Ryan Nitzen | May 25, 2024
Welcome to Fox Raceway for round one of the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship. With only a week off between Supercross and Motocross, the boys are back in action for the kick off of the 2024 summer season. After four checkered flags, its Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan sweeping the day’s overall wins.
Pro Motocross is here! Let’s go racing. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
MOTOS
450MX MOTO 1
The Jett Lawrence show continued in moto one with the holeshot and a wire-to-wire win. He rode a great race just a few seconds clear of the battle back in second place. Lawrence extended his streak to 23 moto wins as he crossed the line five seconds clear of his brother Hunter back in second.
Jett Lawrence continued the win streak in race one. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Hunter Lawrence battled with Aaron Plessinger for nearly the entire first moto. The two started together with Plessinger holding the spot for the first 20 minutes of the race. Lawrence made the pass with 10 minutes to go, making it a Lawrence brothers one and two. Plessinger crossed the line third.
Hunter Lawrence and Aaron Plessinger battled for most of the first moto.
Plessinger rounded out the podium.
450MX MOTO 2
Hunter Lawrence executed the start again in moto two. He was quickly passed by his teammate and brother Jett on lap one as the Lawrences again started in successive order. Chase Sexton quickly moved into third and stalked the two leaders for the first half of the moto.
Hunter Lawrence got the start in race two.
Jett made his way to the lead on lap one.
Sexton battled with Hunter and eventually made the pass for second before setting his sights on Jett in the lead. He chipped away at the lead but made a mistake and went off the track with just two minutes left on the clock. This mistake seemed like the knife in the coffin for Sexton but he remounted a last-lap charge to finish just 1.3 seconds behind. Sexton claimed third overall on the day.
Sexton made it an exciting moto two and finished only 1.3 seconds behind.
Jett again claimed the win, extending his win streak to 24-0. Hunter Lawrence finished third, 40 seconds back. With his second in race one and Sexton’s fourth, Hunter earned second overall in his 450 outdoor debut.
Another 1-1 for Jett ties him with James Stewart with 24 wins.
Hunter Lawrence debuted in the 450MX with a second place overall. Justin Cooper is another 450 rookie who claimed sixth.
450 Podium.
450MX Overall Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
1-1 |
| 2. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2-3 |
| 3. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
4-2 |
| 4. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Hon) |
7-5 |
| 5. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
6-6 |
| 6. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
5-8 |
| 7. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
10-4 |
| 8. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
3-12 |
| 9. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
8-7 |
| 10. |
Phil Nicoletti |
(Yam) |
9-9 |
250MX MOTO 1
Tom Vialle kicked things off with a close holeshot and the early lead in moto number one. He led the opening laps just ahead of Levi Kitchen but was overtaken by the Kawasaki rider on lap three. Kitchen held the top spot for most of the race as he dropped Vialle and fended off a hard-charging Haiden Deegan.
250MX start.
Kitchen led early on with Deegan closing.
Deegan spent the whole race chasing Kitchen and eventually closed within striking distance with just two laps remaining. Kitchen snagged a track marker and slowed down to pull it out. This allowed Deegan to secure the pass and run away with the win in the final laps. Kitchen held on for second after leading most of the moto.
Deegan made a late-race pass for the win.
Vialle still secured a podium despite leading the opening few laps but was later docked a spot for his off-track excursion. Chance Hymas and Joey Savatgy rounded out the top five.
Vialle started up front but crossed the line third. He was docked a spot for an off-track excursion.
Vialle’s penalty bumped Hymas to third.
250MX MOTO 2
Moto two belonged to Haiden Deegan as the fan-favorite grabbed the holeshot and led every lap of the race. Kitchen stayed close for the entire moto but couldn’t get close enough to make a pass. With dominant 1-1 results, Deegan sweeps the day’s overall to start the season.
Deegan got the jump in race two.
Deegan was pumped to start the year with 1-1 results.
Levi Kitchen came away with another second place finish to take second overall. The Kawasaki rider kept the pressure on but just couldn’t manage to close the gap to the leader. 2-2 results give Kitchen second overall.
Kitchen rode a consistent day with 2-2 results.
Tom Vialle crossed the line third again in race two. The KTM rider started up front but fell as he tried to make a pass for third. He went back to work and re-passed a handful of riders, getting back to third and breaking a tie with Chance Hymas.
Vialle’s third in moto two gave him third overall.
250 podium.
250MX Overall Results (Top 10)
| 1. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
1-1 |
| 2. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Kaw) |
2-2 |
| 3. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
4-3 |
| 4. |
Chance Hymas |
(Hon) |
3-4 |
| 5. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Tri) |
6-5 |
| 6. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Hon) |
8-6 |
| 7. |
Nate Thrasher |
(Yam) |
11-7 |
| 8. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
10-8 |
| 9. |
Joseph Savatgy |
(Tri) |
5-13 |
| 10. |
Ryder DiFrancesco |
(GG) |
9-12 |
QUALIFYING
450MX
The 450 class is stacked today with everyone having their eyes on ending Jett Lawrence’s win streak. That will have to wait as Lawrence topped the time sheets once again, just ahead of Chase Sexton and Hunter Lawrence. This is Hunter’s first outdoor race on the 450 and he cleared Dylan Ferrandis and other 450 rookie, Justin Cooper.
Jett Lawrence topped the 450 time charts. Photos: Brown Dog Wilson
Sexton looked good for second.
Hunter Lawrence rounded out the top three.
450MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2:18.467 |
| 2. |
Chase Sexton |
(KTM) |
2:19.692 |
| 3. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2:20.592 |
| 4. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Hon) |
2:21.000 |
| 5. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
2:22.109 |
| 6. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
2:22.611 |
| 7. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
2:23.322 |
| 8. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
2:23.403 |
| 9. |
Malcolm Stewart |
(Hus) |
2:24.890 |
| 10. |
Fredrik Noren |
(Kaw) |
2:24.936 |
250MX
The 250MX field is chock-full of contenders all looking to strike first at the opening round. Levi Kitchen showed up ready to race as he clocked the best time, just two tenths better than Joey Savatgy. Savatgy is making his debut with the Triumph Factory Team and ran second, just ahead of Pierce Brown, Chance Hymas, and Jordon Smith. Note that RJ Hampshire crashed on Thursday with a broken wrist and Ty Masterpool is riding in the 250 class aboard a Pro Circuit Kawasaki.
Levi Kitchen was the fastest 250 rider.
Joey Savatgy was a close second on his new Triumph.
Pierce Brown clocked third.
250MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Kaw) |
2:22.285 |
| 2. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Tri) |
2:22.492 |
| 3. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
2:23.450 |
| 4. |
Chance Hymas |
(Hon) |
2:23.525 |
| 5. |
Jordon Smith |
(Yam) |
2:23.748 |
| 6. |
Ty Masterpool |
(Kaw) |
2:23.841 |
| 7. |
Haiden Deegan |
(Yam) |
2:24.134 |
| 8. |
Tom Vialle |
(KTM) |
2:24.183 |
| 9. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Hon) |
2:25.067 |
| 10. |
Julein Beaumer |
(KTM) |
2:25.194 |
