Jett Lawrence races at Round 3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum

Motocross

SMX Playoff 3 results: Jett Lawrence wraps third title of 2023

Jett Lawrence outlasts Ken Roczen in LA to claim the SuperMotocross World Championship.

By Chase Stallo

8 min readPublished on 09/25/2023 · 5:07 PM UTC

On July 8, 1972, the LA Memorial Coliseum played host to the first-ever supercross race. The inaugural event, coined the “Superbowl of Motocross,” ushered in a new era of the sport. More than 50 years later, the final round of the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship took place at the iconic venue, with a record $1,000,000 on the line to the champion of the 450 division.

Jett Lawrence and Ken Roczen races at Round 3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum
© Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

Coming into the race, Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton held a slim two-point gap over his teammate Jett Lawrence. The finale would serve as a winner-take-all between the teammates as in SMX Playoff format the finale was worth triple points of a normal race. Progressive Insurance/Ecstar Suzuki’s Ken Roczen hadn’t won either of the playoff races, but he still sat just 10 points behind championship leader Sexton.

In the first moto of the day, Adam Cianciarulo grabbed the holeshot with Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas’ Justin Barcia in tow. Barcia quickly made his way into the lead but crashed hard in the following rhythm section. It caused the race to be red flagged as Barcia was attended to by on-track medics. Barcia was unable to return and an official update on his condition has not been released by the team.

On the staggered restart Jason Anderson grabbed the early lead followed by Roczen, Sexton and Lawrence. Sexton tried to make an early move on Roczen but lost out to Lawrence in the process. Roczen made the first move, getting around Anderson for the lead. Jett quickly followed and within two laps found his way around for the lead and he quickly pulled away. He would take the moto win over Roczen and Sexton.

Coming into the final 450 race of the year, the math was simple: Sexton needed to beat Jett by two positions to win while Jett could finish one position behind Sexton or beat him to claim the title. Sexton snagged the holeshot and quickly tried to pull away as Jett made quick moves to grab second with Roczen in third. Sexton was out to the early lead before he made a mistake in the sand section and went over the bars. As Sexton slowly walked off the track, Jett took the lead followed by Roczen.

With Sexton out, it became a full winner-take-all moto between Jett and Roczen. If Roczen were to beat Jett, the championship would be his. But every time he inched toward the lead, Jett would pull back away. Roczen got held up by a lapper late in the race which was the final nail in his championship hopes. Jett held on to take the win and complete a 1-1 sweep of the SMX finale and with it, he claimed the SuperMotocross World Championship.

Jett Lawrence celebrates his win at the Los Angeles Coliseum
© Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

"This sport, on the track it's a one man show kind of thing, but there's so many people that don't get the credit that are in the shadows," said Jett. "They help Chase and I to get us the best equipment we can have. That goes to my trainer O'Show [Johnny O’Mara], and also my dad for a big key in helping. Also, to my brother Hunter, everyday we're grinding and always trying to be better. Whether it's the bike or it's me myself. Just to go out and get this, it's not just an awesome accomplishment for me, but it's a big thank you to the people have helped me and supported me to get me to where I am now."

Roczen would take second in the race over Cooper Webb.

With Sexton crashing out of the final race, he would also claim second in the championship.

"I watched every single outdoor race, even though I wasn't racing, and same with the GP's," said Roczen, "Everything has been motivating me lately. I think when you're in a good mindset, you can take motivation off of anything. I get motivated by my family as well. I've just kind of enjoyed the grind lately. I think we've still got some stuff in the back and I just feel like we built every single race we can go to and we'll see where I'm at in Anaheim."

Ken Roczen races at Round 3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum
© Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

The 250SMX Class also had a winner-take-all scenario as Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence held a slim three-point lead over Jo Shimoda with Haiden Deegan seven points back. Unfortunately, before the night show even began, Honda HRC announced that Hunter would miss the race after suffering a hard crash in qualifying on Friday and had to pull from the event due to back tightness and a pinched nerve in his neck. This left the title between Deegan and Shimoda.

Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle took the holeshot in the first moto over Deegan while Shimoda was in 11th place after the first lap. As Vialle started pulling away from Deegan, Deegan’s teammate Jordon Smith was making quick progress and got around Deegan and rapidly pursued Vialle for the lead.

With a few laps left, Smith passed Vialle for the race lead. Meanwhile, Shimoda had made it all the way to fifth from his bad start and made a pass on Deegan for fourth. Smith would take the win with RJ Hampshire, Vialle, Shimoda and Deegan following.

Entering the final moto, it all came down to Deegan and Shimoda for the title. Levi Kitchen took the holshot as chaos unfolded behind him. Smith went down in the second corner after getting pushed wide and it also pushed Vialle over the berm. Kitchen lead from Deegan and Justin Cooper with Shimoda in the mix as well. Shimoda wasn’t able to close on the Yamaha trio up front, as Deegan was surrounded by teammates the entire moto.

Deegan was able to maintain his composure and followed Kitchen to a second-place finish and the 250SMX title. Thanks to scattered results, his 5-2 scores were also enough to win the overall as well.

"My goal was to get a podium in an outdoor national my first season," said Deegan. "It went from there to being in a championship fight, having a red plate, and now winning my first championship in my rookie season. It's crazy. I've just got to keep building, getting stronger. I'm still young, so my body has got to fill in a little bit more and it's just up from here."

Shimoda would finish the night and the championship in second overall. "I always want to start a season on a good note, but we changed something on the bike and just honestly struggled with setup in the first half of the season," said Shimoda. "If you're struggling, four or five races in, it's kind of over already. It was nice to have these SMX rounds. Everything started off fresh and I feel like I had a good first two rounds and had the opportunity to go for the championship in this round. I'm stoked on everyone's effort on the team and proud of myself too."

The 2023 AMA racing season is now complete. The 2024 season kicks off January 6 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California for the opening round of AMA Supercross.

Jett Lawrence celebrates after Round 3 at the Los Angeles Coliseum
© Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

450SMX Final Results

Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda (1-1)
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla., Suzuki (2-2)
3. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (5-3)
4. Adam Cianciarulo, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki (7-4)
5. Colt Nichols, Muskogee, OK, Kawasaki (8-5)
6. Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha (6-7)
7. Ty Masterpool, Paradise, Tex., Kawasaki (9-9)
8. Fredrik Noren, Lidkoping, Sweden, Suzuki (11-8)
9. Phillip Nicoletti, Bethal, N.Y., Yamaha (12-10)
10. Chase Sexton, LaMoille, IL., Honda (3-20)

450SMX Class Championship Final Standings

Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda (163)
2. Ken Roczen, Clermont, Fla. Suzuki (146)
3. Chase Sexton, LaMoille, IL., Honda (126)
4. Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (120)
5. Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM (104)
6. Adam Cianciarulo, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki (96)
7. Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha (92)
8. Jason Anderson, Rio Rancho, N.Mex., Kawasaki (91)
9. Colt Nichols, Muskogee, OK, Kawasaki (90)
10. Ty Masterpool, Paradise, Tex., Kawasaki (84)

250 SMX Final Results

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (5-2)
2. Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Kawasaki (4-4)
3. RJ Hampshire, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Husqvarna (2-6)
4. Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (7-3)
5. Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Yamaha (10-1)
6. Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Yamaha (1-10)
7. Pierce Brown, Sandy, Utah, GASGAS (8-5)
8. Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna (6-8)
9. Maximus Vohland, Granite Bay, Calif., KTM (9-7)
10. Tom Vialle, France, KTM (3-13)

250SMX Class Championship Final Standings

Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (157)
2. Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Kawasaki (152)
3. RJ Hampshire, Wesley Chapel, Fla., Husqvarna (122)
4. Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Yamaha (114)
5. Jordon Smith, Belmont, N.C., Yamaha (110)
6. Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (101)
7. Maximus Vohland, Granite Bay, Calif., KTM (98)
8. Tom Vialle, France, KTM (90)
9. Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda (89)
10. Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna (88)