As 2024 approached there were, as usual, plenty of storylines to follow, like Eli Tomac returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Hunter Lawrence moving up to the premier class, and Chase Sexton defending the #1 plate he earned in 450SX on a Honda, only now he was on a Red Bull KTM. However, there was one element that stood above all else, and that was the 450SX debut of Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence. For good reason, too. The phenom had, just a few months prior, put the finishing touches on a perfect season of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. And we mean perfect in the literal sense—he won every single 450 moto, all 22 of them, in his rookie season! He then went on to win the first annual SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) convincingly. So, not surprisingly, as the’24 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season opener at Angle Stadium in Anaheim loomed, excitement grew as fans waited to see how Jett Lawrence would handle the last crown jewel missing from his crown, the 450SX Championship. The fans wouldn’t have to wait long.
In the first race of the season Jett Lawrence proved he had what it took to compete in the class by winning, but the rest of the season wouldn’t exactly be a cakewalk for him. Just one week later he would struggle to finish ninth (and one lap down), as Sexton would take the win, and the points lead, the following week in San Francisco, one of the muddiest races in the history of supercross. Wins would come for Aaron Plessinger (his first) and Cooper Webb at the next two races before Jett Lawrence would win again in Detroit, but he’d take third and fourth at the next two rounds. But then Jett Lawrence really started hitting his stride, winning three in a row and boosting his lead to 21 points over Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Webb.
After ten rounds it looked like Jett Lawrence was going to start running away with the championship, but a small mistake in Seattle, coupled with a hard-earned win for Webb on the same night, temporarily slowed his momentum. Then, the following week in St. Louis, Jett Lawrence cut down in a turn right as Justin Barcia was charging inside and got absolutely blasted by the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas rider. Fortunately for Jett Lawrence it was a Triple Crown format that night and he was able to salvage an eighth overall, but Webb was now suddenly only eight points behind Lawrence. Things got even worse for Lawrence the following week in Foxborough, where Webb won, and Lawrence scored fifth after getting a horrible start. That put Lawrence and Webb in a tie for the lead heading into round 14 in Nashville.
Unfortunately, the epic showdown everyone was hoping for between the fiery Webb and mega-talented Jett Lawrence never took shape. Unbeknownst to most everyone, Webb had been dealing with a torn UCL in his thumb since round nine in Birmingham, and it was really beginning to wear on the former two-time 450SX champion. He’d take third, fourth, and fifth at the next three races, but Jett Lawrence won all three, setting him up with a 20-point lead heading into the finale. Sexton would get the final win of the season, Justin Cooper would take second—his best result on a 450 to date—and Webb would push through his injury to round out the podium. Jett Lawrence would finish seventh, which was good enough to deliver him the 450SX championship in his first attempt.
Elsewhere in the 450 Class, Sexton would struggle with coming to terms with his new KTM and never found the comfort he needed to compete for the title again. He ended the season in third with two wins. Tomac never got back to his familiar, pre-injury form either, winning just one race and exiting the series early after injuring his hand and thumb in Denver. Suzuki’s Ken Roczen, who won in Glendale, experienced a shock malfunction in Nashville that resulted in a broken tibia plateau, foot, and toe.
In 250 action it was RJ Hampshire who fired the first shot by winning the 250SX West Region opener on his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, but Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Jordon Smith would retaliate at round two, winning and taking the points lead. Smith’s teammate Nate Thrasher would become the third winner in as many rounds, but as the season played out it became clear the championship would boil down to a fight between Levi Kitchen and Hampshire, especially after Smith crashed his way back to 14th in a rutty Seattle. When the final race rolled around, Hampshire and Kitchen were tied, making for a true winner-take-all situation. It was Hampshire who rose to the occasion, controlling the race—en route to second behind Haiden Deegan—and capturing the title as Kitchen was forced to watch it all play out in a lone fifth place at the checkered flag.
One new record worthy of mentioning in 250SX West Region was set by Billy Laninovich, who hadn’t entered a supercross race since 2012. In 2024, the 40-year-old privateer became the oldest rider in history to qualify for a supercross main when he made it into the show at Anaheim 2, and again in Glendale.
Out East, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner made a splash by dominating the first race in Detroit. He was on his way to winning the second round in Arlington when he had a horrible crash that would knock him out of action for the rest of the year. Deegan would take the win at round two (which was his first ever AMA Supercross main event win), but then Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle, who only scored four points at the first round due to a massive pileup in the first turn, came alive and clicked off a pair of wins and stayed on the podium consistently to go into the final round with a 15-point lead. All he had to score was 11th or better, which he did, taking eighth place and winning the 250SX East Region Championship. Vialle’s season started rough with the Detroit SX pileup but he grabbed two important wins at the Daytona (first career SX win) and Birmingham SX rounds. He rallied off seven straight podium finishes following Detroit and his eighth at the finale was his only other time off of the podium.
Next up was the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, a series most expected to be dominated by Jett Lawrence once again. After all, he had yet to lose a 450 national in his career, and at the opener at Fox Raceway, he promptly extended his winning streak, giving him 12 in a row going back to 2023. Things then took a wild turn the next week at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in Northern California. The #1 made an uncharacteristic mistake in a tricky downhill section and went down hard in the first moto and pulled off the track with a hurt shoulder and leg. He’d return for the second moto but was clearly not at 100 percent. The standout performance in the race came from Sexton, who went down in the second turn and remounted in dead last. Undeterred, Sexton went crazy, picking off riders at an astounding rate as he flew toward the front. On the final lap he'd caught up to the rear of his Red Bull KTM teammate, Plessinger, and was able to make the pass just two turns from the checkered flag. It was one of the most impressive (and certainly most talked about) rides of the year.
At the third Pro Motocross round Jett Lawrence was back, and although he didn’t have his usual speed, he still had enough to get the overall win. Jett Lawrence, although not completely recovered from his crash at Hangtown, would win the next two rounds as well, but it wouldn’t continue. While practicing during the week before RedBud, Jett fractured a bone in his thumb and tore his UCL, forcing him to withdraw from the series. That put Sexton in the driver’s seat, and while he faced big challenges from Hunter Lawrence, who was frequently winning the first motos, Sexton would end up winning the overall at the final six races to claim the 450 Pro Motocross Championship.
In the 250 Class it became clear early that Haiden Deegan was the rider to beat. Other riders would put in great performances, like Chance Hymas, who won RedBud, and Levi Kitchen, who won Spring Creek, Unadilla, and Budds Creek. But no matter what happened Deegan was able to maintain firm control of the points lead. He’d gotten a jump on the field by winning the first three races (and eventually winning two more), and unlike his competitors, he was usually on the podium when he didn’t win the overall. As a result, Deegan wrapped up the championship a round early at Budds Creek. Hampshire was hoping to fight for the championship coming off his SX title season but an injury during the preseason media riding session sidelined him for all but the final two rounds.
One of the best, feelgood stories of the year came courtesy Ty Masterpool and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki. He was slated to race a 450 outdoors for HBI Kawasaki, but the day before the season opener he got the call to fill in at Pro Circuit, a team that’d been decimated by injuries. He was excellent too, winning the overall at High Point to deliver the team it’s 300th win, and went on to take fifth in the standings at season’s end. His heroics were good enough to earn him a spot on the team for the 2025 season, too.
In SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX), Jett Lawrence was back from injury, and while Eli Tomac, who’d sat out the first nine rounds of Pro Motocross with the thumb/hand injury he’d sustained in Denver, would win the first moto of the three-round championship at zMAX Dragway in North Carolina, it was Jett Lawrence who won the overall. In doing so he immediately reasserted himself as the alpha of the sport. Hunter Lawrence won the overall at round two in Texas (his first overall win aboard a 450) but Sexton would win a moto that day, setting up a winner-take-all situation between himself, Jett, and Hunter for the final round for the championship in Las Vegas, not to mention the $1 million bonus that came with it. Unfortunately, Sexton never got to compete for it, as he was landed on during the first lap coming out of a rhythm section. The result was a hand injury, which forced him to withdraw. Jett Lawrence would go on to win the race, and once again, the SMX Championship.
In the 250 Class it was all Deegan. And unlike in the previous year, it didn’t come town to a winner-take-all situation, as Deegan dominated the first four motos and went into the finale with a healthy lead in the points. He’d win the first moto, but Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas rider Pierce Brown was on fire that night, staying close to Deegan in moto one and checking out with the lead in moto two to get his first win as a professional. But the half-million-dollar bonus would once again go to Haiden Deegan as the 250 Class champion in SMX.