handing third to the BarX Suzuki of Dilan Schwartz who was holding off Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Max Anstie. Soon thereafter, Anstie made the pass on Schwartz to take away third.

Although he built an impressive lead early, with 11 minutes remaining Kitchen closed in on Cochran and the battle ensued. The two put on a show for the Millville crowd, with Kitchen getting the better of Cochran with seven minutes left as they rounded the corner at the top of Mt. Martin.

Around this time, Vialle yet again pulled into the mechanics area, this time with a shift lever issue. A late push from Deegan allowed him to crack the top five, passing his way up to fourth.

Out front, though, the race was firm Kitchen’s. With 1-1 scores on the day, he secured his first overall win of his Pro Motocross career. Deegan’s 3-4 scores were enough to take second on the podium, and Cochran held his runner up spot for third overall on the day–his first podium appearance.