Chase Sexton was named the 2024 Pro Motocross champion on Saturday after sweeping both races at the Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
After Round 11 in the 2024 AMA Motocross Champion ship series, Sexton was named the overall points winner with 504 points, followed by Hunter Lawrence (462 points) in second and Aaron Plessinger (403) points in third.
But for fans of Eli Tomac, the big news was that Tomac returned to the podium in third place overall in just his second motocross venue since thumb surgery, after finishing fourth in the first moto and third in the second. In the season standings, Tomac was 21st out of 52 racers in the season standings.
He announced earlier in the week that he had re-signed with Star Racing Yamaha for another year, but that 2025 likely be his final full season. And on Saturday, Racer X reported that Tomac had taken himself out of consideration for Team USA in the 2024 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations.
“I’m very pleased to announce I’ve signed with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing for the entire 2025 SuperMotocross season,” Tomac said. “I anticipate 2025 being my final full season of professional SMX racing. While the last two Supercross seasons have had unfortunate endings with injury, we’ve had many more great race wins, and championships along the way. So now is the time to enjoy the ride, get back to winning races and competing for the SuperMotocross title.”
After Round 11 in the 2024 AMA Motocross Champion ship series, Sexton was named the overall points winner with 504 points, followed by Hunter Lawrence (462 points) in second and Aaron Plessinger (403) points in third.
At the start of the race, Dylan Ferrandis flipped over his handlebars in a pileup while Lawrence claimed the hole shot. Plessinger raced close behind in second, with Sexton in third and Tomac in fourth.
While Tomac continued racing strong behind his competitors, an interview of Tomac after last week’s race played.
In the clip, Tomac said, “I had an OK finish, which was that fourth, and then that second moto there, it was tough. That’s when reality sets in, you’re coming off this injury, you’re on a new motorcycle. … It sounds like a handful of excuses, but it’s reality and you got to really figure out how to improve yourself, and I’m hoping that I will improve myself. It’s tough coming back this period. It was two years since my last motocross race, so there were so many things going on, but one thing is for sure is that it felt good to be back on the motocross track.”
Meanwhile, Plessinger and Sexton both passed Lawrence, taking the first and second spots, respectively. Commentators noted that it was vital for Plessinger to hold off Sexton and keep him from passing, but Sexton passed Plessinger not long later, and continued to hold the position for the rest of the race.
With his win in the first race at Ironman, Sexton clinched his 2024 Pro Motocross Championship victory, with Plessinger following in second, Lawrence third and Tomac fourth.
In the second race, Lawrence once again claimed the hole shot, but he had hardly made it around the first turn before Plessinger passed him for first.
Around the halfway mark, Sexton was in first and Plessinger in second. Tomac had passed Lawrence for third.
Plessinger charged and attempted to pass Sexton on the inside, but was unable to make the pass.
Sexton finished 21 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor to further seal his overall win. Plessinger came in second and Tomac third. Justin Cooper placed fourth, Jason Anderson fifth and Lawrence sixth, more than a minute behind first place Sexton, to round out the race’s top six.
Despite Plessinger placing second in both races, he was unable to pass Lawrence for second place in overall points.
Tomac, despite still recovering from his surgery, has announced that he will be competing in the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championships.
Playoff 1 will be in Concord, North Carolina, and Playoff 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The SuperMotocross World Championship final will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
