Blow by blow reports from 250-450 AMA SX finale in Utah

2024 AMA Supercross Championship

Round 17 – Rice-Eccles Stadium – Salt Lake City

450 Main

Justin Cooper got a great run off the gate, but Chase Sexton had the best line to take the holeshot and the early race-lead. Hunter Lawrence was in third place early on, but Cooper Webb got the better of Hunter to take that third place off the Australian. Jett Lawrence was down around tenth early on, but quickly worked his way up to sixth place.

Jason Anderson ran Hunter Lawrence wide and over the berm on the exit of a left-hander, relegating the Honda man to the back of the field. Jett Lawrence, though, got the better of Anderson to move up to fourth place but then had a big front-end lose, which allowed Anderson back through, while Justin Barcia then pushed Jett further back to sixth.

With five-minutes down, Chase Sexton led Justin Cooper by three seconds while his team-mate and championship contender Cooper Webb was 1.8 seconds further back. Jason Anderson fourth, Justin Barcia fifth, and Jett Lawrence sixth, with one-quarter of the race behind them.

Jason Anderson then started reeling in Cooper Webb, and was setting up to challenge for third place. Webb was struggling with that thumb injury, and perhaps the discomfort from that was wearing on Webb, but he dug deep to respond to the challenge from Anderson to start pulling away from the Kawasaki man again.

Jett Lawrence was playing it safe. When challenged for sixth place by Malcolm Stewart he gave the Husqvarna rider plenty of room and relented the position without putting up a fight. Jett only needed to finish 17th, even if Cooper Webb won the race, in order to take the title.

With five-minutes left on the clock, Chase Sexton led Justin Cooper by over three-seconds, with Cooper Webb another three-seconds further back in third place. Jason Anderson was right behind Webb, and three-seconds ahead of Justin Barcia.

While Hunter Lawrence was getting lapped by Jason Anderson, he tried to take some revenge on Jason Anderson, running the Kawasaki man high, but Anderson was ready for it. Anderson was right behind Cooper Webb and about to challenge for third position, before the altercation with Hunter Lawrence cost him more than two-seconds, and a chance at a podium finish.  With Hunter doing that while getting lapped, there might be consequences from the officials. The two had words on the cool-down lap. The incident not only cost Anderson his chance at third place in this contest, but it also cost him fourth place in the championship.

With two laps to run, Chase Sexton still had three-seconds on Justin Cooper, with Cooper Webb a further three seconds behind. Jett Lawrence was seventh. And that was how they finished…

It took defending champ, Chase Sexton, a while to find his feet on the KTM, but he capped off the season with some really strong finishes, buoying his confidence heading into the motocross season. Third place in the championship for Sexton.

Justin Cooper also ends the season on a high, while his Yamaha team-mate Cooper Webb can hold his head high after taking the fight down to the wire. A mere 15 points the difference.

RelatedPosts

Blow by blow recap from WSX finale as champions crowned in Abu Dhabi

December 5, 2024

Mixed fortunes for the stars at AUSX finale in Melbourne

December 1, 2024

But the biggest winner of the day and the year so far, was 20-year-old Jett Lawrence, your 2024 Monster Energy AMA Supercross 450 Champion. Despite his seventh-place finish in the final contest, Jett showed he had the speed to get it done by recording the fastest lap of the race.

Jett Lawrence
2024 AMA SX Champion

“I’m happy it’s finally over. It felt like a long season, but also kind of fast. I guess the emotions will probably set in tomorrow or Monday. I’m still super-happy about it, and especially happy for the team. The whole race, I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up!’ Whenever there was any sketchiness, I just backed it down; we just had to bring it in with the points we needed. Honestly, this championship only really became a goal at the end of last year — once I got my outdoor title, I thought, ‘Okay, let’s try for it in Supercross.’ It’s definitely a dream come true.”

Unbelievably, racers now have only a two-week break before they line up on the gates at Fox Raceway for the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. But Cooper Webb will not be one of those lining up on those gates. Likewise, after recent surgery, Eli Tomac will also miss the opening few rounds of the Pro Motocross Championship.

Cooper Webb

“It’s not what you want, but as we can see, Jett’s a once-in-a-generation guy and he’s the real deal. So proud of my year, I’m proud of my team, proud of my family, you know, and I truly know, you know, what we’ve been dealing with these last few races and rounds. I don’t know if there’s many guys that would have finished this season, so I can hang my head high on that. And I know I’ll be back strong next year with some fight and we know what we need to work on, and congrats to Jett and the whole team. They killed it this year. Just want to give it up to my team. They really invested a lot into me this whole year and they believed in me from the start and I got back to championship form this year and probably the best version of myself. So I’m super proud of that. Super proud of the way I held myself in there all year. And man, it was going to be a great thing. We’ll get surgery Monday on this thumb and enjoy my second baby coming and some downtime. So yeah, we’ll be back next year though. I know that’s for damn sure.”

450 Main Results

450 Championship Points

250 East/West Showdown

Haiden Deegan got away to an early lead over Romano, Smith, Hampshire, and Shimoda, when the 250 championship decider got underway after a weather delay in Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. Levi Kitchen was down in eighth, Tom Vialle ninth.

Deegan took advantage of the clean air to break away from his pursuers. Two minutes in, the youngster already had more than three seconds on Romano, who, in turn, had a handy buffer over third-placed RJ Hampshire.

By the five-minute mark, Jo Shimoda was up to fourth, Nate Thrasher fifth, Levi Kitchen sixth, and Tom Vialle seventh, as fast-starter Romano drifted back to eighth.

As they reached the halfway mark, Jordon Smith was reeling in Deegan, and had started to get in a position to challenge for the race lead. RJ Hampshire was in third, Shimoda fourth, Kitchen fifth, Thrasher sixth, and Vialle seventh.

Haiden Deegan managed to stave off the advances of Jordon Smith. When Smith finally went to make his move with two minutes left on the clock, he went down after clipping Deegan’s back wheel. That promoted Hampshire up to second, and Shimoda to third, as Smith was shuffled back to fourth. Kitchen was fifth, Thrasher sixth, Hymas seventh, and Vialle eighth.

RJ Hampshire smelt blood and started reeling Deegan in over the course of the final laps. It looked as though he was shaping up to make a move for the race win, but instead played it safe to come home second and take out the 250 West Championship by five-points over fifth-placed Levi Kitchen.

Jordon Smith completed the Salt Lake City podium ahead of Jo Shimoda.

Tom Vialle was another one to play it safe with the championship on his mind. His eighth-place finish was enough for the 23-year-old Frenchman to secure the 250 East Championship over race victor Haiden Deegan.

250 Main Results

250 West Championship Points

250 East Championship Points

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two Results

250 East Heat Results

250 West Heat Results

2024 AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross calendars