2024 Southwick Motocross | Kickstart Recap & Gallery

A strong storm a week before the big race did a number on The Wick, as the downpour washed away the topsoil in key areas of the track while flash-flooding damaged some of the block walls that are around the property. Crestview Construction, a local labor crew, made the most of their role as title sponsor of the National and helped get things quickly back in order through use of their equipment and truckloads of sand that added three feet of fluff. “The rain was actually a blessing for the riders, because the track is going to end up a lot better than it would have been if it hadn’t, just because of all the new sand,” track operator Keith Johnson told us on Friday.

How many viral moments can happen in a single moto? Haiden Deegan’s moves at Southwick were the latest in the rider’s must-see moments and nearly every time he came by where we were on the track, fans were ready to record the action with their phones. It’d be great for the series to work with an auditor that could run a geofence and collect data such as the total number of social posts made by attendees at the races.

Moto One came to an early end for Max Anstie after a run-in with another rider in the opening laps badly damaged his Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha. Past results at the track and in the sands of Europe made Anstie a pre-race favorite and was part of the reason his tenure with the team started so early, but the weekend’s outcome was hampered first by a failed sound test that took away his P1 lap in Timed Qualifying and then this crash. He is paired with mechanic Austin Kent.

Tearoffs or roll-offs? Chance Hymas stayed with the standard laminates on his SCOTT Prospect goggles while Tom Vialle went with a film system on the 100% Armega.

Did you see our interviews with local privateer Russell Buccherri? We first met the Massachusetts rider during Friday’s media session, when we spoke about his family connection to Bill Dill and 3D Racing, and then again on Saturday afternoon after he scored points in his second-ever National. The teenager is committed to racing, as he trains in Florida at Club57 and will line up at the rest of the East Coast rounds.

As big as Haiden’s whip-save and long launches off the single were, the way he used bumps to jump over but stay low on the holeshot tabletop were the most impressive act of the day.

No tearoffs? No problem. SCOTT Sports put Armor Vision’s SmartFilm lens protector on Jo Shimoda’s Prospect goggles at Southwick, and as you can see, the film kept even the heaviest sand from sticking.

Triumph Factory Racing has had a handful of mulligans during their first year of Pro Motocross (any all-new effort is allowed a few), but Jalek Swoll’s Moto One DNF was not the overloaded engine mechanical that some initially suspected; it was a derailed chain. The incident did cause some damage, repairs that took almost all the halftime break, but the bike was back on the line for Moto Two.

15.335 second margin of victory.

Southwick’s first turn isn’t the hairiest of the Pro Motocross calendar (take your pick between Spring Creek, Washougal, and Unadilla), but it’s certainly one of the more challenging, as riders have to be willing to stay on the gas in the momentum-robbing sand while jockeying for position on the uphill run.

Here’s what happens when it all goes right.

How’s the Dunlop MX14 hook up? Zoom in to see the ripples of sand that each scoop kicked up when Jett Lawrence applied the throttle.

Kier Sexton keeping an eye on Chase during Moto One.

Southwick was the last we’ll see of Justin Barcia for a bit, as the Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing rider has opted out of the next few rounds to let his knees recover from recent injuries. Barcia says that surgery isn’t required, just rest, and the aim is to be back for the last bit of Pro Motocross and for sure the start of SMX.

How’s the Dunlop MX34F hook up? Zoom in to see the ripple of sand that the side knobs kicked up when Jett Lawrence skipped off the top of this roller.

Sometimes a mismatched jersey and pant of the same brand goes good together. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times.

Cullin Park and James Harrington were the last two riders in 450 Moto One not to get lapped by Jett Lawerence, and the extra time on the track gave them a chance to really duke it out for 13th place. The two were separated by less than half a second at the checkered flag, with Park narrowly getting the position over Harrington.

You don’t pull too many tearoffs when you lead from start to finish. Aside from some sweat that splashed on the inside of the lens, these could have been put back on for Moto Two.

Max Anstie takes everything into consideration. While other riders in the 250 Class were soaking up every minute of the half-hour halftime in their rigs, the tactical veteran was down on the track and looking at lines around the first corner.

Fox Racing bolted the sand-mud visor onto Jo Shimoda’s V3 RS, as the longer bill gave the rider a little more coverage when ducking roost. The piece is part of the race-ready accessory pack that comes in the box with every consumer helmet.

Fluff it up.

It’s always nice when the local communities embrace the Pro Motocross Championship, and Southwick is certainly one of them. The track is owned by the local American Legion Hall, the concession stands are operated by local businesses or organizations, and the neighbors around the property treat the early morning arrival of race fans as a sort of parade. We were told by a Southwick city council member that the race is the biggest event of the year, and that 13,000 fans that showed up outnumbered the city’s population of 10,000.

Another epic Moto in the 250 Class. The to-the-wire battles that are happening in the small-bore division completely overshadow the reality of the championship standings (the leader is almost two wins worth of points ahead of second), and every gate drop has an element of “what could happen” and “who will win?”

The tight running order of Shimoda-Vialle-Deegan deserved more than massed among the shots in the big gallery at the bottom of the page. This is how close the leader and second place were to each other just before the white flag was displayed…

And here’s how close third place was to second.

We noticed some puffs of white smoke coming from the breather hose on the 38 in the closing laps, and multiple people remarked that it was running rough around the track and when being impounded as part of the AMA’s usual post-race procedures.

Jo Shimoda’s Southwick ride was right on cue. The rider has been good at the track in the past, and he continued that with the most passes made of any rider during his 21-position charge from 28th to 9th in Moto one and a gritty win in Moto Two for third overall.

California, Texas, Florida, and the Carolinas get lots of recognition as MX-heavy regions, but don’t sleep on the Northeast. We’ve heard stories about the NESC for years and how riders will drive hours from surrounding states to take part in the series, and Keith Johnson told us that sometimes there will be 500+ race entries at The Wick while other nearby tracks have loads of others show up for practice on the same day.

Blasted

Another example of the near-identical riding techniques of the Lawrence brothers.

Joe Tait’s status as track champion made him one to keep an eye on at The Wick. The local didn’t have an easy way into the race, as his inclusion in 450 B Group meant his Timed Qualifying laps were always in the last session, when the track was much rougher than the glass smooth dream of 250 B Group, while a fourth-place result in the LCQ got him in for the Motos. Tait went 34-37 for 37th overall.

What’s Mobile X? It’s a mobile communication company connected to Boost Mobile and Peter Adderton that can be purchased at American retailers like WalMart and has already entered sponsorship agreements with NASCAR teams and other action sport athletes.

No one has snapped more frames at Southwick than Paul Buckley. The track is one of our favorites to watch and shoot, as the changing sand makes every rider look different from lap to lap, and we asked the local expert if that’s something he sees, too. “It’s a curse and a blessing, because the lines change so much, and the photos change so much that you can’t shoot the same lap after lap,” he noted. “But you can always count on something good developing as the race goes on.”

Jett’s quickly executed move on Hunter for the lead in 450 Moto Two.

Chase’s first attack toward Jett for the top spot in 450 Moto Two.

The move by Sexton was gutsy and immediately changed the energy of both the Moto and the crowd around the track, as Lawrence willingly conceded knowing that the overall was in hand while fans on the fence reacted to the first time Sexton had caught and passed Lawerence outdoors.

Grail. This very detailed flame-tie dye RC shirt was the coolest old event shirt we saw at Southwick. If MotoTees made some sort of wild throwback of shirt for every event on the right cut of shirt, it’d be a limited-edition must-have for the fashion forward youngsters in the crowd.

Win number three of the summer on the orange bike put Sexton within three points of championship leader Hunter Lawrence. Things are getting better the deeper into the season.

The post-race sound test. We watched it happen as the 450 Class podium popped bottles, and from our 50-yard position, it all looked to be by the book.

Onto RedBud.