Jordon Smith Tops 250SX Class in the Rain
San Francisco, Calif., (January 14, 2024) At Round 2 of the 17-round series, Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton put in a near flawless ride under some of the most brutal race conditions ever seen at a Monster Energy AMA Supercross race. The win moves Sexton into the points lead.
Heavy rains abbreviated daytime qualifying, shortened Main Events, and instigated track changes. Still, many riders left Oracle Park with a DNF rather than championship points. Photo Credit: Feld Motor Sports, Inc.
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac navigated the deteriorating track to earn second place inside Oracle Park; he jumped from ninth to being tied for third place in the point standings. Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzuki’s Ken Roczen recovered from an early mistake to pass his way up to third place. The event kicks off the season-long Love Moto Stop Cancer text-to-donate campaign as well as Ken Roczen’s Kickstart for a Cause bike sweepstakes, both to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In the Western Regional 250SX Class, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Jordon Smith followed up last week’s second-place finish to earn the top spot at round two.
“Leading the race in a mud situation, it’s obviously where you want to be because you’re not getting roosted, but it also seems like it lasts forever. The first couple laps when I was by myself and I wasn’t dealing with lapped traffic it felt, not easy, but I had a good flow and was able to hit my lines. Then once we got into lapped traffic, that’s when the race kinda starts and being able to pick around those guys is key… It’s tough not to make a mistake out there but I was fairly consistent every lap and was pretty happy with how consistent I was.” – Chase Sexton.
“It was tough. It was like, it started out really thick, and then it stayed thick enough even with all that water. A lot of times when it’s just pure rain the whole time it’s not too bad because the ruts don’t get super deep and you’re kinda just spraying it around. But this one… I went in [an inside rut] one time and got stuck for like a second or two. It was one of those tracks where it was just heavy dirt, super deep ruts. And then there was another time in the second rhythm section I almost looped out because I grabbed a handful of throttle and hung off the back. But this was one of the tougher ones.” – Eli Tomac, describing the conditions as some of the toughest he’s faced in supercross.
“My mindset was [focused on] getting going. As soon as I got going I’m like, ‘Okay, this is 15 minutes, this is enough time, with people struggling going left and right… we can still make something happen.’ So I really just put my head down and charged forward. I was kinda blown away and really happy at the same time that I caught up to the field quick and was able to just pick people off left and right… I just wanted to go and go and kinda try to have fun with it.” – Ken Roczen, describing his race after a mistake after the first turn set him well back in the field.
The Western Regional 250SX Class held its second round and Jordon Smith took over the red plate and a five point lead in the 10-round championship. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen landed on the podium again, this time moving up one spot to earn second place. Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha’s Garrett Marchbanks had to work hard for his third place finish after rounding the first lap in seventh place.
“I’ve been pretty bad in mud races in my pro career, especially lately. At the mudder in New Jersey last year I did terrible, I think I got 18th. At High Point [motocross] in the mud I did not do good there, either. And we got here today and Bobby [Regan, the team owner] was like, “Jordon, I’ve seen you ride in the mud, you just need to try to survive today and get as many points as you can’. And I was like, ‘All right Bobby, I’m going to try to prove you wrong, but you’re kinda right.’ I do feel like I’ve gotten better in the mud… I think riding outdoors last year helped me.” – Jordon Smith
“The bike felt pretty good. That was the first time it’s ever really seen any rain at all or water. I did really well. After practice I just basically stiffened my fork as much as it would go, dropped it in the clamps, just kinda made the front end light so I could kinda ride around that way and yeah, it felt really good.” – Levi Kitchen, who switched to a new team and bike for 2024.
“I honestly didn’t know what position I was in the whole race. The first lap I fell over and was basically dead last. I was just covered and mud and didn’t know what was going on so I just basically pushed the whole way through and saw Phil [Nicoletti, a teammate] and didn’t know what position we were in, so I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll just try to get another guy and keep myself in the points hunt for a title…’ I was pretty happy for the third and yeah, it was exciting.” – Garrett Marchbanks
Round 2 kicked off the Love Moto Stop Cancer text-to-donate campaign which continues the sport’s partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Fans can text “SUPER” to 785-833 or click here to join racers and fans in supporting this great cause.
The series heads south to San Diego for Round 3 inside Snapdragon Stadium on January 20th. Each round pays championship points to both the 17-round Monster Energy Supercross series and the 31-round SuperMotocross World Championship. Doors open at 10:30AM local time. The racing starts earlier this year and opening ceremonies kick-off the San Diego action at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
All 31 SuperMotocross World Championship rounds (which entail all 17 Monster Energy AMA Supercross rounds) will be streamed live on Peacock. Select rounds will be broadcast or streamed domestically on NBC, USA Network, CNBC, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. All season long, CNBC will air next-day encore presentations of each SuperMotocross event. An encore presentation of San Francisco will be featured on Sunday, January 14 on NBC at 2pm ET. Race coverage, both live and on-demand, is available for fans outside of the United States via the SuperMotocross Video Pass (supermotocross.tv); coverage is presented in both English and Spanish. As another way to tune in, fans can listen to each race’s live broadcast on SiriusXM channel 85.
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About Feld Motor Sports:
Feld Motor Sports, Inc. is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting specialized arena and stadium-based motorsports entertainment. Properties include Monster Jam®, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, and the SuperMotocross World Championship. Feld Motor Sports, Inc. is a subsidiary of Feld Entertainment, Inc. Visit monsterjam.com, SupercrossLIVE.com, and feldentertainment.com for more information.
About Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship:
Monster Energy AMA Supercross is the most competitive and highest-profile off-road motorcycle racing championship on the planet. Founded in America and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) since 1974. Over 17 weeks, Supercross attracts some of the largest and most impressive crowds inside the most recognizable and prestigious stadiums in North America to race in front of nearly one million live fans and broadcast to millions more worldwide. For more information, visit SupercrossLIVE.com.
About the SuperMotocross World Championship:
The SuperMotocross World Championship™ is the premier off-road motorcycle racing series that combines the technical precision of stadium racing with the all-out speed and endurance of outdoor racing. Created in 2022, the SuperMotocross World Championship combines the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship and the AMA Pro Motocross Championship into a 31-event series that culminates in a season-ending two round playoff and SuperMotocross World Championship Final. Visit SuperMotocross.com for more information.
About the American Motorcyclist Association:
Founded in 1924, the AMA is a not-for-profit member-based association whose mission is to promote the motorcycle lifestyle and protect the future of motorcycling. As the world’s largest motorcycling rights and event sanctioning organization, the AMA advocates for riders’ interests at all levels of government and sanctions thousands of competition and recreational events every year. The AMA also provides money-saving discounts on products and services for its members. Through the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, the AMA honors the heroes and heritage of motorcycling. For more information, visit americanmotorcyclist.com.
