SuperMotocross Playoff 1 Charlotte recap
This weekend kicked off the postseason for the SuperMotocross World Championship Finals, fueled by Monster Energy. The first playoff round was held in Charlotte at the ZMAX Dragway, the same location as last year’s inaugural playoff round. These SMX post-season events are held across two days rather than the traditional single-day Supercross and Pro Motocross races. On Friday there is an all day fan fest that allows fans to watch a live press conference in person, full-day pit access, an afternoon autograph session and two full rotations of practice rounds to watch. The race day schedule starts early with fan fest opening at 8am and stays open till 2pm just before opening ceremonies start at 2:30pm.
There were a few early outs after some practice crashes on Friday and Saturday morning. We saw Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson, and Casey Cochran withdraw from the main events and will most likely return in Dallas for Playoff 2. We also saw a number of riders return to racing such as Jo Shimoda and Cameron McAdoo.
Amateur World All-Stars 65cc
The world all stars class of racers was every bit as hot of a ticket as either of the pro classes racing also. The fence lines were packed and the crowd was loud and excited when these 65cc racers were on the track. The few times they sent a big jump in practice or qualifying it was just as loud as the pro main events. The buzz online and chatter around the lines at the event was noticeable. We had some good racing in the main event with Jaydin Smart grabbing the holeshot but unable to keep the lead and Carter Gray leading most of the race and grabbing the checkered at the end. Unfortunately, Gray was penalized for jumping the finishing line and loosing two spots, there was a pre race warning of this so there was no controversy.
Next week in Dallas fans will get to see the Supermini class of World All Stars race. The supermini class is the last stop on mini bikes before the kids move to a full-sized 250cc bike and the ones that are running at the top of the class will typically enter straight into the B class. These young riders are typically the ones you’ll see going pro or trying to race pro in a few years.
Top 5 Finishers
Chase Brennan
Joey Vicari
Carter Gray (2 position penalty)
Jaydin Smart (Holeshot)
Carter Holmes
250 Class
Plenty of good storylines leading into this first playoff round for the 250 class and everyone has a different pick on who is going to win. With good reason as there is a lot of close competition in the 250 class, but Haiden Deegan is working hard trying to shut that down with Jett like domination being the goal. Haiden did not get the starts that he typically gets but that would not hinder him from charging to the front through all of his close competitors to win both motos this weekend. Young Beaumer looked very good in both motos with good starts and running up front. He held the lead in moto one for over half of the race before getting passed by Deegan and still bringing home a second place finish. Both Kitchen and Shimoda performed well but not enough to provide any real challenge to Deegan.
In 250SMX Class racing, Haiden Deegan swept both motos with exciting come-from-behind charges that had him working his way past nearly all the top racers. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Julien Beaumer led several laps in the first moto and battled up front in the second to score his first professional podium finish. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Levi Kitchen pulled an early gap on the field in the second moto but had to settle for second place when Deegan caught and passed him in the final minutes of the race.
Top 5 Finishers
Haiden Deegan (1-1)
Julien Beaumer (2-4)
Levi Kitchen (5-2)
Jo Shimoda (3-5)
Tom Vialle (4-7)
450 Class
The main question in most fans’ minds, is Jett going to come back in and dominate the rest of the field or will we have some competitive racing? While Jett did win the overall we saw Tomac dominate the first moto and keep Jett at bay the whole race. The second moto Tomac got up front early and almost rode it home until Jett made a dashing pass to the lead very late in the moto for the win and grabbed the overall with the better second moto finish. No next week all we can do is wonder if the field is a bit closer to Jett or if he will be stronger next week with more rest on that recovering thumb. Chase Sexton had the speed but admittedly just did not feel comfortable in a few spots on the track such as the flat corners which kept hi from providing any real challenge to the leaders. He did stay close in the motos with his 4-3 finishes and was not far off of the pace at anytime and was posting faster lap times deeper in the motos.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac dominated the first 450SMX moto on the high-speed, hybrid SuperMotocross track. He led most of the second moto but finished in the runner-up spot after a fierce battle with Lawrence. SuperMotocross event results are determined by a combined two-moto score, so Tomac earned second overall with (1-2) moto finishes. The freshly-crowned AMA Pro Motocross champion, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Chase Sexton, was in the mix in both 20-minute plus one lap motos. Sexton had to settle for a third overall when the two leaders pulled away from him late in the final moto.
Top 5 Finishers
Jet Lawrence (2-1)
Eli Tomac (1-2)
Chase Sexton (4-3)
Hunter Lawrence (3-6)
Ken Roczen (5-5)
All image credit: N. Suhr