Grab a refreshing beverage because the 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship season has been superb to watch, and the Bob the Cooler Company RedBud National in Buchanan, Michigan, is trending to be just that. Last weekend in the sand of Southwick, we witnessed battles to the checkered flag in nearly both classes.
At RedBud, the riders, machines, and teams will be decked out for America's birthday with graphics and gear. The racing will only escalate in excitement from here. This will be round #6 of 11 left for the summer for these riders.
In 450MX, season rookie Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence is currently the points leader with no overall win yet, but by being consistently on the podium each moto and in the day's overalls have got him in this spot. Something the whole industry was not expecting, younger brother, teammate, 2nd in points with four overall wins, and defending series champion Jett Lawrence announced this week that a UCL tear from a practice crash this Tuesday would knock him out of the remainder of the series. He did have surgery on Thursday and plans to return in September for the first round of the SuperMotocross Championship. Home race this weekend and third in points, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton, with one overall win, is only three championship points behind. With Jett on the injured list, the dynamic is going to change. Hunter and Chase will be the two riders to watch for at the front of the field as they continue to battle for their first 450MX title at the halfway point in the series—rookie vs experienced.
Sitting in fourth, the lone man for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team, Justin Cooper, is thirty-four points behind Sexton in the championship. Sexton’s teammate on that KTM Factory Racing machine, fan favorite Aaron Plessinger, sits 5th and fourteen points back on Cooper in the standings. These two will be podium-threat contenders to watch and potentially mix it up front with the two championship leaders.
The 250MX class has been dominated by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan this summer, with four overall wins and unbelievable multiple come-from-behind rides. Second and a standout rider this summer, Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas currently sits forty-two points behind. He took his career first moto victory at Thunder Valley National a couple of rounds ago. Two-time MX2 World Champion on that Red Bull KTM Factory Racing ride, Tom Vialle, sits one point behind Hymas in the championship. He fought for the overall win last weekend in the sand of Southwick until a mistake on the last lap took him out of contention.
Fourth, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen sits eighteen back on Vialle while Team Honda HRC’s and last week’s Southwick moto 2 winner, Jo Shimoda, is four behind. These riders have shown speed this summer, but it will be hard to beat Deegan as he looks better than ever entering RedBud. Ty Masterpool, Kitchen’s teammate and fill-in rider for the team, is the only rider to dethrone Haiden in overall moto scores this summer at High Point National on his way to his career first overall victory in Pro Motocross. Masterpool has been good here in recent years and someone to keep an eye out for, potentially to his second overall win.
The RedBud National is a world-renowned round in the Pro Motocross Championship tour, and the “dirt bike Gods” have been watching over us this season, giving fantastic racing to encounter that you won't want to miss!
450MX Entry List: https://americanmotocrossresults.com/xml/mx/events/M2430/M1ENTRYLIST.PDF
250MX Entry List: https://americanmotocrossresults.com/xml/mx/events/M2430/M2ENTRYLIST.PDF
Live Timing Link:
https://americanmotocrosslive.com/
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