2024 Birmingham Supercross | Race Report & Results

FXR Racing
@fxrmoto

Round nine of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship is officially in the books, as racing went off for the first time in Birmingham, Alabama. Heavy rains on Friday left the course muddy for timed-qualifying, which led to a challenging and technical race course for the evening. The fans in Birmingham saw a championship heartbreak in one class and back to back wins in both.

250 Heat One

The first start in Alabama went to Coty Schock, while Haiden Deegan and Seth Hammaker were down hard and stuck in the first corner. The two collided after Seth was late to the brakes and Haiden closed the door on the riders inside of him while entering turn one. Haiden Deegan managed to get his bike untangled with Hammaker’s and re-enter the race course. Seth Hammaker went to the pits with a twisted-up machine.

Meanwhile, Coty Schock continued to lead the race and had Nick Romano behind. However, Romano and McAdoo got together and both went down with 2-minutes on the clock. Cameron recovered quickly to take over second place, as Romano fell back to seventh place. Coty Schock collected his first career Heat race win.

250 Heat Two

The second race of the night was off and Tom Vialle was off to the early lead with Jalek Swoll in tail. Chance Hymas got shuffled back to third place after the first two corners, and Pierce Brown was just behind him. Jalek Swoll kept Vialle in his sights while working to build a gap over Hymas. 

However, a few laps later both Hymas and Brown were on Swoll’s rear tire pressuring for second place. With two laps to go, Chance Hymas darted inside of Swoll to take over second place. Jalek Swoll then lost some time and got shuffled back to fifth after the contact. Pierce Brown then passed Hymas for second, as Max Anstie joined the battle in fourth. Tom Vialle secured the heat race victory. 

250 LCQ

Seth Hammaker got an amazing start from the far outside gate and secured the early race lead, as Haiden Deegan settled into second place. Dominique Thury ran in third place and Jace Kessler trailed him in the final transfer position after a few passes on the opening laps. Nick Romano made a few mistakes and fell a lap down in the LCQ, ending his night early. Seth Hammaker took the win in the LCQ ahead of Haiden Deegan, Thury, and Leitzel. 

250 Main Event

The gate was down for the 250SX Main Event and Jeremy Martin was off to the early lead after an excellent start. Tom Vialle made a quick pass in turn two to secure the race lead after entering turn one in second place. Bennick, Deegan, and others veered off track after a few riders got together, but then rejoined the course ahead of a chuck of other racers. 

Cameron McAdoo made the pass on Jeremy Martin for second place, as Jalek Swoll then began to challenge Martin for position. Meanwhile, championship points-leader Max Anstie came across the finish line after one lap in 12th place. As Swoll continued to work on Martin, Seth Hammaker was reeling-in the pair and about to join the battle for third. 

Swoll finally made the pass after diving inside of Jeremy before the bigger double jump. Seth Hammaker followed just a few sections later and shuffled Martin back to fifth. Pierce Brown also made the pass on Jeremy a lap later. While running in third place, Jalek Swoll went down in a tight corner and dropped back to seventh place. 

While battling through the pack, championship points-leader Max Anstie had a mechanical failure and was forced to push the bike out of the stadium. Late in the race, Jalek Swoll got some revenge on Chance Hymas and took him down, which dropped Hymas to tenth. Tom Vialle collected his second straight Main Event win. Cameron McAdoo held off Seth Hammaker and secured second place. 

450 Heat One

Chase Sexton took the early race lead with Ty Masterpool in tail. Jason Anderson was just behind Masterpool and made the pass for second on lap two after Ty went down following a cross-rut in the rhythm lane. Dylan Ferrandis now trailed Anderson in third place, as Justin Barcia was a second behind him. 

Malcolm Stewart caught fire and was pressuring Barcia, as Justin chased down Ferrandis. Justin Barcia took Ferrandis wide and took over third place. Malcolm Stewart followed and passed Dylan a few sections later before going back to work on Barcia. With two laps to go, Malcolm Stewart made the pass on Barcia for third place. Chase Sexton took the heat race win ahead of Jason Anderson and a closing Malcolm Stewart. 

450 Heat Two

Eli Tomac took the field into turn one with Jett Lawrence in tail, however Cooper Webb cut inside of Jett in turn two to pick up second. Ken Roczen was on Jett’s rear tire in fourth place. Eli Tomac laid down heaters on lap two and three to break away from Cooper Webb slightly and build himself a 2-second cushion. 

Aaron Plessinger sat in fifth place, but he was looking to make a pass on Roczen and advance into fourth. A few positions ahead, Jett Lawrence caught Webb and made the pass through the rollers. Webb then responded and tripled in to the next corner but wasn’t able to slow down before colliding with Jett and hitting the ground. Jett rode off with second place, as Webb remounted behind Roczen in fourth place.

Eli Tomac took the heat race win just ahead of a charging Jett Lawrence. 

450 LCQ

John Short held the early lead ahead of Freddie Noren and Aaron Tanti. Bourdon was making moves on the opening laps, as he passed multiple riders and worked his way past Schlosser for the final transfer position. John Short secured the win in the 450SX LCQ ahead of Noren, Tanti, and Bourdon. 

450 Main Event

The 450SX Main Event was off and Jett Lawrence held the early race lead after cutting inside of Cooper Webb on the first corner. As they came around the start straight to begin their second lap, the 30-second card girl began to walk onto the race course right in front of Jett and Cooper. Webb clipped her after attempting to move around her, but he managed to hold onto second place. 

Justin Cooper sat in third place, but Chase Sexton was pressuring early, as he could see Jett running away with the race lead. Meanwhile, Eli Tomac started outside of the top-10 and sat in ninth place while Jett held nearly a 2-second lead over Webb. Unfortunately, Dylan Ferrandis went down early and was out of the race. 

While working on Justin Cooper, Chase Sexton got blitzed by Ken Roczen and then fell off pace a-bit. Ken Roczen now worked on Justin Cooper and found somewhere to make the pass after a few laps of pressuring. Chase Sexton was now back on the rear tire of Justin Cooper and made the pass using an outside line after the rollers. 

Eli Tomac was rolling late, as he made the pass on Plessinger for sixth place. Justin Cooper then re-passed Sexton for fourth place a lap after he lost the position. Late in the race, Jason Anderson made the pass on Plessinger for seventh place. Eli Tomac then made a mistake and Anderson made the pass for sixth a few laps later. Jett Lawrence took the win in Alabama and went back-to-back.