Blow by blow reports from 250-450 AMA SX Alabama Mains

2024 AMA Supercross Championship

Round Nine – Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

450 Main

Plenty of rain in the lead up to the ninth round of the Monster Energy AMA Championship in Birmingham, Alabama, had seen the normal media day cancelled as the track was a quagmire.

Much work had been done since then to try and give riders a track fit to race on with whoop sections removed and a lot of the track redesigned due to the conditions.  Almost two inches of rain fell overnight but by the time riders fronted up on the gates the track, while still gnarly, was in much better condition that most expected.

Hunter Lawrence was out injured for this round.

Chase Sexton won the opening Heat from Jason Anderson and Malcolm Stewart.

Eli Tomac won Heat Two ahead of Jett Lawrence, Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb.

Aaron Tanti contested the LCQ where he finished third to earn his spot in the Main.

Jett Lawrence took the inside line at turn one to take the early lead from an aggressive-looking Cooper Webb.  The Yamaha man then got tripped up by the 30-second girl crossing the circuit on the opening lap, which made him alter his line slightly.

That misfortune for Webb perhaps allowed Jett a little breathing space. Justin Cooper third early on, Chase Sexton fourth, Adam Cianciarulo fifth and Ken Roczen sixth.  Eli Tomac tenth.

Chase Sexton looked to be pushing hard but the track was tight and proving hard to make safe passes on, forcing the defending champ to bide his time in his quest to take third place from Justin Cooper.

With five-minutes down, Jett Lawrence led Webb by just under two-seconds. Cooper was a further two-seconds behind in third, just ahead of Chase Sexton and Ken Roczen. Aaron Plessinger sixth, Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac was now up eighth.

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Two laps later Ken Roczen swooped past Sexton in a great move and had found his flow, the Suzuki man was now lapping faster than the race leader. Soon the German was nipping at the heels of Justin Cooper. Sexton seemed to have lost his flow and it now looked as though fifth might be his likely result.

During the middle of the race all the leaders were threading the needle through lapped traffic, and the gaps ebbed and flowed as a result.

With just over eight minutes left on the clock, Ken Roczen took third place from Cooper. Sexton seemed to have found his feet once again and closed in to start challenging Cooper for fourth.

Once Roczen had some clear air, he pulled away from Justin Cooper and immediately started closing on Webb.  Lawrence led Webb by four-seconds with seven-minutes left on the clock, and Webb had a similar gap over Roczen.

Roczen, though, couldn’t muster enough pace to reel in Cooper Webb. The Yamaha man stayed strong and fast, refusing to allow Jett Lawrence to pull away any further over the closing laps, keeping the pressure on.

As they started the final lap, Jett led Cooper Webb by just over three-seconds. Roczen was a further ten-seconds behind.

Jett took the chequered flag after leading every lap of the race, his fourth win of the season.

Cooper Webb’s strong second place sees him only give away a couple of points to Jett, the gap now 13-points.

Chase Sexton ultimately took fourth place ahead of Justin Cooper and Jason Anderson.

Eli Tomac steadily worked his way through to fifth but then lost two positions in the final laps, slipping to seventh by the flag.

Aaron Tanti was running 15th for much of the Main bit before falling late in the race. The Aussie was 19th on the results sheet on his return from injury.

450 Main Results

450 Championship Points

250 Main

Haiden Deegan bounced back from a fall in the opening Heat, where he clashed with Seth Hammaker early on the run to turn one. The tangle ended with both of their bikes locked together in the wall. The pair were stuck there for what seemed like forever, and as a result, they both had to head through the LCQ. They finished 1-2 in the LCQ to earn their spots in the Main.

Jeremy Martin and Tom Vialle negotiated the first turn side-by-side, but Vialle was soon through to the early lead and immediately started to pull away.

Haiden Deegan got caught up in a group at the opening turn and took to the outside of the circuit before rejoining the track in 15th place. The way Deegan got on the gas so hard while not on the circuit raised some eyebrows.

Championship points leader Max Anstie was also outside the top ten early on.

Cam McAdoo got the better of Martin for second place a couple of laps in.  Jalek Swoll and then Seth Hammaker demoted Martin further back to fifth by lap four.

At the halfway mark of the race, Vialle led McAdoo by five-seconds.  Max Anstie was up to ninth and Haiden Deegan tenth at this halfway juncture.

A few minutes later Anstie rolled to a stop with a mechanical failure on the FirePower Honda CRF250F. No points in Alabama for the Brit, a tough blow after starting the night fastest in qualifying.

Vialle continued to pull away and went on to take his second win in succession. With that victory the 23-year-old Frenchman moved into the championship lead by a single point over second place finisher Cameron McAdoo.

Seth Hammaker rounded out the podium ahead of Pierce Brown and Jeremy Martin.

A mistake by Swoll five-minutes from the end had cost him a couple of positions, the Triumph rider slipping to seventh. Late in the race, Swoll slammed into Chance Hymas, some payback for an earlier slight in the Heat.  Hymas was left on the deck and lost a number of positions, slipping to tenth by the time he crossed the line.

Haiden Deegan was one of the benefactors of that Swoll-Hymas impact. By the chequered flag, he had moved up to seventh, taking good points on what had been a testing night for the youngster. A final turn slam from way back into Coty Schock to take that seventh place was quite distasteful.  Deegan was ultimately penalised two positions for the earlier off-track excursion but escaped any penalty for the brutal pass on Schock. Deegan was demoted to ninth place.

250 Main Results

250 East Championship Points

250 Qualifying Results

250 Heat One Results

250 Heat Two Results

250 LCQ Results

450 Qualifying Results

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two Results

450 LCQ Results