2024 Salt Lake City Supercross | Race Report & Results

FXR Racing

@fxrmoto

And just like that, the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship is officially in the books, as round seventeen concluded the series in Salt Lake City. The fans inside Rice Eccles Stadium saw fights for three championships during eight gate-drops of close racing and tense battles. In the end, two assumed champions were crowned and the other rode the ride of his life to earn the third. Those three racers each left the state of Utah with their first championship in the respected class and here is how it all unfolded…

250SX East Heat

Coty Schock rocketed out of the gate and then cut tight around the first turn to pick up the holeshot and early race lead. Daxton Bennick settled into second place, as Haiden Deegan worked his way past multiple riders in the first few sections just behind. Coty Schock then lost traction and flew off track while leading on the opening lap. 

Coty’s crash handed Bennick the race lead, but Haiden made a quick pass after just two corners. As Deegan took the race lead in the heat, Bennick was shuffled back to second place and Nick Romano trailed in third. Meanwhile, championship points leader Tom Vialle sat in 8th place after a poor start. 

Seth Hammaker then joined the podium, as he made a pass on Romano after gaining time on the rookie the lap prior. With a lap to go, Chance Hymas passed Tom Vialle for 8th place. That pass shuffled Vialle into the final transfer position out of the heat. Haiden Deegan took the East coast heat race win. 

250SX West Heat

Levi Kitchen looked to have the early lead, but Rj Hampshire snuck inside and pulled right alongside his championship rival in the first rhythm lane. Rj then cased a jump, which handed Levi the race lead and shuffled Hampshire back to second place. Nate Thrasher trailed the championship rivals in third place, while teammate Jordon Smith sat behind him. 

While giving chase to Levi, Rj made a slight mistake and lost traction momentarily. However, Rj Hampshire managed to keep Levi within a second even after the mistake. With two laps to go, Julien Beaumer was able to pass his way into a transfer position after crossing the finish line in 18th place on lap one. Rj Hampshire kept Levi Kitchen within his sights all race long, but Levi crossed the checkered flag to collect the heat race win over his championship competitor. 

250SX LCQ

Coty Schock got another great start, but Lux Turner snagged the holeshot before going down and handing the lead over. Talon Hawkins also went down with his teammate on the exit of the first corner. That left Anthony Bourdon in second place and Preston Boespflug in third. Rookie Brad West was also in the picture, as he was in control on the final transfer position but had Max Miller pressuring for the spot. 

Max then jumped outside and past West to secure fourth place, leaving West to deal with Marshal Weltin. After a few attempts, Weltin made the pass on West and switched his focus to Miller. With just two laps to go, Weltin cut down and inside of Miller to take fourth place. However, Max responded and re-passed, but Weltin then secured the final transfer position after a pass at the end of the lap. On the final lap, Max Miller pinned it through the whoops and blitzed past Weltin and into fourth place to take the final transfer position. 

250SX East/West Showdown

Haiden Deegan cut inside on the first turn and took the race lead ahead of Nick Romano and Rj Hampshire. Meanwhile, Levi Kitchen came around in eighth place after a poor start. East coast points-leader Tom Vialle sat just behind Levi, in ninth place on lap one. Jordon Smith then passed Rj Hampshire for third place, leaving Rj to deal with Jo Shimoda. 

Up front, Haiden Deegan had already worked his way to a 3-second cushion over second place. Jordon Smith continued to charge, as he passed his teammate Nick Romano and picked up second. Nick Romano then made a mistake and dropped back to seventh place, which handed Hampshire third place. Levi Kitchen advanced into sixth and now sat less than 2-seconds behind Hampshire. 

Tom Vialle continued to charge through the field as well, advancing him up to seventh place. As Rj Hampshire ran seemingly his own pace in third place, Levi Kitchen struggled to get around Nate Thrasher for fifth place. Finally, Levi was able to make the pass on Thrasher and secure fifth place. The lap after he made the pass, Levi Kitchen turned the fastest lap on track. 

Up front, Jordon Smith had caught Haiden Deegan and was pressuring for the race lead. Jordon Smith blitzed the whoops and darted inside of Haiden to make the pass, but he instead went down after the contact. Haiden managed to stay up and remain in the race lead, while Smith dropped back to fourth. 

On the final few laps, Rj Hampshire closed-in on Haiden but didn’t forced a pass. Haiden crossed the finish line to take the win in Salt Lake City, while Rj Hampshire finished in second place to secure the 2024 250SX West Championship over Levi Kitchen. Tom Vialle finished in eighth place and claimed the 2024 250SX East Championship.

450SX Heat One

Jett Lawrence executed a perfect start but Cooper Webb managed to cut inside and make some contact on the exit of the corner. Webb slowed after the contact was made, which allowed Justin Barcia to pass into second place. Cooper Webb then began pressuring Barcia for second place, as Jett Lawrence worked on running away with the lead. 

Dean Wilson got a great start and ran in fourth place, just ahead of Malcolm Stewart. Up front, Justin Barcia responded to the pressure from Webb and upped his pace to put over a second between Cooper and himself. Malcolm Stewart went down at the end of the whoops, dropping him back to ninth place. Jett Lawrence collected the heat race win ahead of Justin Barcia. 

450SX Heat Two

Justin Cooper snagged the holeshot, just ahead of Chase Sexton and Hunter Lawrence. Hunter showed Chase a wheel almost immediately, but Chase took away the line to hold onto second place. Chase then went after Justin Cooper and made the pass for the lead after cutting down and rocketing to the main line on the start straight. 

Meanwhile, Jason Anderson was off to a rough start in the heat, as he came around in ninth place on the opening lap. Back up front, just two laps after passing into the lead, Chase Sexton had already put 2-seconds between Justin Cooper and himself. With three laps to go, Jason Anderson made a final pass on Oldenburg to advance into fourth place. 

Adam Cianciarulo – who got together with his teammate on the opening lap, was also on the charge through the pack, but he was fighting for a transfer position. On the final lap, Adam passed Simonson to secure a ticket into his final Main Event out of his final heat race. Chase Sexton crossed the checkered flag to claim the heat race win. 

450SX LCQ

Grant Harlan led the field out of the first corner and had Simonson in tail. Tristan Lane sat in third place, while Hunter Schlosser and Freddie Noren battled over the final transfer position. Freddie ultimately made the pass, where Schlosser dropped a few more positions after getting passed initially.

Mitchell Harrison then caught and began pressuring Noren for the final spot. Freddie then upped his pace and made the pass on Tristan Lane for third place, putting Tristan on the bubble. In the final corner Mitchell Harrison went down and collected Tristan Lane, which allowed Kevin Moranz to barely sneak by and take the final transfer position. Grant Harlan took the LCQ win after leading start to finish. 

450SX Main Event

Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper took the early upper-hand over the rest of the field, as they exited the first turn alongside each other. Justin Cooper then took the lead with an inside line, but Chase Sexton made the pass by the end of the first lap after using an inside rut. Hunter Lawrence ran in third place, but Cooper Webb and Jason Anderson were pressuring early. Cooper Webb took Hunter wide to take over third place on the second lap. 

Jason Anderson then took Hunter wide on the flat turn to shuffled Hunter back to fifth place. Hunter went right back after Jason, though, as he passed him back by using an inside rut. Jason Anderson then blitzed the whoops and took Hunter wide to complete the pass and put Hunter over the berm. Jett Lawrence sat in fourth place after a pass on Jason, but he then almost went down and was shuffled back to sixth place. 

Up front, Chase Sexton worked his way to a 3-second lead over Justin Cooper. Jason Anderson continued to charge and was now pressuring Cooper Webb for third place. Jett Lawrence looked to be cruising, as he was shuffled back to seventh place. Shortly after Anderson reeled him in, Cooper Webb upped his pace and began pressuring Justin Cooper for second. 

While being lapped by Jason Anderson, Hunter Lawrence got into Jason and nearly took him off track. Chase Sexton took the checkered flag to grab the final victory in the 2024 Supercross season. Jett Lawrence crossed the finish line in seventh place to claim the 2024 450SX Championship in his rookie season.