Adding to his already impressive 2023 results sheet, the final round of the 2023 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) saw Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence on top once again, taking both the overall round win and 450SMX title in a dominant 1-1 showing at the Los Angeles Coliseum. In the 250SMX category, it was Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rookie Haiden Deegan who emerged victorious, claiming 5-2 in the races to claim the 250SMX championship. Both riders were available to the media after the races for this Debrief feature.

450SMX

Image: Octopi Media.

Jett, congratulations on becoming the first ever SMX world champion. You’ve worked very hard to get here, we all know about the struggles and sacrifices that you and your family made to get here. I’d imagine this win isn’t just for you, but for your team and your family.

Yeah, this sport is… on the track it’s a one-man show, but there’s so many people in the shadows that don’t get the credit. Guys doing work to the bike for Chase [Sexton] and I just to get us the best equipment and bike we can have, and that also goes into my trainer Johnny O’Mara and my dad, who are big keys in helping, also my brother Hunter [Lawrence]. Everyday we’re grinding and always trying to be better, whether it’s the bike or just me, myself. So just to get and get this done, it’s not just an awesome achievement for me, but it’s a big thank you to the people that support me and have helped me get to where I am right now.

I know coming into this race you said you were going to take it as a normal week and weekend. But in that final race, Ken [Roczen] was on you, it’s for the million dollars. Did you feel any different? How’d it feel to be in that position?

You try to come in with that same mental as last weekend, but it’s just hard. The build-up we’ve had coming into this race, social media just building it and building it with the triple points. It just puts such a heavy pressure on you. That second moto, the track was at it’s worst, we’re pushing the limit, but it’s very hard to go any faster cause everyone was doing the same thing. Especially after I did the quad and kind of showed them that, basically showed them all of my cards, everyone started doing it. So I knew I just had to be faster everywhere else on the track, get in and out of the turns as fast as I can, but it was difficult cause the traction wasn’t really there. But yeah, it was an awesome weekend, just waking up this morning and trying to focus was very hard with the pressure being there. Thankfully I was able to come out on top.

This three race palyoff series was not as dominant as the motocross. It seems as though you may have learned a little bit about the 450 on the more supercross style tracks. Is this in any way more gratifying than the motocross championship was?

It’s definitely nice. It’s hard to take, each championship has their special moments and feelings and what you learn. This one I definitely learned, coming into the first one I thought I got curb stomped. I just had nothing for the guys, I missed the bike set up by a lot and Chase was riding really well that day. Then going into Chicago, it was a bit more outdoor style of track, but I found that it’s so limited for me. I feel like outdoors you have a lot more room to get creative, there’s a lot more things I can get creative with. So the last three rounds, everyone was doing the same stuff and it was fairly basic to go fast, so it was hard to make up that time, like Kenny said. It’s just the small things like coming out of a turn and hitting a bump and it spins out a smidge, that’s literally a couple of tenths. It might not be a massive mistake, but going down a long straight or something, it makes a big difference. So you just had to be perfect, hit your marks as best as you can and when you make a mistake, try and make that time back up, [laughs]. But this win definitely feels a little bit better than the outdoor one, just cause we got to learn how these guys race in stadiums and more so because I haven’t raced any of these guys in stadiums at all. It was a learning curve for me for next year in Supercross. I haven’t really done any supercross stuff [on the 450], it’s just been SuperMotocross stuff, it’s pretty supercrossy, but I haven’t done much supercross testing, only about two weeks. So I was excited to see how it was going to go and definitely thankful that we’re leaving on top.

What was the emotion like when Hunter went out this afternoon and couldn’t line up?

Yeah, it was a bummer thing. Just a small little mistake from Friday, it wasn’t a big thing, but a small landing wrong in the sand section ended up making it a lot worse. So it’s a bummer, I hate seeing my brother get hurt. I also hate seeing him race cause the nerves are just through the roof for me, but I feel like every time Hunter gets hurt, I always pull something out. So I’m very glad I was able to pull something out for him.

You’ve had such a good start to your premier class career. Are you feeling the tension within the big leagues now? Is that something that you feel with these kind of guys around you and being in the 450 class?

It’s cool! I remember being on an 85 in Germany, training with and watching Kenny when he was racing and supporting him. So it’s an awesome thing to get to race against him, yeah he’s more on the older side, but he still rides a bike unreal. He still has some of the best style in the sport I feel like and he always will go down in history for having the sick style and throwing whips, for sure. But it’s just so cool to be up with some of these legends and I’m definitely excited for next year, just to go up against [Eli] Tomac. Beating him or getting beat by him, I don’t think it’s going to change for me, it’s just one of those things where I get to race against another one of those legends, like if I’d gotten to race against Ricky Carmichael or James Stewart in their last year, I think I can speak for Coop [Webb] and Kenny, it would’ve been awesome.

Between Charlotte and now, what do you think you’ve learned the most about supercross and how you’ll set up the bike?

It’s definitely nice that we’ve gotten to get these rounds in and kind of get a bit of a feeling of how the bike is in supercross. I mean, I feel like for myself I’ve still got a lot of work to do, because we have to add whoops to the equation now. So it’s going to be a fun learning curve for me. I’ve had a late start to supercross, so I think even now I’m still learning and I can keep learning from these two guys up here and more people in the field. I definitely learned a lot from these three rounds, so we’ll put that into testing and try and fix the mistakes we ended up making.

This year with you, it seemed like every week there was a new story or reason as to why you were going to lose that week and who was going to beat you. Every single week there was a new storyline, then obviously last week you took a little bit of an L on the podium, even though you won the round. How has it been just blocking that stuff out and just showing up on Saturday nights and doing what you do?

I just don’t go on social media a lot. I go on there, on tiktok and do kids stuff. But I’m still so young, you could writer whatever you want, even the meme pages that are roasting me, I think that’s awesome, I laugh myself most of the time. I know I say dumb stuff and that was a foot in the mouth moment for me, for sure. But I’m only 20-years-old, I’m still living and learning, but I definitely won’t be doing one of those again and I’ll definitely be looking at a maths book in the off-season, [laughs]. I got roasted all this week from my friends. I just laugh at myself, I know I’m not the best at maths, I’m probably not the brightest guy in the books, but I just know how to ride a dirt bike and twist the throttle, [laughs].

Obviously this year Chase was your biggest competition outdoors, then for [supermotocross]. It’s an interesting dynamic, cause you both are under the same truck. We’ve seen some seriously close racing, we never saw any contact and it was all extremely respectful. We assume Chase is going to KTM next year, different team, you guys don’t have to walk by the truck, you don’t have to get changed together. You’ve now got [championships] that he wants, I know you’re a very happy go lucky guy. But in the back of your mind, do you kind of see that dynamic changing with yourself and Chase?

Chase is such an awesome kid and is so kind-hearted, I mean we can go and battle for 35 minutes and come back and get along whether he loses or I lose. We still get along very well, we go in the truck and we barely even talk about racing, we talk about anything, so I think he’s such a good kid. Obviously, now we won’t talk as much cause we’re not on the same team, but I’m sure if we go down to the line and we see each other, we’ll say hello. I know we both have the respect for each other cause we know the work that we put into the sport. We both respect every other rider out there, cause to be up at the top level, this isn’t easy.

There’s so much two wheel history at the Los Angeles Coliseum, from the first supercross race, to freestyle and the X Games. Did you have a moment when you were out there when you looked around and thought about all of that history?

I was too young, I don’t think I was even thought of yet when they were racing. [Ken Roczen and Cooper Webb] might remember it, but it’s blank on my end. I’ve got videos and I’ve been told what’s been done here, so I know that. It’s definitely been an awesome experience being here.

250SMX

Image: Octopi Media.

Haiden a huge win for you. You thanked your haters on the podium right off the bat, obviously you thanked the people who care about you and love you and helped you get here. Talk about that motivation from the people who have made comments and dig into that a little bit and why you actually thanked them on the podium.

Yeah man, I don’t know. That’s how I feel off that stuff, if you doubt me I’m going to prove you wrong. That’s just how I work, and I’m going to work harder than everyone out on the track, so that’s just how I work.

Your year started in supercross futures and ends with this. Thinking back to that moment when you were going from futures to pro and you envisioned how your pro career was going to go, could you have ever imagined it would go this way?

No, I couldn’t imagine it. My goal was to podium an outdoor national my first season. It went from there to being in a championship fight, having a red plate and now winning my first championship in my rookie season. Yeah, it’s crazy. We just have to keep building and getting stronger. I’m still young, so my body is going to keep growing a little more and it’s just up from here.

What was going through your mind there as the minutes ticked over in that second moto and on the way to this championship?

I could see Jo [Shimoda] to my right and I knew it was close and we had to fight it out, cause I know Jo and if he gets close he’s going to stick it in there. Yeah, it was a good race to the end, J Coop [Justin Cooper] was right behind me, it was good to have my two teammates, one in front and one behind me, that’s your safest bet to try and win a championship. So yeah, it was good.

I remember talking to you in Tampa and I think you were a little surprised at your fourth place finish in Houston. We get to Daytona, maybe also a little surprised with your first podium there. Is there still a little bit of surprise at your rapid move up, or is this now becoming second nature to you?

Yeah, it’s hard growing up and winning in amateurs and stuff, then coming into the pro ranks and not winning and you’re like… I don’t know, it feels more natural to be up front. So I think it was just a thing where I just kept working and working and I got to that point where I could win, and that was just a comfortable spot. I mean, you’re not going to win every race, well it’s possible… shoot, Jett did it. But, you just have to keep working hard and you’ll be there every time.

This is a weird round, you come into this race with so much background. Your dad wins here in 1997, he ghost rides the bike, it’s immortalized in supercross history as one of the craziest things we’ve ever seen. He did the first 360 here, this is like the house that Deegan built when it comes to motorsports and it just kind of felt like there was something that was going to go down here this weekend. Did it enter your mind that, ‘I’m just going to win this race cause this is literally our house?’

Definitely, the Deegan name is big on the LA Coliseum, so I kind of… the pressure was obviously there cause you want to keep that legacy going. So, I kind of had to fulfil it. After that first moto I was thinking I might not be, then I was like, ‘we gotta pick it up,’ [Brent] Duffe was like, ‘bro come on buddy, you’re being weak,’ so we had to toughen up for that second moto and we were able to keep it going.

The ghost ride was on everybody’s mind if you won. You did win, we didn’t see the ghost ride. Did the AMA or anyone say anything to you that if you did that you’d cop a fine or get docked positions. Was there a reason why you didn’t do it? Because, we do know you like to send.

I wanted to ghost ride the bike, but I didn’t know I won. I thought I got like second overall or third overall cause I had a fifth in the first moto, so I didn’t think I won the race. But then, I was thinking, ‘maybe we’ll just save it for when I fully win the race.’ Like, a 5-2, that’s not usually winning the overall, but still, winning a supercross, that’s when it’s going to happen.

Was there any talk with anyone though around you doing it?

No, Jett ghost rode his bike after the finish at Ironman or whatever, so I was like, ‘ah we’re chilling,’ [laughs]. But we went 5-2, so we didn’t do it.

It’s been a long season, what are you going to do in the next couple of weeks? How long before you’re back on a bike?

I’ll start training tomorrow probably, [laughs]. Nah, I’m just playing. I’ll take a few weeks off and let the body recover, then it’s hammer time. We’ve got to show up for supercross in 2024, so we’ll take a couple of weeks. Racing amateurs you frickin race four races a year, literally. So now, I race every weekend for almost a year straight, I’m like damn. So, the body will get used to it as I keep doing it, but yeah, recovery is going to be nice for the next few weeks.