2023 Charlotte SuperMotocross | Kickstart Recap & Gallery

Hunter Yoder said his spot on the line in the 250 Class came together in about a week. A message from the AMA asking if he'd be willing to commit to three LCQs led to a quick phone call to Julien Perrier, owner of the PRMX team, who said he'd send the semi down to South of the Border in time for two days of practice and a pre-race bike build, and then over to Charlotte. Perrier had to contact customs officials before the trip, and according to Yoder, the usual week-long paperwork process was expedited and handled in less than three days. "I know I've spent a lot of time on the phone, but Julien has been making phone calls non-stop, hiring drivers, finding mechanics... My mechanic's first day on the job was yesterday at SOB, going over my race bike, and his first day of riding with me was today," shared Yoder.

Seeing how riders attacked and learned the track over the two days was interesting. Some hot lines in Friday's Free Practice, like this leap into the sand, were only used as a last resort during Saturday's Timed Qualifying and Motos.

Charlotte will be a highlight of Ryder DiFrancesco's rookie year. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider got out of the gate well during both starts (despite starting the afternoon with the 17th gate pick), went from fifth to third to seventh over the course of a chaotic 250 Moto One, and pulled things together for a flag to flag run in third place in 250 Moto Two. The 7-3 scores put Ryder D fourth overall on the day and helped boost him to seventh in the point standings.

We will put together a Brand Breakdown post for the SMX rounds, as it'll be interesting to see which companies are represented in the 60-ish rider field. For example, Dilan Schwartz is the only Suzuki rider in the 250 Class and the only person in Answer Racing gear, but one of many with FMF Racing exhausts or a lid from Bell Helmets.

We spent a lot of time around Colt Nichols, his girlfriend Kayla, and mechanic Taylor Muto over the weekend, starting in the will call line on Friday afternoon, then in the parking lot on Saturday morning, and finally at the airline checking counter early Sunday. Like we mentioned in the Ironman Kickstart, Colt intends to race as much as possible before his two-year Supercross deal with BETA begins later in the fall, but his honesty about why he's lining up instead of laying low deserves some more props: "You can't really have the attitude of feeling satisfied. You just can't be with what we do; things change so quickly in this sport. I'm acting like I don't have anything. It's nice to know that it's there, and at the same time, I could be sitting on the couch; I have a factory for the next two years making decent money, but I'm spending a lot of my own money to be here. I'm in 20-25 grand by the time this thing is said and done, but I want to race against the best guys. Sitting on the couch isn't going to do me any good; this will do me some good... I'm investing in myself and dirt bikes, so it could be worse."

Shane McElrath's weekend started rough, as luggage issues with Spirit Airlines meant his crew left the airport Thursday without the gear bag, suspension, and his filmer's equipment case. "We checked in six bags total, and two of them made it, but when we were checking in, they took the first two with no problem, but then with the suspension case and the next four bags, they had us sit them over to the side. So, those four didn't make it," he explained. "I had all my gear here except for my helmets, and we had everything lined up to get it squared away, but thankfully, the bags have shown up."

Justin Hill was one of the guys who thought a Supercross setting would be best on the SMX track, so he bolted a set of BUD Racing clamps and a set of KYB suspension the French team had tuned for WSX to a stock KX450. "Tedder and BUD Racing came together. Stephane said he'd give us bikes and help out, so we were pretty much able to take what I had from WSX and come over here. It made it a little bit easier because I didn't really have the time or the ability to create something else," shared Little Hill at the end of the weekend. "I don't think that full-bore Supercross suspension was the ticket for me, because it was more like local fair race style in terms of track difficulty."

Suspension setup was the topic of the weekend, as everyone agreed that the stiff characteristics of a Supercross setup were too much in some faster and choppy areas, but anything softer would make the long rhythm lane nearly impossible. Here's a look at guys going through the stroke, starting with Fredrik Noren on his Active Ride-tuned KYB components.

Shane McElrath and stock KYB pieces with the basics by enzo racing.

Dean Wilson's Showa goods are looked after by the company's technicians.

Cooper Webb's KYB fork and shock were setup by Ricki Gilmour.

Jett Lawrence's factory bike was outfitted with Showa's standard SX offering, and he has not competed aboard the BFRC shock.

Kyle Chisholm's advice has been influential in setting up the HEP team's RM-Z, and his input could be even more critical in 2024 if the team lands another top-five contender with Dylan Ferrandis.

Josh Hill is a longtime enzo racing rider. Ross' components are a staple on all of Big Hill's Yamaha bikes, and he even tried the KYB goods on the KTM earlier this year.

Be on the lookout for Fox Racing's all-new high-end helmet, the V3RS, which features a universal head form for improved fit, the latest iteration of the MIPS rotation liner system, a carbon fiber shell, and an accessory-loaded carry bag that will have you ready to ride, rain or shine.

As we mentioned in Cooper Webb's News Break video, the return to Star Racing has him paired with Alex Campbell, one of the team's longtime and championship-caliber mechanics. The duo's first day together was just before Charlotte, as Peanut had some final practice bike duties for Dylan Ferrandis during the week.

Siped and grooved

After lining up at High Point with KYB suspension, Ken Roczen had Showa parts on his RM-Z in Charlotte. KR's mental database on Suzuki setup has to be next-level.

Twelve points between them, with 125 still up for grabs.

How many 250 Regional Supercross wins and titles among these three?

You can always count on some finish line style from Dean Wilson. From the sound of things, the fan-favorite will return to Fire Power Honda for another Supercross-only run in 2024.

Josh Cartwright was one of the guys on the brink of the cutoff at the end of Supercross, but even with the high odds of getting bumped out, the privateer never considered lining up for a National. "I knew I was probably going to get in, at least as an alternate. I knew I would be on the cusp and there would be people hurt, so I figured I'd be an alternate. I took off for a little bit in the summer just to have fun and be a normal person, and about a month and a half ago, I started riding again and got things situated. I'm pretty prepared for this; I knew it was coming."

Justin Starling has hopped from a GASGAS to a Honda for the SMX rounds. You can tell the privateer has been paying attention to the factory bikes and what works, as the graphics are a near copy, and the accessories are as close as a consumer can get, down to the Yoshimura exhaust.

Phil and the leader lights. The front-end of the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX YZF was illuminated all day as Nicoletti set the tempo in Timed Qualifying for the Unseeded Group and scored a dominant win in the LCQ.

We got a few moments with Alex Gillispie of Dirt Wurx on Friday afternoon and talked about the one-of-a-kind track build, which included 12,000 yards of dirt– 10,000 to shape the layout and another 2,000 on top to make it deep enough to rip and not wear down to the ground. "We put about 2000 yards of sawdust down before the dirt to protect the asphalt, so none of it sticks," the equipment operator explained. "The drag strip was so sticky that it almost pulled your shoes off when you walked it. They work so hard to get it a certain consistency that I thought when we put our dirt down, it'll be impossible to get off. But the ground is so smooth it's easier to clean off because it's so tight. We started three or four days sooner than we would a Supercross. I was nervous about the concrete walls and how we had to back up trucks down the center lanes loaded, but that they could go down the outer lanes empty because they were worried about warping to the asphalt."

DangerBoy Down. The Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider had a hard slam during the final moments of Saturday's practice that prompted a check-in with the Alpinestars Mobile Medical crew.

The tumble packed mud into the muffler on the YZ250F and prevented it from re-firing, which ended Deegan's afternoon a few minutes early.

Colt Nichols has been getting his Pro Circuit customer loyalty card punched lately, as he's copped a set of A Kit Showa suspension, triple clamps, a race-spec engine with exhaust system, and assorted accessories from the Corona speed shop. The parts get carried to the race by Muto, are bolted onto the MADD Parts Kawasaki that's on loan, and then removed at the end of the day and taken back home to be used for practice through the week.

Small things that make a difference: FLY Racing moved the BOA adjustment dial on all of their pants slightly left of center for an improved function/feel and put all three of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing riders in different colors of Kinetic Mesh gear at Charlotte.

More money in the bank for Grant Harlan. A fourteenth-place finish in Charlotte earned the privateer 3,200 from the 244,400 that's up for grabs in the 450 Class at all three rounds. One point separates Masterpool and Harlan for twelfth and thirteenth in the championship, which is the difference of a thousand dollars in the end-of-year fund (35k for 12th, 34k for 13th).

One down, two to go. Despite having the ninth-best lap of the 250 Class in Timed Qualifying, Austin Forkner must go to the LCQ at each SMX round and race his way into the Motos. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider had a 13.8-second margin of victory.

Mandatory 15.

What happens when a holeshot device yanks the fork guard from its mount? Kevin Moranz found out at the start of the LCQ.

Forecasts had many expecting the worst on Saturday afternoon, but the storm front stayed away until well after the checkered flag, then dumped on our way to the rental at the end of the night.

AirD is the comic relief at Star Racing.

Some of the earliest hydraulic master cylinder covers, made by Nathan Alexander...

And the latest carbon fiber creations by Jeff Shala.

We've waited years to hear Cooper roll out to "Raise Up" by Petey Pablo.

No disrespect to AC/DC, one of the greatest rock groups of all time, but can Jett get an intro song released from his lifetime, not one that doubles his age?

The Original Dig-Dug

The elevated starting gate was one of many surprises to the layout and an element that received little to no attention over the weekend, as the track crew never touched the deep ruts that got carved into the slope.

Three-wide on the four-lane dragstrip.

Star Racing's Kitchen and Deegan slugged it out for the lead in the closing stages of 250 Moto One. Kitchen's time at the front and pace, including the quickest lap of the race (a 1:15.935 on Lap Three), provided the early excitement...

While Deegan's torrid pursuit through the middle and close stages brought the crowd to life and culminated with his own best effort (a 1:16.099 on Lap Ten) and a pass on Lap 12.

Deegan's win had us thinking a 1-1 was certain from the rookie and that SMX would continue what we'd seen all summer.

Kitchen was gassed by the podium, a lack of energy he later said was due to being sick during the week.

Ty Masterpool told us that he thought he got the holeshot in both Motos and after watching some footage of 450 Moto One shot by YouTube hero Joeman25, we agree that the privateer had an inch over Barcia when they crossed the stripe at the start.

The 51 and 21 always find each other.

Old training partners and good friends Cooper Webb and Jett Lawrence seemed to be inseparable through the weekend, either by Webb's doing during practice or coincidence during the Motos. We're sure that some of it was strategy by the cagey veteran, as it's best to catch a tow from the fastest guy of the summer.

Statement win for Chase Sexton. After being shut out all summer, the Team Honda HRC rider went from gate drop to checkered flag at the front of the pack in 450 Moto One.

zMAX Dragway isn't the biggest venue on this year's combined calendar, but the 33,000 or so fans that packed the grandstand made their presence known on Saturday by cheering, running noise makers, or standing on their feet for the entirety of the thrilling second Motos. Here's hoping CLT gets a real Supercross in the future.

Multiple lines on the lip of the hip.

Someone couldn't resist doing a burnout on the dragstrip.

Seth Hammaker might be a surprise of SMX. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider made his presence known with the fastest lap of Timed Qualifying, then got in the mix early in 250 Moto One before washing the front in the same spot as Hunter Lawrence. 5-8 finishes for sixth overall are an impressive end to the day and moved Hammaker to 12th in the championship.

ordon Smith was the hometown hero, as the Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha rider's family lives less than a half-hour from the track and he committed to doing the week's run of TV appearances to build hype. Smith made the most of the time at home by getting in a few rounds of golf with his father at the course he grew up playing at.

Inside-outside. After railing around the high line in the laps prior, Jo Shimoda cut to the tight line in this off-chamber...

Which prompted Tom Vialle to go wide for once...

And set up this pass over the hip jump.

Cullin Park told us that the time on the Suzuki for WSX had him rethinking the setup of his CRF for SMX. "I'd been on the standard Honda setup the whole time, but after riding the Suzuki and being 6'2", I realized it was time to get a few more tall parts and make this bike more comfortable." Park was forced to DNF 250 Moto One due to a busted footpeg, but scored 16th in 250 Moto Two.

Was this your prediction for the overall podium at the first-ever SMX race? With Shimoda and Deegan tied in points, the two will run joint red plates at Chicagoland.

Kevin Moranz will be on a Honda for the SMX rounds, a red bike that's on loan from one of his many Pateron supporters. Moranz is part of the Honda NILS team in WSX and told us that he's liked the adaptation to the CRF, but that he hasn't turned his back on the KTM and that he's eager to try the new model out when his 2023 season wraps up.

Can't wait to see them go bar-to-bar for a full SX season.

Chase waited for Jett after the checkered flag for the handshake. Things are still very pleasant between the two, but both are highly motivated to beat the other.

First-ever SMX podium.