Words: Simon Makker

The 2024 Pro Motocross Championship was loaded with memorable success stories, surprising moments and close racing. With this year’s series now in the books, MotoOnline looks back at the Top 10 performances from throughout the season.

Image: Octopi Media.

1. Sexton passes the entire pack at Hangtown:
Easily the most memorable race performance this year came at the hands of the new 450MX champion Chase Sexton, when he passed all 39 other racers in the field to claim an incredible moto – and overall – victory at Hangtown. After rounding the first turn in about P7, the Red Bull KTM rider spun out two corners later and was immediately engulfed by the entire pack. Sexton remounted in last, but then put in one of the best rides of his life as he worked his way up the order. With less than half a lap remaining, Sexton caught and passed his team-mate and long-time race leader Aaron Plessinger to take the unlikeliest of victories and ensure he left Hangtown with a perfect 1-1 scorecard. It was the first time since 2017 that we’ve witnessed a rider slice through the entire field, when MXGP star Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) crashed in the opening turns at Ironman, but went on to take a 1-1 result there.

2. Deegan clinches the 250MX title with a round to spare:
There’s no denying that Haiden Deegan has arrived. For the majority of the season, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider was the fastest rider on the track, starting with three consecutive overall wins to commence his 250MX campaign. Deegan went on to claim five of the 11 round wins, but it was his ability to dig deep and finish every race strongly that really set him in good stead for the title this year. He clinched the series with a round and a moto to spare by comfortably winning the opening moto at Budds Creek. He also had the final say in the series when he rebounded from an early crash and a P11 result at Ironman’s opening moto to gain the upper-hand on Tom Vialle and win the last outdoor race of the year.

3. Sexton seals the 450MX deal with six in a row:
After a slow start to the season where he found himself on the ground in a lot of races, it seemed something clicked for Sexton at Southwick and from that point on he didn’t lose an overall. Sure, defending title-holder Jett Lawrence was sidelined with a thumb injury after claiming round victories at Thunder Valley, High Point and the Wick, but Sexton still had his hands full with Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) for the rest of the season. While Sexton and Lawrence regularly traded moto wins, the KTM rider always took the countback honors and denied the Australian 450MX rookie of a maiden round victory. When Lawrence could only race to fourth overall at Washougal while Sexton charged to a 1-1 result, the Red Bull KTM rider seemed destined to take his first 450MX crown and he lived up to those expectations by comfortably winning both motos at Ironman.

Image: Octopi Media.

4. Fox Raceway double keeps Lawrence’s streak alive:
It looked like the 2023 champion Jett Lawrence was again going to be the man to beat this year after the series opener. Off the back of a perfect 22-0 season, Lawrence again charged to a 1-1 result at Fox Raceway. Afterwards he revealed he wasn’t entirely comfortable with his bike settings, which enabled his elder brother Hunter to stalk him the entire first moto, then Sexton to stay within striking distance throughout the second encounter. To miss the mark with his set-up and still take control and win both races was an impressive feat against the stacked field, and it potentially set him up nicely to claim back-to-back championships. But things unravelled at Hangtown when he crashed hard in the opening moto, which enabled Sexton to clean-sweep that round. Lawrence still bounced back to win Thunder Valley (2-1), High Point (1-1) and Southwick (1-2), before a practice crash saw his title defence come to a premature end.

5. Masterpool delivers at High Point:
Perhaps the most popular overall win this year has to go to Ty Masterpool, who took a memorable round victory at High Point. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider led most of the first moto, but fell short to a rampant Deegan late to finish second. In the second moto, Deegan crashed early as Masterpool and Chance Hymas battled up front. Midway through the race, Masterpool capitalized on a mistake from the Team Honda HRC rider to take the lead, then held off another late-race charge from Deegan to claim a slender 0.3s win. The 2-1 result was enough to grant Masterpool a breakthrough win on countback and claim Mitch Payton’s 300th team round victory.

6. Kitchen sweeps Spring Creek in contrasting conditions:
A hot-and-humid, then wet-and-slick Millville caused plenty of action on the track in the 250MX class, but the winner of it all was Levi Kitchen, who scored his first-ever Pro Motocross round win after 31 appearances. The Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider pulled off his first victory of the year in the opening race, despite facing pressure from the likes of Jo Shimoda (Team Honda HRC), Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) and Deegan at different stages. A deluge before the second moto caused chaos off the start. As multiple front-runners crashed in the slippery first turn, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rookie Casey Cochran ran off at the front of the pack and led about half the moto. Kitchen would eventually reel in Cochran’s 10-second lead and get by for the win, and claim a maximum 50 points from the day.

7. Hunter Lawrence wins on all-new bike at Unadilla:
Whenever a rider or team receives a new model, the general rule of thumb is that it can take some time to dial in. Perhaps it was because the Lawrences played a role in developing the 2025 Honda CRF450R, but there were no such growing pains for Hunter Lawrence when he rolled the new bike onto the track at Unadilla. Lawrence rounded the first turn in the top three behind the Red Bull KTM-mounted Aaron Plessinger and Sexton, but quickly dispatched of them both to take the lead. Sexton responded and it looked like it’d be another race where Sexton would pull a gap, but Lawrence took the fight back to the series leader. He swung back past his title rival when Sexton made a small error, and was able to stretch and control a gap to the checkered flag. Rounding out the strong debut for the new bike, Lawrence battled hard with Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Dylan Ferrandis (Phoenix Racing Honda) to secure P2 in the second outing of the day and finish the round tied on points – again – with Sexton.

Image: Octopi Media.

8. Final round 250MX win for Vialle:
Having entered the 2024 outdoors as one of the red-hot favorites for the 250MX championship, it seems unbelievable that it took all season before two-time MX2 champion Tom Vialle stood atop a round podium. A frustrating combination of having to deal with a rampant Deegan and finding himself on the ground at key moments hindered his ability to claim round wins and keep himself in the title fight. However, at Ironman we got to see the Red Bull KTM rider take a round win, he ripped two great starts and sailed to a wire-to-wire victory in the first moto, then got involved in an intense battle with Deegan midway through the second race. While he tired and finished that moto in P4, his 1-4 scorecard was enough to beat Chance Hymas (6-2) and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s returnee RJ Hampshire (4-3) for his second-ever Pro Motocross round victory.

9. Career-first for Hymas at RedBud:
One of the big revelations of the 2024 Pro Motocross has been Chance Hymas, who’s enjoyed a remarkable rise up the 250MX ranks this year. The Team Honda HRC rider had a respectable 250SX campaign considering he was battling a knee injury, but he really came into his own once we headed outdoors. After chalking up his first race win at Thunder Valley, Hymas went one better three rounds later when he took the overall at RedBud. Hymas led the opening moto early, but crossed the line in P4, then holeshot the second race and led every lap to finish the day with a 4-1 result. Although a first turn pile-up at Millville, then a crash while leading the opening moto at Unadilla saw him finish the series fourth overall, Hymas has put everyone on notice that he will be a real threat for the title next year.

10. Plessinger a factor outdoors:
Red Bull KTM rider Aaron Plessinger scored six podium performances over the 11 rounds, beginning with an impressive runner-up result at RedBud. Although he didn’t land any race wins – denied of his career-first moto victory on the last lap by Sexton at Hangtown – Plessinger enjoyed his best Pro Motocross campaign since stepping up to the 450MX class in 2019. It was the last few rounds where the always-popular Ohio native came into his own though, finishing his season strongly with four-straight podium appearances. That streak saw him edge ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper (who had an impressive year himself) at Unadilla, then consolidate his place on the series podium at Budds Creek and Ironman.