Image: Octopi Media.

Phil Nicoletti has announced he will retire from professional racing at the conclusion of the 2024 racing season. Nicoletti, 35, has raced 18 seasons as a professional in motocross and supercross and will conclude his career following the final round of the SuperMotocross World Championship in September.

“I actually made this decision at Anaheim 1,” said Nicoletti. “I rode press day, then I called my dad and told him, ‘It’s over.’ Just a feeling I had. Main thing, I just don’t have it in me anymore to take the chances I need to during the week. It’s not even a results thing, really. On race day adrenaline takes over and I feel like I can continue to be a fifth-to-seventh guy. But this sport is so freaking gnarly, you have to push to your limit every day even in practice. I don’t want to go search for tenths [of a second] on a random Tuesday. It used to piss me off when one of the kids went faster than me but lately, I’ve found myself not giving…a care about it on some days. I’ve loved the grind, but I always said as soon as I don’t want to do that anymore, I’m outta here.”

Nicoletti is currently 12th in the 250SX West standings with a fourth place result at San Francisco being his best result of the year. The plan is for him to move up to the 450 class for AMA Pro Motocross and compete for a spot in the SMX Playoffs where he looks to wrap up his career.

The fan favorite New York native has raced all over the world during his career and has enjoyed success in many disciplines, perhaps most notably winning the Rockstar Energy Triple crown Championship in Canada in 2019. He has spent the last three seasons with the Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha program and has continued to deliver solid results into his mid-30s. Now Nicoletti can focus on bringing those solid results week in and week out to cap off his career in style.