Lawrence Brothers Battle for $1,000,000 SuperMotocross World Championship: Jett Takes Title
September 22, 2024
Image from Feld Motor Sports, Inc.
PRESS RELEASE FROM FELD MOTOR SPORTS, INC.
Las Vegas, Nev., (September 22, 2024) The 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship came down to one final moto where two brothers, also teammates, battled for the sport’s premier championship and the one million dollar payday that comes with it. Team Honda HRC Progressive's Jett Lawrence emerged with the championship crown for the second year after winning the inaugural title last year; the new series encapsulates the 17-round Monster Energy AMA Supercross indoor season, the 11-round AMA Pro Motocross outdoor season, as well as the two postseason Playoffs and World Championship with escalating points payouts. Team Honda HRC Progressive's Hunter Lawrence challenged his younger brother right to the final checkered flag of 2024. Hunter earned the runner-up position in the championship and a $500,000 check via (3-2) moto finishes; the race format determines the event’s overall results with Olympic-scoring of two 20-minute plus one lap motos. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Eli Tomac earned third place at the Las Vegas event, as well as the cool $250,000 championship payout that comes with it. Tomac put together strong (2-3) rides on the hybrid Supercross-motocross track at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Chase Sexton, along with the Lawrence brothers, entered the Las Vegas World Championship with enough points that a win would earn him the title. Unfortunately, Sexton’s night ended on the first lap of the first moto when he tangled with another athlete and pulled out of the racing. In the 250SMX Class, Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing's Pierce Brown grabbed his first professional win with (2-1) moto scores, but the title went to Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Haiden Deegan. Haiden is also repeating his crown as a SuperMotocross World Champion and will take home his second $500,000 prize for the feat. “I want to start off by saying it's sucked that we didn't have Chase out there. I don't know what happened, but I hope you have a speedy recovery. I've seen the video [and it] looked like it was just a bummer of a racing incident, so I want to send my prayers to him and hope he has a speedy recovery, or nothing too bad. And, I mean, it feels good [to win]. I sat out the Outdoors with injury, and it sucked, so it's… good to come back and start where I left off. [I’m] super pumped. I'm happy but also it still sucks again because it’s against Hunter, so it's a little harder to swallow but I'm just super happy with the team. This new bike is unreal, as you can see… Thanks everyone. I had to show up because the Australians came out, so I had to make sure I put Australia on top, either it was me or Hunter, so thanks to them.” – Jett Lawrence “Hopefully we gave the fans what they wanted to come and see, in a good battle all the way down to the wire. So, it was a fun race, regardless of the outcome I still had fun. That was a really good moto, and a huge thank you to the team. You know, they've been working their butts off all year, so thanks so much to everyone that makes it possible.” – Hunter Lawrence “I gave it my best. I just started behind them there, and did what I could, but we were all really fast tonight. They maybe had a couple little sections at the beginning [where] they were kind of sneaking away from me. So overall, [it was a] pretty good SMX series here [for me], and glad I was fighting towards the front of the races for this comeback. And just thank you to the team, all the fans, everyone… it's good to be back.” – Eli Tomac In the 250SMX class, surprise winner Pierce Brown jumped quickly into second place in the opening moto, then followed that up with a strong moto 2 ride that saw him take the lead just before the midpoint. Brown’s overall event win catapulted him from seventh into third in the final championship standings. Haiden Deegan entered the event with a 19-point lead, but with a triple point payout he still needed to earn at least third overall to guarantee the title. Deegan won the first moto and charged up to second in the final moto to grab the championship with a total of five post-season moto wins. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing's Jordon Smith earned third place on the night with (5-3) moto scores. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Tom Vialle started the night’s racing in second place in points, but a disappointing final moto ended his title hopes. His (3-8) moto finishes were enough to land him second in the championship. “I'm speechless right now. I mean, I feel like this win has been long overdue. We've been working really hard the last couple of years, and I'm just so stoked we got it done. I can’t thank my team enough; everybody behind me, Will, the whole TLD GASGAS team, I mean everybody. It’s just been a fun run. As our [“Venom: The Last Dance”-themed] gear says, this was the last dance so we ended on top, so I'm stoked.” – Pierce Brown, referencing the GASGAS team that is not returning in 2025. “It feels good. Back-to-back is definitely a dream come true. I worked my butt off ever since I was a kid to get here, so thank you to my family, my team Star Racing Yamaha, my trainer Swaney, just everyone in my circle. Man, it takes a big team to do this, and a lot of hard work, so thank you, guys.” – Haiden Deegan “It's been a great year; [I] stayed healthy all year. I’ve got to give it up to the whole Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team. They've given me an opportunity whenever I didn't have one and it's been a heck of a run the last two years. Man, it feels good to be back up here. [I] put in some solid rides, I'm really happy with my riding throughout this SMX [post-season]. We finally figured out the starts on the last start of the year, so that was a bummer to take that long, but we'll take it.” – Jordon Smith “The track is really tough to pass. Unfortunately, I had contact with Ty [Masterpool]; I didn’t mean to, and I think he crashed, so that was my bad and I’m really sorry for that. I had a little bit of arm pump at the end of the moto and I’m really excited. One more [moto] to go and I really want to fight with Haiden [Deegan] up front.” – Tom Vialle Prior to the 450SMX and 250SMX motos, the 250 World All-Stars took to the track for a single 10-minute plus one lap Main Event. At the checkered flag it was a Yamaha sweep for the podium. Cole Davies earned the win ahead of Avery Long and Alexander Fedortsov. “Yeah, I’ve made some huge gains in 2024. From the first race at RedBud [motocross], that was not great. I crashed four times in one race… but then [at this Las Vegas race] I got off to a pretty good start there, made a pretty quick pass on Landen [Gordon] and just tried to ride it home from there. [I had] a few sketchy moments and stuff like that, but yeah, we got it done.” – Cole Davies, when asked if he’s felt the improvements that the broadcasters had noticed throughout the year’s amateur events. The SuperMotocross World Championship event wrapped up nine incredible months of racing. The 31-round SMX World Championship crossed and re-crossed the United States to challenge the best Supercross and motocross racers inside the top sports stadiums and at the most storied motocross venues. The series’ successful second year already has racers, teams, and fans looking forward to the 2025 race season. The schedule for both the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season and the AMA Pro Motocross season will be teased beginning on Monday on the SuperMotocross World Championship social channels. The complete SX and MX schedules will be presented on Thursday, September 26, on the SMX Insiders Show on the SuperMotocross World Championship YouTube channel and other social platforms. The Final, as well as each preceding round of the 2024 SMX World Championship, was streamed live on Peacock; and each round is still available for on-demand viewing. Coverage through 2024 was also streamed and broadcast domestically on NBC, USA Network, CNBC, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. CNBC aired next-day encore presentations of all 31 rounds of 2024 racing. Live audio coverage for each Supercross race was made available via NBC Sports Audio on SiriusXM Channel 85. The final round of the Supercross, Motocross, and SuperMotocross championships were also broadcast domestically in Spanish language on Telemudo Deportes’ social channels as well as on the NBC Sports app. For international race fans, the racing was available through the SuperMotocross Video Pass (supermotocross.tv) live and on-demand, in both English and Spanish. For full race results, video highlights, feature stories, photos, news, and more please visit SuperMotocross.com.
