2024 Nashville Supercross | Race Report and Results

Presented by FXR Racing

By Austin Rohr
Photos by Michael Antonovich

Round 14 of the Monster Energy Supercross championship paid visit to Nashville and hosted an exciting night of racing. Highlighting the evening was the first of two 250SX East-West Showdowns and a pair of red plates in the 450SX class. With championship hopes on the line, RJ Hampshire and Jett Lawrence took critical wins in each class.

250SX West Heat

Ryder DiFrancesco clenched the holeshot in the 250SX West heat, while behind him several riders were collected in a pileup in the opening rhythm lane. DiFrancesco began opening a gap over Phil Nicoletti in second, who was under pressure from Jordon Smith. A strong run through the whoops saw Smith make the pass for second and set his sights on the lead. That charge would soon be halted, however, due to a red cross flag incident. Garrett Marchbanks went down in the first rhythm section and had to be helped off the track by the Alpinestars Medical team.

DiFrancesco led the pack into the restart, as enough of the heat had been completed to warrant a staggered start. RJ Hampshire went to work quickly to climb through the pack, moving from fifth to second in under a minute and half. He then found a faster jump line through the whoops, leaping into the lead past DiFrancesco on the final lap to take the win.

250SX East Heat

The early lead was awarded to Coty Schock, who immediately came under fire from Tom Vialle. Not wasting time, Vialle made the move on Schock and began putting distance on the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Haiden Deegan faced early trouble with a crash in the sand that landed him outside of the top nine. He put in a charge to 10th, but during a battle with Gage Linville, he made a mistake that allowed Chance Hymas by. Deegan regrouped and raced forward, securing eighth at the checkered flag.

Out front, Vialle rode without issue to take the win. He was followed by Pierce Brown, and Schock held on for third.

LCQ

Julien Beaumer grabbed the 250 LCQ holeshot, with Linville and Daxton Bennick battling over second place behind him. Talon Hawkins held the fourth and final transfer spot. However, Hawkins would slide out in the flat corner after the whoops and Henry Miller was able to capitalize to capture a spot in the main. The top four held for the remainder of the race, with Beaumer earning the win.

Main Event

Hampshire and Smith nearly tied for the holeshot, with Hampshire taking the lead. Behind them would be chaos, as Kitchen contacted the rear of McAdoo’s machine and both points leaders ended up on the ground. Up front, Jo Shimoda had found his way in front of Smith for second. Smith would then end up tipping over at the end of the whoops and dropping to sixth. That would move Vialle into third.

Just before the halfway mark, McAdoo would pull off the track, marking a major shift in the championship points for the 250SX East region. As the front three stretched out, the attention then turned to the battles further back. All eyes were on Kitchen, who was attempting to salvage his points lead with Hampshire out front.

At the checkered flag, Hampshire clinched the win and took the 250SX West red plate. Joining him on the podium was Shimoda and Vialle–who also captured the points lead in the East.

450SX Heat One

Ken Roczen narrowly took the holeshot from Justin Cooper, and the two went to battle on the opening lap. Cooper made an error that led him off the track, and Adam Cianciarulo took over second. Both Hunter Lawrence and Chase Sexton made their way around Cooper as well, and then the running order seemed to settle.

As time wound down, however, a stall by Roczen would shuffle him back to fourth, giving Cianciarulo the lead. With two laps to go, Lawrence made the pass for the lead and took the win.

450 Heat Two

Jett Lawrence edged out Eli Tomac to take the holeshot. Cooper Webb used an inside line to sneak by for second, with Tomac finding himself in a battle with Malcolm Stewart over third. Stewart held the position for the majority of the race, but Tomac made a late charge to pass Stewart back. Out front, Lawrence had opened up his lead over Webb and was able to take the win.

450 LCQ

The early lead went to Josh Cartwright, but Grant Harlan and Devon Simonson both made passes on him in on the opening lap. Jeremy Hand would also make an early pass on Cartwright. However, Simonson went down, and the race order started shifting. Justin Hill went on the attack, moving into third and battling Hand for second. Further back, Freddie Noren secured his spot in the main with the fourth and final transfer spot. Hill wasn’t done there, as he continued his charge and managed to catch and pass Harlan for the LCQ win.

450SX Main Event

A great jump from Jett Lawrence appeared like it was good for the holeshot, but Tomac powered through the first turn to take the lead. Jett was then faced with immediate pressure from Roczen, who would make the pass for second and set his sights on Tomac. Behind the top three, Webb found himself in fourth.

As the pace at the front was picking up, a major crash from Sexton would end his night early. Then, just a few laps later, with Roczen following Tomac’s triple into the whoops, a huge cloud of smoke erupted from his machine,and he was ejected from the bike as it struggled to get through the whoops.

At the halfway point, Lawrence had caught the rear wheel of Tomac, and would make the pass as Tomac dodged two riders down in the sand. From then on, the gaps would open between each position and the standing held to the checkered flag.

Lawrence’s win gave him sole control of the points standings, while Tomac and Webb rounded out the podium.