450 Storylines: Round 21 High Point Recap

JETT LAWRENCE:
Earned his second 1-1 outing of the season with a perfect day in Pennsylvania and now has 3 wins in 4 rounds. He is 8 points back of brother, Hunter, who holds the red plate. Jett is 1 win away from tying Jeremy McGrath (15 wins) for 10th on the all-time 450 Class wins list, but also McGrath for second on the all-time Honda 450 Class wins list with 14.

CHASE SEXTON:
Remains in the thick of the battle for the red plate (-6), with a runner-up finish at High Point. His 24th career 450 Class podium has tied him with Ryan Villopoto and John Dowd for 21st all-time. Sexton has opened the season with 3-1-5-2 results and is 1 of just 2 overall winners thus far with a finishing average of 3.0.

HUNTER LAWRENCE:
Captured a fourth straight podium to start his 450 Class career and retain the red plate. He remains the lone rider in the division with a podium result at each round and has finished on the moto podium all but once in 8 tries. He now has 50 career SMX podiums in 104 SMX starts, 25 of them coming in Pro Motocross competition. He leads the 450 Class with a 2.4 finishing average.

NOTES:
Jason Anderson (6th) In line to make his 300th career SMX start at Southwick. Earned his 54th 450 Class top-10 finish (22nd all-time).
Justin Barcia (7th) Secured his 95th 450 Class top-10 finish. Only 3 athletes have more than 100 in the history of 450 Class racing: Mike LaRocco (123), John Dowd (111), & Kevin Windham (109).
Shane McElrath (10th) Made SMX career start 200 at High Point. He has 104 top-10 SMX finishes after a season-best effort at High Point.
Christian Craig (18th) Made 175th career SMX start.
Zack Williams (29th) Made 100th career SMX start.
Trevin Nelson (30th) Made first career 450 Class start.

450 Class: The Wick 338 Facts

HISTORY LESSON:
The first 450 Class round held at The Wick 338 was on June 6, 1976, as the season finale. Dutchman Pierre Karsmakers navigated his Honda RC250 through the Southwick sand to score a 1-1 victory. Suzuki’s Tony DiStefano had already wrapped up his second straight title going into the race and scored a runner-up finish.
43 SEASONS OF HISTORY:
Since 1976, The Wick 338 has held a total of 42 rounds of 450 Class competition, with the 43rd race on deck for 2024. Only twice has the eventual winner not won at least one moto–Jeff Ward (2-3) in 1988 & Brett Metcalfe (3-2) in 2011. Southwick has also welcomed 4 different international winners over its last 5 races–Jett Lawrence (Australia, 2023), Dylan Ferrandis (France, 2021), and Marvin Musquin (France, 2018-2019).
THE WICK’S LOCAL GOAT:
At 20 years of age local legend John Dowd, of Chicopee, MA, decided he wanted to ride dirt bikes. Just 2 years later he lined up at The Wick in the premier class and went 13-21 for 20th overall. A year later, the only SMX start he made was at The Wick, where he improved with 7-18 finishes for 12th overall. Dowd made an incredible 23 starts in the 450 Class at Southwick and 2 in the 250 Class. In 25 combined starts, Dowd collected 2 wins, one in each class, 9 podiums, 11 top-5s, and 20 top-10s. In 2009, at age 44, Dowd became the oldest rider to earn a 450 Class podium. He made his final SMX start in 2011, at 46 years old, at the same place where it all started, with a 23rd-place finish at The Wick.
CHAMPIONSHIP %:
The winner of the 450 Class at Southwick has gone on to win the title in 27 of 42 seasons (64%), including each of the past 3 years with Eli Tomac, Dylan Ferrandis, and Jett Lawrence. The Southwick winner also won the title in every visit from 1980-2004, sans 1991.

250 Storylines: Round 21 High Point Recap

TY MASTERPOOL:
Scored his maiden professional win in his 55th career SMX start and 34th career 250 Class start. It also signified his first career podium result and top-5 finish. He is the 92nd different 250 Class winner in Pro Motocross history, the 175th different 250 Class podium finisher, and 210th different SMX winner.

PRO-CIRCUIT:
With the win, Masterpool became the 41st different rider to capture a win for Mitch Payton’s storied Pro Circuit Race Team. At the same track in which Brian Swink scored the team’s first Pro Motocross victory in 1991, Masterpool captured the milestone 300th team victory and its 123rd outdoor triumph. Pro Circuit further cemented its legacy as the most successful race team in SMX history.

HAIDEN DEEGAN:
Made incredible come-from-behind charges in both motos, which included a winning effort in Moto 1, to finish runner-up with 1-2 finishes. Despite missing the overall win for the first time this season, Deegan extended his points lead to +32 after 4 rounds and leads Pro Motocross with a 1.4 finishing average. He also boasts a +4.5 start-to-finish ratio and has yet to finish worse than second in a single moto. He now has 10 career 250 Class podiums in 17 tries and will make his 40th SMX start at Southwick.

NOTES:

Chance Hymas (3rd) Back-to-back podium finishes have given him sole possession of second in the point standings.
Tom Vialle (5th) Earned his 20th top-5 finish in 37 career SMX starts and 11th top-5 in 15 career 250 Class starts.
Jesse Wessell (27th), Russell Buccheri (33rd), Ashton Arruda (36th), & Blake Broderick (42nd) All made their first career SMX and 250 Class starts.

250 Class: The Wick 338 Facts

HISTORY LESSON:
The first 250 Class round held at The Wick 338 was on May 7, 1978, when Broc Glover swept the motos on a Yamaha. He took the points lead from Mark Barnett after a pair of DNFs. Barnett held a slim 4-point lead before the race, but Glover established a 46-point margin with the win and went on to capture the championship.
38 SEASONS OF HISTORY:
The 250 Class didn’t race at The Wick through its first 4 years in the championship, but has run linear with the 450 Class since 1986. The 2024 race will signify the 38th time the 250 Class will race at The Wick. Only twice has a rider failed to win at least one moto when taking the overall–Steve Lamson (2-2) in 1995 & Tyla Rattray (2-2) in 2010.
MORE ON GOATS:
Ricky Carmichael captures 10 overalls victories across all classes at Southwick, which is 6 more than anyone else in track history. From 1997-2002, the 250 Class saw Ricky Carmichael win a round during his rookie season in 1997, local legend John Dowd take the victory in 1998, Carmichael again in 1999, and Travis Pastrana grab his maiden victory in 2000 with a 1-1 effort. Pastrana followed that up with another win in 2001. In 2002, James Stewart made his fourth Pro Motocross start and went 30-1 for sixth overall, while Danny Smith went 1-5 for his lone career win.
CHAMPIONSHIP %:
The winner of the 250 Class at Southwick has won the 250 Class title in 19 of 37 seasons (52%), including 6 of the last 9 years. It only happened twice in the 2000s, in 2004 with James Stewart & 2008 with Ryan Villopoto. Between the 250cc/450cc/500cc classes there have been 82 rounds and 164 motos of Pro Motocross competition at The Wick 338.