Previewing Unadilla / Viewing Guide

This Saturday’s Round 9 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship and Round 26 of the SuperMotocross World Championship at the Elf Unadilla Mx National in New Berlin, New York, is set to be a thriller with the return of some favorited riders in SuperMotocross on an iconic racetrack. After a two-week break, the riders and teams are set to finish these final three rounds strong of the Pro Motocross series leading into September’s SMX World Championship Playoffs.

With its natural terrain, the Unadilla Mx track develops long ruts with steep elevation changes, has long straightaways, and has the infamous Skyshot jump. It is one of the highly anticipated races of the series.

View the original article to see embedded media.

In 450MX, the current points leader, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton, is currently on a roll with seven moto wins and three overalls in a row and has the momentum swinging his way to continue the streak. Sexton could potentially make history here this weekend, passing Eli Tomac’s longest win streak record in Pro Motocross with eight moto wins and has the potential to tie Ken Roczen’s nine in a row. Ryan Dungey would be up next with eleven straight moto wins, and it would take Sexton to win past the first moto of the last round at Ironman to beat his win streak record. So, he could make history having longer moto win streaks than anyone other than Jett Lawrence, James Stewart, and Ricky Carmichael at the end of Ironman if he wins every moto here on out. Thanks to Daniel Blair for mentioning that stat on The Fly Racing Moto: 60 Show on Wednesday. It's pretty wild to think about and to keep in mind going into the weekend.

Second place in the championship, rookie to the 450 class Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence is currently 28 points behind in the standings. He is coming off his worst overall result from Washougal and off the podium for the first time this summer. Hunter is in front of third place in the standings with another rookie in the class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper. So far, he has had a good summer, with seven top-5 overall finishes this outdoor season and two podium finishes. Sexton’s teammate on that Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine, fan favorite and Ohio’s Aaron Plessinger, is only three points behind Justin in the points, and teams pay money to their riders if they claim top 3 overall at the end of the series. So, this will be a battle between those two to watch from here on out. Plessinger is coming off his third podium this outdoor season from Washougal two weekends ago.

Also, let's not count out Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson, who landed on the podium at Washougal for his first time this summer and sits 4th in the championship, twenty points behind AP7. Anderson and the team have been working hard all summer to improve the machine, and it finally paid off at Washougal.

We have some top stars making their return to racing this weekend. Progressive Insurance/ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb. Where do you think these two will slot in overall at Unadilla?

I stated earlier in the week in a post that Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas’s Justin Barcia would return this weekend from the entry list. Since then, he and the team have stated that he is not entirely healthy enough to line up because of an MCL and hamstring injury and is on a week-to-week basis on return back to the series.

View the original article to see embedded media.

HEP/Twisted Tea Suzuki has a new rider on their roster, with Colt Nichols returning to racing and debuting with the team and bike this weekend. Shane McElrath has since parted ways with that team, and we will see him on a Madd Parts Kawasaki for the remainder of the Pro Motocross series and through the SMX series.

250MX class has been fun to watch this summer, with multiple different overall winners and exciting last-lap battles to the checkered flag. But overall, it’s the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s rider, Haiden Deegan, show. Coming off his 5th win at Washougal two weekends ago, he is going back to a track where disaster struck with a bike failure just one year ago. He is sitting comfortably out front in the championship standings with a mere 54-point advantage over second place, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle. Tom has yet to grab an overall this summer, and mistakes have held him back from claiming the top spot on the box. But he has been so close on many occasions that it will happen at some point, right? This Unadilla Mx track has been kind to overseas riders in the past, so perhaps this weekend, it all comes together for the two-time MX2 World Champion.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen, at his home track of Washougal, did not have the result he wanted coming off his career-first overall victory one weekend before at Spring Creek. He currently sits third in the points, sixteen points behind Vialle.

Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas gutted out an ankle injury at Washougal from a first-turn crash during the second moto of the Spring Creek National to a 9th overall. Hymas drops back to fourth in the championship standings. After some time to recover, we will see how the ankle injury is after the much-needed two-week break for Hymas this weekend.

In other news, and a big one, a career-first overall win at High Point National for Monster Energy Pro Circuit’s Ty Masterpool and great rides this summer as a fill-in rider on the team has now granted him a two-year deal with the team, stated by PulpMx’s Steve Matthes just yesterday. That is a big step in the right direction and an even better story for Masterpool moving forward for the remainder of 2024 onward.

The racing action can be caught on Peacock, starting with Race Day Live at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, August 10th, and the gate drop following at 1 p.m. EST.

450MX Entry List
250MX Entry List
Live Timing