The 12^th round of Monster Energy Supercross in St. Louis saw the final Triple Crown race of 2024 result in a double sweep for both 450SX and 250SX. Quotebook features compiled comments from riders over the weekend.

450SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – First:
It was an outstanding weekend for us here in St. Louis. We were finally able to get an overall win. I just felt really good the whole day – from qualifying to all three main events. Our starts were on point tonight, the riding was on point, and I was just back to my old self. So I’m just really happy to deliver a win for the team. I was getting in a bit of a slump or a rough patch, or whatever you want to call it. I feel like I’m back now, and I’m excited for the end of this series.

Cooper Webb (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Second:
It was an insane triple crown today; they always are. The first main event, I just didn’t get a good start and made a lot of mistakes. I charged hard, but it wasn’t a great result. In the second one, I put myself in a good spot and then had a fall. I was super frustrated but got back up, made a pass, and got another fifth. We had an incident with the red cross flag, so I don’t know what I actually got. I just knew in the last one that I had to execute a start and honestly just win; that was my goal. I got a great start, rode behind Chase (Sexton) for a while, and was able to get around him. I was catching Eli in the end, but it was just a solid second place. Obviously, it was a huge night for the points, and for the team to go 1-2 is really special. It will be great to go into this break and come back swinging.

Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC) – Third:
This was an awesome pat on the back for all the hard work. It was a wild night of events, but we’ll take the result; I’m very happy with what we got. My riding’s been getting better, so hopefully this kicks in a little bit more momentum for the last couple of rounds. We’d love to get a conventional podium, with no penalties for anyone, so that’s next on the list.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) – Fourth:
It was pretty wild tonight! I was struggling throughout the day and then went out in the first one and rode pretty good in the first part actually, snuck by for third. In the second one, I got a pretty bad start, ended up sixth before I was docked, and then in the last one I worked my way forward to sixth. Overall, I felt good in the second two mains, fourth isn’t horrible and now we get a weekend off, which I’m excited for.

Chase Sexton (Red Bull KTM) – Fifth:
Overall it was a rough day. I qualified fifth, then crashed in the first Main Event and got 10th, then I went 5-3. I’m ready for a weekend off and we’ll come back swinging.

Justin Barcia (Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas) – Sixth:
St. Louis was a little difficult in practice, being an extremely tough track, really soft and rutted. We had to make little changes throughout the day, and I got really comfortable by the second Main Event. We’re making a lot of progress, so now we’ve gotta make it happen for a result – we never give up and we’ll keep at it.

Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Seventh:
St. Louis was okay for me. We struggled a little bit on the starts, just trying to get up there to run with those guys. I’m going to enjoy this upcoming weekend off, clear my head in the outdoors, and come back swinging for the last five rounds. I know we keep saying it, but we’re here in the fight and ain’t ever gonna give up.

Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC) – Eighth:
It’s just a sucky situation. I just cut down under Hunter, and obviously Barcia was defending his line from someone else on the inside of him—just wrong place, wrong time. He kind of hit my arm pretty good; I got a gnarly Charlie horse. He hit some nerve in my arm, where I kind of lost feeling and strength in my hands. That’s why I was trying to get up and get going early, but I physically couldn’t—I had no strength. It is what it is. Thankfully we had a bit of a buffer on second. We’ve got a break, we’ll come back stronger. We’ve got five races to go.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Ninth:
It was an up-and-down day. Qualifying went pretty well, and I felt good on the bike. My starts were kind of hit-and-miss. My speed was good, and I was able to lead a few laps in the second main, but I was on the ground in the first two mains, and that didn’t help things. So yeah, it was just an up-and-down night. We’ll keep working and look to come back after the break.

Shane McElrath (Twisted Tea Progressive Suzuki) – 10^th:
Overall, it was a pretty good day for us in St. Louis. We made set-up changes yesterday at press day, and all day today, and my Suzuki just kept getting better. I’m really excited about that, what we’re learning, and the positive changes we’re making. I feel I was competitive today, and I kept getting better with each race. I kept getting more aggressive, and my last race was my best one. Also, I had three good starts tonight, which I’m really pumped about; we’ve been working on starts and it’s nice that work paid off tonight. My starts are feeling a lot more natural now, and we’re building up that muscle memory. I’m excited for a weekend off to rest and recover, give my mind a break, and come back ready at Foxborough, because we have some more work to do.

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 11^th:
After a promising start to the night in Race 1 and 2, Race 3 I had a big crash off of the start and then all hell broke loose. The red cross flags were hard to see, so I was penalized for jumping those which is super frustrating on a night that could have been a podium. There are five more races left in the season, so it’s time to get back to work and get ready for Foxborough.

Ken Roczen (Progressive Ecstar Suzuki) – 12^th:
Tough weekend in St. Louis. The Triple Crowns can cause chaos, and we were on the receiving end of it. It will be nice to reset on the off weekend to go into the home stretch of the championship firing on all cylinders.

Kyle Chisholm (Twisted Tea Progressive Suzuki) – 14^th:
My Suzuki RM-Z worked really well for me all day. The St. Louis dirt was a little softer than normal this year, so it was a little more rutted than I’d say a typical St. Louis track would be. But overall, the dirt had really good traction, it was loamy, and was enjoyable to ride. I liked it. I finished 14th overall and moved up two spots in the points, which is always good. My riding was good in the last moto, so I was happy with that. And just a side note stat: tonight was my 200th Supercross main event start, 250 and 450 combined. Another little fact on top of that, my first Supercross ever was here in St. Louis in 2006; where I had a top-ten finish. It’s cool that my first one was here in St. Louis and that I also hit the 200 main milestone here. It made me look back, and it’s great my career has gone on as long as it has.

Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 22^nd:
I felt so good in practice here in St. Louis and had such a great jump in Race 1. Oldenburg went down right in front of me as I was jumping into the turn, and I had nowhere to go. The bike landed on my ankle and that was it for me. I tried to get back out there but my ankle was too swollen to fit in the boot, so I had to call it for the night. I’m super bummed about the situation, but I’m glad it didn’t end up worse and we will be ready to go in a few weeks. Thanks to my team and everyone for their support, and again a special thanks to my mechanic of the past four years, Justin Shantie, and wish him the best of luck with his next chapter.

250SX

Image: Octopi Media.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – First:
It was another great weekend with my Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team. Back-to-back wins and now a Triple Crown under my belt feels great. The team and I have been working so well together, I couldn’t be more stoked. Winning all three with nearly flawless races and extending the points lead is exactly how I wanted to head into this break. I felt so good on my KX™250 all day and I’m excited to see which is the best coast at our East/West shootout here in a few weeks in Nashville.

Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC) – Second:
I had some of the best starts I’ve had all year today, but the pace just wasn’t there. I just struggled a little bit all day. I’m happy to see that I’m putting it all together though. I’m looking forward to a couple more weeks of work.

Jordon Smith (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
It was a tough day. The track was really tough. It was hard to find a flow out there. They would groom this and not groom that, so the track was constantly changing. I didn’t ride the best today. I had some decent starts and put in solid rides, but not great rides, and came away with a third. I’m happy to be back on the podium, but third is not where we want to be. We’ll go back, keep working for a couple of weeks and come back in Nashville for the East-West Shootout and see what we can do.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fourth:
My riding was pretty good all day, but not my starts,” Hampshire commented. “4-4-2 is not going to get it done, so we will have a couple of weeks off and focus on the three rounds left [in the western region]. Get out of the gate better and I feel like I could have won tonight, but I didn’t execute when it was time to go, and we will be better at Nashville.

Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fifth:
It was a tough day in St. Louis. I was just struggling to get comfortable on the track, but we had some good starts. We just need to keep working, get back on top of the podium, and finish the season strong.

Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM) – Seventh:
Tonight was good, especially because this afternoon wasn’t my best in qualifying. I got two out of three good starts, was consistent all night, and didn’t make too many mistakes. In the second main I had to fight from the back, but I’m happy with my improvements and look forward to going to the next one.

Ryder DiFrancesco (Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas) – Eighth:
Tonight was good. We had three very good starts and that was a plus. In the first one I went back to seventh, and then in the second race I ran third for a long time but was seventh again. In the last one, I went down on the first lap, came back to 12th and that gave me eighth overall, so it was a lot better. Starting up front makes things a lot easier, and I had fun tonight!

Antony Bourdon (Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki) – 11^th:
I started the weekend off the right way with an eighth overall position in timed practice, which was my best of the season. I am disappointed about this Triple Crown because I think I could have done better. I had bad starts all weekend, which didn’t help. It has been difficult physically for me because I couldn’t train like I wanted to for the last two weeks after a big crash in training. I will begin training normally again to be ready in three weeks for the next 250 West round in Nashville.

Max Miller (Toyota Redlands BarX Suzuki) – 17^th:
St. Louis was a step in the right direction,” declared Miller. “I qualified for the Triple Crown night show straight through daytime qualifying. I finished 15th in Race 1, and 13th in Race 2. I started Race 3 with some carnage and went down. I made my way to 17th but then had a mishap on the final lap that caused me to finish 21st. I earned 17th overall on the day.

Michael Mosiman (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 18^th:
The day was going pretty good. Then in the second main, I was landed on. It was just outside of my control. Thankfully, I’m doing alright. I’m very sore but I will be okay. It was an unfortunate situation, but I plan to be back strong very soon.