SuperMotocross Playoff 2 Fort Worth recap

This past weekend the SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff 2 took place at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It was the second round of racing in the post-season series and would be awarding double points. The increasing points payout strategy is an interesting approach that keeps ramping up the importance each round, but it seems to be a love and hate relationship with some fans. Last week in Charlotte we saw Haiden Deegan go 1-1 on the day for the overall win and put the 250 class on notice that this is his World Championship. In the 450 class, there were more questions on if Chase Sexton would continue his dominance from outdoors or if a returning Jett Lawrence could return to winning style fast from his injury.

While the 250 class is anything but locked up, Haiden Deegan does have a nineteen-point lead over second place and even with triple points in the Vegas round his challengers will need to benefit from some Deegan bad luck to have a chance at the $500,000 prize for first place in points. On the 450 side of things it’s much closer with Hunter and Chase only separated by one point and Jett only nine points behind Hunter. This effectively makes for a winner take all scenario between these three athletes. While Eli has a mathematical chance he would need the three in front of him to have bad results.

250 Class

The 250 class was exciting, and it was great to see the top 7 or so athletes remain close and competitive for both of the motos. But it was mostly another episode of the Haiden Deegan show as he nailed both holeshots and went 1-1 on the day for the overall win and remains perfect in the SMX postseason so far. Both Jo Shimoda and Tom Vialle had a great weekend of racing as they swapped second and third place finishes in the moto and rounded out the overall podium behind Haiden. But neither had quite enough to mount a real challenge for the lead. Jo briefly grabbed the lead on the opening lap of moto one but could only hold it for one zone and then Haiden passed back and remained in front to the checkered flag.

RJ Hampshire had a sixth-place finish in moto one but then drifted into a tough block in the second moto and crashed and was unable to finish the race. Considering his wrist is still causing him pain to ride, he was looking pretty good out there in the slick and rough conditions. Young Beaumer had another solid showing, with a fifth overall finish to go with his first podium last week in Charlotte.

“Just a lot of hard work and it pays off, and good family around you, too… The track, it was gnarly. It felt like – if anyone’s from Cali, they know Lake Elsinore at 5PM, literally it’s just baked. But overall, it was a good race, had some fun. Two perfect starts today, and that was my goal.” – Haiden Deegan, when asked what made the difference between his SMX Championship last year in which he did not win an overall victory, to winning all four 250SMX post-season motos thus far in 2024.

450 Class

The main storylines coming into Fort Worth were, will Jett repeat again, can Eli bring Beast Mode again, and will Sexton’s mental toughness be enough to bounce back from getting beat last week after an impressive outdoor title season. The good news is some of these proved true and while Jett looked good, several other riders had something to say about just giving him the title so easily.

In the first moto we saw Hunter grab the holeshot and was followed closely by Jett and Eli. Beyond the mid point of the race we saw a bobble by Hunter that allowed Jett to make the pass for the lead and it felt like it would be over at that point. Sexton got an average start and steadily worked forward to reach fourth place and remain in play for a win and podium finish. The top three remained pretty close in position late into the race and a very quick stall by Jett in the back rhythm section allowed both Hunter and Eli to pass. A late race push by Eli allowed him to challenge Hunter for the lead but was unsuccessful. A crash by Justin Cooper ended his weekend early and with a possible broken collarbone he may be done for Vegas also.

The second moto started with a Dylan Ferrandis holeshot who was followed closely by Plessinger and Anderson. Thats a top three that we have not seen in a while and is good to see them off to a good start. Chase started out in fourth place and quickly moved into second on the first lap and immediately began to pressure for the lead. Not long after pressuring Dylan he had a bobble in the rhythm section that allowed Sexton by for the lead and he would hold onto it till the checkered flag. He was able to build a comfortable lead early and held onto it for a safe cushion for the rest of the moto. The Lawrence brothers and Tomac were running in fourth through sixth and made for some excellent racing. Unfortunately Roczen was caught up in a first turn crash that left him in seventeenth and he was and to move forward and finish with a solid sixth place finish.

Hunters strong performance on the day secured him his first overall 450 win and a vaulted him into first place in the championship points also.

“Super awesome! I had a little super accident on the back [of the track], but that’s SuperMotocross. [smiles]. I’m happy to be getting out of here with the red plate. It feels good to get that one. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to riding that track again, so [I’m] thankful it’s done… a massive shout out to the team and everyone that’s been a part of this. We appreciate you guys, and we couldn’t do it without you, so thank you.” – Hunter Lawrence, describing a moment on the final lap of Moto 2 where he ran briefly off the track and onto the speedway infield’s grass.     

“[Getting a good start and getting clear of traffic was] one of the key factors. But we actually made a change before Moto 1 and I felt like I rode pretty well, [I] just was way back. So, I got a good start and was able just to ride my own laps and, yeah, felt like I did back in Pro Motocross. Good race, second overall, so we’re looking good for next weekend. [We’ll] just try and build and come out swinging in Vegas.” – Chase Sexton 

Supermini Class

Between the 450SMX and 250SMX motos, the Supermini World All-Stars race put the next generation of the sport on the track. The young racers, aged 12 to 15 years old, delivered more thrilling racing. The Supermini class in general, is a favorite of mine as they are typically fast kids, and the power-to-weight ratio on these bikes is very similar to what they will run when they are older on a more powerful big bike. So, with their skills, its’s not uncommon to see them running lap times not far off from pros on motocross tracks. That would not be the case on an SMX track but they will clear all the jumps and put on an amazing show for the fans. It’s also great to see some of the athletes that will be in the futures and combine classes in the upcoming years.

The Superminis only ran a single race and it started with Noxx Lewin a Midwest athlete getting the holeshot. He was able to run up front for a few laps but began getting serious challenges and eventually faded back to a solid fifth-place finish. Carson Wood who went down early was running way back and was able to mount an impressive charge forward for a third place finish. Given Cason one in Chicago last year there was pressure on him to repeat, but given the issue his effort was impressive.

“This is massive to me. I got off to a decent start, tried my absolute hardest the first two laps, caught ‘em, passed ‘em, put in a two-lap sprint, and ran.” – Brody Moss, when asked on the podium what the win meant to him.    

All photo credit: N. Suhr