2024 Las Vegas SuperMotocross | Race Report and Results

Presented by FXR Racing

The 2024 SuperMotocross Championship came to a close in Las Vegas at the final SMX playoff of the year and the defending champions – Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan – showed why they wear the number one on the front of their bikes. While Deegan finished second overall behind first-time winner Pierce Brown in the 250 class, Lawrence swept both motos in the 450 class with a pair of masterful rides on the rough and challenging Nevada course.

250 Moto One

Haiden Deegan emerged with the lead after the split start funneled riders into a single lane, and the fast qualifier set out to put distance on the rest of the field right from the get-go. Pierce Brown gated strongly and held control over second ahead of Ty Masterpool, Tom Vialle, Levi Kitchen, and the rest. Ryder DiFrancisco and Julien Beaumer – both of whom qualified fast, were mired at the start and began the race 13th and 14th, respectively. Brown looked fantastic as he held control of the runner-up position and took full advantage of an uncharacteristic good start. Vialle used a different rhythm in a jump section to get inside Masterpool and make the pass for third with a bit of contact in the following corner. Sadly, Masterpool went down in the pass and dropped out of the top five. Jo Shimoda, Jordon Smith, and Levi Kitchen advanced when Masterpool went down.  

At the halfway point, Deegan enjoyed a 3.5-second lead over Brown, who was comfortable with a 9.6-second lead over Vialle. Through the last half of the race, the gap between Deegan and Brown grew and shrunk, and the duo stayed well in front of Vialle who held third to the end over Shimoda and Smith. At the checkered flag, Deegan enjoyed a 2.388-second lead over Brown as he scored his fifth moto win in a row.

“It’s pretty gnarly out there,” said Deegan. “It’s hard to see out there at night but everyone has to do it so it’s all good.”

“It feels great,” said Brown. “I was fourth a bunch in Supercross and it feels great to finally be on the podium.”

“The track is really tough to pass on,” said Vialle. “I didn’t mean to make contact with Masterpool and I am sorry about that because I heard he crashed.”

250 Moto Two

Masterpool was quickest off the gate in the second moto and led Vialle, Smith, and Max Anstie. Deegan didn’t get a great start and completed lap one in sixth, behind moto-one runner-up Brown. As the racers settled in after the initial sprint, Vialle began to close in on Masterpool and pressure him for the lead. Concurrently, Brown found his way past Anste and into fourth, leaving him to fend off the charges of Deegan. Anstie made a mistake and flew off the track, leaving Deegan in control of fifth. 

Vialle made a big for the lead at the seven-minute mark but Masterpool held his line. Vialle’s front tire came into contact with Masterpool’s rear, and the Frenchman went down and dropped to sixth. This left Brown in second and Deegan in third. Brown closed to the rear wheel of Masterpool and began to pressure the Kawasaki rider for the lead. Brown made an aggressive move on Masterpool by pushing his way into the lead in a tight left-handed corner. Brown pulled out an immediate two-second lead with a clear track ahead of him, leaving Masterpool and Deegan to battle over second. Deegan used a massive quad jump to leap past Masterpool and take control of the position, then set his sights on Brown for the lead. Smith was the nest rider to pressure Masterpool for position, but the Texan held tough and held the Yamaha rider at bay until Smith uncorked a large jump combination and made the pass in the air. 

As the laps wore down, it seemed Deegan decided to settle for second and safely wrap up his second SMX World Championship, as Brown pulled out to a comfortable lead. WIth his second-moto win, the Gas Gas rider earned the overall victory; the first of his professional career. Brown crossed the finish line with a seven-second lead over Deegan. Smith, Anstie, and Shimoda rounded out the top five. 

“It feels good. To go back to back is a dream come true,” said Deegan. “I have worked my butt off since I was a little kid to be here.”

“All I can say is that I am speechless right now,” said Brown. “I feel like this win has been overdue for so many years. I can’t think the team enough. This is the last race with them, and it feels good to leave on top!”

“It’s been a great year,” said Smith. “I stayed healthy all year. It feels good to be back up here. I finally figured out by starts. Better late than never.”

450 Moto One

When the gate dropped on the first 450 moto, Eli Tomac ripped the start and led Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, and Jason Anderson onto the track. Anderson made an authoritative pass on Hunter early on and held control of third early on, but the elder Lawrence eventually moved past and into third. Sexton gated poorly and was landed on by Justin Barcia in the first rhythm second when he cut towards the inside of the following corner. Neither rider crashed, but Sexton’s shoulder appeared to be banged up from the contact and he returned from the race and saw his SuperMotocross title hopes go up in smoke. 

Meanwhile, up front, Tomac maintained control of the lead but Jett Lawrence stayed on the veteran’s rear wheel. Hunter Lawrence rode alone in third, around five seconds adrift of the lead duo, but nearly 10 seconds ahead of Anderson in fourth. As the race wore down, a couple of mistakes by Tomac allowed Jett to close in and with 90 seconds left on the clock the Honda HRC rider went to the inside of Tomac and took control of the lead with a massive scrub over the back hip jump. Once Lawrence was into the lead with a clear track ahead, he put an immediate gap between himself and the veteran. Anderson crashed and lost three positions just before the white flag flew, allowing Aaron Plessinger, Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb to move up. At the finish, Jett Lawrence enjoyed a 2.5-second lead over Tomac, while Hunter Lawrence came around five seconds further back. The lead trio out-distanced the rest, as Plessinger, Cooper, and Webb were over 24 seconds behind. 

“Honestly the track is very difficult to pass on,” said Jett. “At one point I was thinking that I would have to settle for second. Ultimately I was able to make the pass and get the moto win. I just need to go win. Keep it simple.”

“I did what I could,” said Tomac. “I had some really good laps early in the race. He found a great inside line late in the race and got me. I will try to learn from it and come back in race two.”

“The start was okay, but some poor line choices at the beginning of the race cost me,” said Hunter Lawrence. “We’ll do our best to clean it up for race two!”

450 Moto Two

Jett and Hunter Lawrence lined up on opposite sides of the starting gates, each led their respective competitors through their first turns, and the two met up in 1-2 formation as the two first corners came together. Jett led the way over Hunter, who had his hands full with a hard-charging Tomac, who was breathing down his neck. Plessinger started the race in fourth and the KTM rider found his flow early on and closed to Tomac’s rear wheel, but only pressured for position for a short time early on. 

For all intent and purposes, the race order was set in the first few minutes of the race. Jett Lawrence managed the lead throughout the 20-minute moto and led brother Hunter across the finish line with a couple of seconds of cushion, with Tomac all alone in third. Lawrence’s sweep of the SMX final clinched the SMX World Championship for the Honda HRC rider for the second year in a row.

“I wanna start by saying that it sucked not having Chase Sexton out there. Sending my prayers to him for a speedy recovery,” said Jettson. “It feels good to come back and get back at it. I am super happy with the team. This new bike is amazing!”

“I wanted to see a good battle right down to the wire,” said Hunter. “It was a lot of fun!”

“One thing is that I gave it my best,” said Tomac. “I started behind them and I did what I could. They had a couple of sections in the beginning that allowed them to sneak away from me. It’s good to be back.”